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A new study revealed that people were more stressed by the state of the national economy than the risk of contracting coronavirus.
An international team of researchers carried out a study on how the pandemic has impacted Europeans' stress levels and their trust in their national governments and the healthcare systems.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
For the study, the researchers from over 50 universities developed and organized the global survey -- COVIDiSTRESS.
The researchers studied the psychological repercussions of the current pandemic-related crisis, as reflected in stress levels.
Over 150,000 respondents from over 50 countries participated in the study. The results include answers from 75,570 respondents in 27 countries of the European Union (EU), who were surveyed from March 30 to April 20, 2020.
Study design
The general level of respondents' stress was measured on a 10-grade scale developed by psychologists Cohen, Kamarck, and Mermelstein (1983). This scale illustrates people's stress levels for a recent week.
Scores over 2.4 points were considered moderate, while those over 3.7 were deemed to be high.
Findings
The results showed that Europeans are most concerned about the state of the national economy, followed by the risk of catching Covid-19 and being hospitalized. A total of 24 factors were indicated, including concerns about family and friends, work, or feeling isolated.
The respondents were also asked about their trust in the six key institutions, such as the healthcare system, the WHO, the police, social services, and national governments.
Europeans demonstrated the highest levels of trust in their national healthcare systems and the WHO. Trust in national governments was lower than in other institutions.
Lead researcher Dmitrii Dubrov said: “We have learned that Covid-19 denial depends on people's trust in social institutions, a belief that the government won't leave them on their own with their problems. Institutional trust is impacted by many factors, such as the level of corruption in the country.”
He added: “The results of our study can be used to prepare recommendations on how governments should communicate with people in situations of uncertainty. As we discovered here, the problem is global, which means that systematic work with citizen's demands is needed.”
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