PLoS ONE (Jan 2020)

Psychological consequences of COVID-19 home confinement: The ECLB-COVID19 multicenter study.

  • Achraf Ammar,
  • Patrick Mueller,
  • Khaled Trabelsi,
  • Hamdi Chtourou,
  • Omar Boukhris,
  • Liwa Masmoudi,
  • Bassem Bouaziz,
  • Michael Brach,
  • Marlen Schmicker,
  • Ellen Bentlage,
  • Daniella How,
  • Mona Ahmed,
  • Asma Aloui,
  • Omar Hammouda,
  • Laisa Liane Paineiras-Domingos,
  • Annemarie Braakman-Jansen,
  • Christian Wrede,
  • Sophia Bastoni,
  • Carlos Soares Pernambuco,
  • Leonardo Jose Mataruna-Dos-Santos,
  • Morteza Taheri,
  • Khadijeh Irandoust,
  • Aïmen Khacharem,
  • Nicola L Bragazzi,
  • Jad Adrian Washif,
  • Jordan M Glenn,
  • Nicholas T Bott,
  • Faiez Gargouri,
  • Lotfi Chaari,
  • Hadj Batatia,
  • Samira C Khoshnami,
  • Evangelia Samara,
  • Vasiliki Zisi,
  • Parasanth Sankar,
  • Waseem N Ahmed,
  • Gamal Mohamed Ali,
  • Osama Abdelkarim,
  • Mohamed Jarraya,
  • Kais El Abed,
  • Mohamed Romdhani,
  • Nizar Souissi,
  • Lisette Van Gemert-Pijnen,
  • Stephen J Bailey,
  • Wassim Moalla,
  • Jonathan Gómez-Raja,
  • Monique Epstein,
  • Robbert Sanderman,
  • Sebastian Schulz,
  • Achim Jerg,
  • Ramzi Al-Horani,
  • Taysir Mansi,
  • Mohamed Jmail,
  • Fernando Barbosa,
  • Fernando Ferreira-Santos,
  • Boštjan Šimunič,
  • Rado Pišot,
  • Andrea Gaggioli,
  • Piotr Zmijewski,
  • Jürgen M Steinacker,
  • Jana Strahler,
  • Laurel Riemann,
  • Bryan L Riemann,
  • Notger Mueller,
  • Karim Chamari,
  • Tarak Driss,
  • Anita Hoekelmann,
  • ECLB-COVID19 Consortium

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240204
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 11
p. e0240204

Abstract

Read online

BackgroundPublic health recommendations and government measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have enforced restrictions on daily-living. While these measures are imperative to abate the spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on mental health and emotional wellbeing is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey (ECLB-COVID19) was launched on April 6, 2020 in seven languages to elucidate the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on mental health and emotional wellbeing.MethodsThe ECLB-COVID19 electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists, following a structured review of the literature. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online-survey-platform and was promoted by thirty-five research organizations from Europe, North-Africa, Western-Asia and the Americas. All participants were asked for their mental wellbeing (SWEMWS) and depressive symptoms (SMFQ) with regard to "during" and "before" home confinement.ResultsAnalysis was conducted on the first 1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%). The COVID-19 home confinement had a negative effect on both mental-wellbeing and on mood and feelings. Specifically, a significant decrease (p ConclusionThe ECLB-COVID19 survey revealed an increased psychosocial strain triggered by the home confinement. To mitigate this high risk of mental disorders and to foster an Active and Healthy Confinement Lifestyle (AHCL), a crisis-oriented interdisciplinary intervention is urgently needed.