COVID-19-associated impacts on the mental health of canadian adults in the late pandemic period

Abstract

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, research in Canada reported increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation. Pandemic impacts, including infection or hospitalization of oneself or a loved one or death of a loved one, have been associated with negative mental health symptoms. Most research investigating COVID-19 impacts on Canadian mental health collected data during the height of the pandemic (2020-2021), with less research from 2022 and early 2023. Moreover, most research focuses on specific populations (e.g., healthcare workers) and not on the general Canadian adult population. The present study aims to address these research gaps by exploring COVID-19-associated mental health impacts on the general Canadian adult population within the late stage of the pandemic. Cross-sectional data from Statistics Canada’s Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health (SCMH) Cycle 3 (Feb. 23–May 31, 2023) will be used, which invited 36,000 households to participate and resulted in a 46.5% response rate. The SCMH uses the PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5 to assess symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD (respectfully), and a single question regarding suicidal ideation. The primary research objective is to investigate if a COVID-19 diagnosis is positively associated with significant symptoms of MDD, GAD, PTSD, suicidal ideation, emotional distress, loneliness, or increased alcohol and cannabis use. As a secondary research objective, we will explore if being diagnosed with COVID-19 will be negatively associated with protective factors—the measures of happiness, community belonging, social support, behavioural health, and mastery of control. Data was accessed and analyzed at the Regina Research Data Centre (RDC) using the program STATA. Descriptive statistics, an independent t-test, crosstabulations, and chi-square tests of independence were used to explore demographic characteristics and our research objectives. It was found that having been diagnosed with COVID-19 was significantly associated with greater scores on measures of mental health disorders, and with lower scores on the protective factor measures, compared to not having been diagnosed with COVID-19. It was also found that a significant proportion of the sample screened positive for each of the mental health disorders that were assessed, with a slightly larger proportion screening positive among those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Additionally, a significant proportion of the respondents experienced each of the nine COVID-19 impacts that were assessed in the SCMH, aside from hospitalization. The results of this study will help inform the degree to which COVID-19 pandemic impacts influenced specific mental health symptoms within the late stage of the pandemic, providing a more comprehensive picture of the pandemic’s influence on mental health across its duration.