Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland
Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
BMJ Open. 2023 Mar 22;13(3):e067166. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067166.
Increasingly attention of the COVID-19 pandemic is directed towards its long-term effects, also known as Long-COVID. So far, Long-COVID was examined mainly from a medical perspective, leaving psychosocial effects of Long-COVID understudied. The present study advances the current literature by examining social support in the context of Long-COVID. The study not only examines received support reported by individuals with Long-COVID, but also provided support reported by relatives of individuals with Long-COVID.
Cross-sectional study.
The study was conducted from June to October 2021 in Austria, Germany and the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
We examined 256 individuals with Long-COVID (M=45.05 years, 90.2% women) and 50 relatives of individuals with Long-COVID (M=48.34 years, 66.1% female) in two separate online surveys, assessing social support, well-being and distress.
Primary outcomes were positive and negative affect, anxiety and depressive symptoms and perceived stress.
For individuals with Long-COVID, receiving emotional support was related to higher well-being (positive affect: b=0.29, p<0.01; negative affect: b=-0.31, p<0.05) and less distress (anxiety: b=-1.45, p<0.01; depressive symptoms: b=-1.04, p<0.05; perceived stress: b=-0.21, p<0.05) but no effects emerged for receiving practical support. For relatives of individuals with Long-COVID, providing emotional support was only related to lower depressive symptoms (b=-2.57, p<0.05). Again, provided practical support was unrelated to the outcomes considered.
Emotional support is likely to play an important role in well-being and distress of patients and relatives, whereas practical support does not seem to make a difference. Future research should clarify under what conditions different kinds of support unfold their positive effects on well-being and distress in the context of Long-COVID.
人们越来越关注 COVID-19 大流行的长期影响，也称为长新冠。迄今为止，长新冠主要从医学角度进行了研究，而长新冠的心理社会影响则研究不足。本研究通过在长新冠背景下研究社会支持来推进当前的文献。该研究不仅检查了长新冠患者报告的获得支持，还检查了长新冠患者亲属报告的提供支持。
横断面研究。
该研究于 2021 年 6 月至 10 月在奥地利、德国和瑞士德语区进行。
我们在两项单独的在线调查中检查了 256 名长新冠患者（M=45.05 岁，90.2%为女性）和 50 名长新冠患者的亲属（M=48.34 岁，66.1%为女性），评估社会支持、幸福感和压力。
主要结局指标是积极和消极情绪、焦虑和抑郁症状以及感知压力。
对于长新冠患者，获得情感支持与更高的幸福感（积极情绪：b=0.29，p<0.01；消极情绪：b=-0.31，p<0.05）和较少的压力（焦虑：b=-1.45，p<0.01；抑郁症状：b=-1.04，p<0.05；感知压力：b=-0.21，p<0.05）相关，但获得实际支持没有出现效果。对于长新冠患者的亲属，提供情感支持仅与较低的抑郁症状相关（b=-2.57，p<0.05）。同样，提供实际支持与所考虑的结果无关。
情感支持可能在患者和亲属的幸福感和压力方面发挥重要作用，而实际支持似乎没有区别。未来的研究应阐明在何种条件下，不同类型的支持在长新冠背景下对幸福感和压力产生积极影响。
