Yang Xiankui, Chen Peng, Zhang Yu
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
School of Public Affairs, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
J Transp Health. 2023 Mar;29:101587. doi: 10.1016/j.jth.2023.101587. Epub 2023 Mar 6.
Many people changed their travel behavior during the coronavirus pandemic with more telecommuting, fewer trip frequencies, and less use of transit and ride-hailing to avoid infection. The lack of outdoor activities may result in social isolation and then trigger anxiety or depressive symptoms.
This study examines the relationship between anxiety and depression, and correlates various sociodemographic, income, job status, health-related factors, and travel behavior changes in six large U.S. cities.
U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey Phases 3.0 and 3.1 are employed.
GAD-2 and PHQ-2 are used to screen the scores of anxiety and depression. The synthetic minority oversampling technique is applied to correct sample distribution. The multivariate mixed model is employed to examine relationships.
(1) Anxiety and depression are positively correlated, and the percentage of high anxiety is greater than the percentage of high depression. (2) The levels of anxiety and depression significantly vary across the six cities. (3) Women, young, singles, and white people have higher levels of anxiety and depression during the pandemic. (4) People who are willing to receive vaccination tend to have higher levels of anxiety and depression. (5) The prevalence of depressive disorders is significantly lower in the high-income group. (6) People who applied for unemployment insurance and experienced expense difficulties are more likely to suffer high levels of anxiety and depression. (7) Travel behavior changes, measured by increased telecommuting, reduced trip frequency, and reduced use of transit and ride-hailing, all suggest positive correlations with anxiety and depression.
More assistance and attention should be given to women, singles, and low-income households to reduce the prevalence of mental stress in vulnerable groups. Telecommuting can be but need to work with other travel demand management strategies. Travel and outdoor activities should be promoted under the new normal.
在新冠疫情期间，许多人改变了出行行为，更多地选择远程办公，出行频率降低，减少乘坐公共交通和打车以避免感染。缺乏户外活动可能导致社交隔离，进而引发焦虑或抑郁症状。
本研究考察焦虑与抑郁之间的关系，并关联美国六个大城市的各种社会人口统计学、收入、工作状况、健康相关因素以及出行行为变化。
使用美国人口普查局家庭脉搏调查第3.0阶段和第3.1阶段的数据。
使用广泛性焦虑障碍量表-2（GAD-2）和患者健康问卷-2（PHQ-2）来筛查焦虑和抑郁得分。应用合成少数过采样技术来校正样本分布。采用多元混合模型来考察各种关系。
（1）焦虑与抑郁呈正相关，高焦虑百分比大于高抑郁百分比。（2）六个城市的焦虑和抑郁水平存在显著差异。（3）在疫情期间，女性、年轻人、单身人士和白人的焦虑和抑郁水平较高。（4）愿意接种疫苗的人往往焦虑和抑郁水平较高。（5）高收入群体中抑郁症的患病率显著较低。（6）申请失业保险并经历费用困难的人更容易出现高度焦虑和抑郁。（7）以远程办公增加、出行频率降低以及公共交通和打车使用减少来衡量的出行行为变化，均表明与焦虑和抑郁呈正相关。
应给予女性、单身人士和低收入家庭更多帮助和关注，以降低弱势群体的精神压力患病率。远程办公可以，但需要与其他出行需求管理策略配合使用。在新常态下应促进出行和户外活动。
