Neurobiology and Genetics of Behavior, Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.
German Center for Military Mental Health, Military Hospital Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Front Public Health. 2023 Apr 11;11:990407. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.990407. eCollection 2023.
Clinical observations indicate that people frequently display stress-related behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although numerous studies have been published concerning pandemic-related psychological distress, systematic data on the interrelationships between stress sensitivity, personality, and behavioral characteristics of people are still lacking. In the present cross-sectional online survey study, we applied a German version of the COVID Stress Scales (CSS) and standard psychological questionnaires to systematically identify the complex interplay between stress sensitivity, gender, and personality in the modulation of quality of life and mental health in the German population ( = 1774; age ≥ 16 years). A CSS-based cluster analysis revealed two clusters characterized by higher and lower stress levels. Study participants in each cluster differed significantly with respect to neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, quality of life, depression, and anxiety. Females were significantly overrepresented in the higher stress cluster, while there was an overrepresentation of males in the lower stress cluster. Neuroticism was identified as a risk factor and extraversion as a protective factor for enhanced pandemic-related stress responses. For the first time our data show a taxonomy of factors, which modulate pandemic-related stress sensitivity and warrant consideration as key indicators of quality of life and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. We suggest that our data may advise governmental regulation of pandemic-related public health measures, to optimize quality of life and psychological health in different groups of the population.
临床观察表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间，人们经常表现出与压力相关的行为。尽管已经发表了许多关于大流行相关心理困扰的研究，但关于压力敏感性、个性和人类行为特征之间相互关系的系统数据仍然缺乏。在本横断面在线调查研究中，我们应用了德国版 COVID 应激量表 (CSS) 和标准心理问卷，系统地确定了压力敏感性、性别和个性在调节德国人群生活质量和心理健康方面的复杂相互作用（ = 1774；年龄≥16 岁）。基于 CSS 的聚类分析揭示了两个具有较高和较低压力水平的聚类。每个聚类中的研究参与者在神经质、外向性、宜人性、生活质量、抑郁和焦虑方面存在显著差异。女性在高压力聚类中显著居多，而男性在低压力聚类中显著居多。神经质被确定为增强大流行相关应激反应的风险因素，外向性被确定为保护因素。我们的数据首次显示了调节大流行相关压力敏感性的因素分类，这需要考虑作为 COVID-19 大流行期间生活质量和心理困扰的关键指标。我们建议，我们的数据可以为政府制定与大流行相关的公共卫生措施提供建议，以优化不同人群的生活质量和心理健康。
