Mental health in Germany in the first weeks of the Russo-Ukrainian war
Anxiety disorders; depressive disorders; epidemiology; rating scales; statistical methodology
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
14 April 2023
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| In: |
BJPsych Open
Year: 2023, Volume: 9, Issue: 3, Pages: 1-7 |
| ISSN: | 2056-4724 |
| DOI: | 10.1192/bjo.2023.21 |
| Online Access: | Resolving-System, kostenfrei: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.21 Resolving-System, kostenfrei: https://doi.org/10.25673/103486 
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| Author Notes: | Cornelia Gottschick, Sophie Diexer, Janka Massag, Bianca Klee, Anja Broda, Oliver Purschke, Mascha Binder, Daniel Sedding, Thomas Frese, Matthias Girndt, Jessica I. Hoell, Patrick Michl, Michael Gekle and Rafael Mikolajczyk |
| Summary: | Anxiety disorders; depressive disorders; epidemiology; rating scales; statistical methodology Background: In the connected world, although societies are not directly involved in a military conflict, they are exposed to media reports of violence. Aims: We assessed the effects of such exposures on mental health in Germany during the military conflict in Ukraine. Method: We used the German population-based cohort for digital health research, DigiHero, launching a survey on the eighth day of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Of the 27 509 cohort participants from the general population, 19 444 (70.7%) responded within 17 days. We measured mental health and fear of the impact of war compared with other fears (natural disasters or health-related). Results: In a subsample of 4441 participants assessed twice, anxiety in the population (measured by the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 screener) was higher in the first weeks of war than during the strongest COVID-19 restrictions. Anxiety was elevated across the whole age spectrum, and the mean was above the cut-off for mild anxiety. Over 95% of participants expressed various degrees of fear of the impact of war, whereas the percentage for other investigated fears was 0.47–0.82. A one-point difference in the fear of the impact of war was associated with a 2.5 point (95% CI 2.42–2.58) increase in anxiety (11.9% of the maximum anxiety score). For emotional distress, the increase was 0.67 points (0.66–0.68) (16.75% of the maximum score). Conclusions: The population in Germany reacted to the Russo-Ukrainian war with substantial distress, exceeding reactions during the strongest restrictions in the COVID-19 pandemic. Fear of the impact of war was associated with worse mental health. |
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| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2056-4724 |
| DOI: | 10.1192/bjo.2023.21 |