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Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19

Edited by Runsen Chen and Yuanyuan Wang

Our special collection on the Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 is now closed for submissions. Articles on different global health aspects of COVID-19, including mental health, are still welcome in one of our regular sections. If contributing an article, however, please pay attention to our journal’s scope of interest: contributions, and especially those dealing with findings from a single country case study, need to contextualize and address how the study informs, or is informed by, global/globalization processes. If an article does not, it may be rejected as out of scope or rejected and transferred for consideration by another BMC journal for which it may be in scope. If an article could fall within scope with further attention to how it contributes to a greater understanding of global/globalization processes and health impacts, a journal editor may reply with a request to enhance this aspect of the submission before considering it for peer-review.

This special collection in Globalization and Health investigates the influence of COVID-19 on mental health across different countries. We call for articles focusing on timely concerns of COVID-19-related mental health impacts in the general population, patients infected with COVID-19, health professionals, and special groups such as children, adolescents, the elderly and patients with psychiatric disorders. This collection welcomes submission of review, research, debate, and commentary articles covering the following:

  • Evidence-based interventions to improve mental well being during the COVID-19 period
  • Mental health impacts on frontline health professionals facing COVID-19-related risks of occupational exposure and overloaded work stress
  • Mental health of the immigrants and migrants facing hostility, discrimination, or stigmatization associated with their perceived connection with COVID-19 and its rapid international spread 
  • Impact of social media COVID-19 coverage and use on mental health outcomes, with potential elevated psychological distress  
  • Psychological responses in special populations (children and adolescents, elderly, psychiatric patients) who face unique challenges when accessing healthcare resources that are now under severe COVID-19-related stress and demand
  • COVID-19-related mental health support and management in terms of pandemic outbreak emergency response, service delivery disparities in low and middle income countries, suggestions for improving health care system and policies, implications for mental health interventions, and evaluations of the current response to the COVID-19 outbreak
  • Social inequities in the mental health impacts of the epidemic, for example related to financial stress, unemployment caused by the pandemic, inequity in accessing healthcare and important health-related resources (food, shelter, water), and limited knowledge towards disease control and self-protection

This collection will undergo the journal’s normal peer review process and be subject to an article-processing charge. Manuscripts should be formatted according to our submission guidelines and submitted via the online submission system. In the submission system please make sure that the correct collection title is chosen at the 'Additional Information' step. Please indicate in the covering letter that the manuscript is submitted to this special collection.

The deadline for submitting to this collection is 30th November 2020. The Editors invite contributors to send queries or abstracts to determine suitability for the collection, prior to submitting a full article, if they wish to do so.

  1. Due to COVID-19, domestic violence victims face a range of mental health challenges, possibly resulting in substantial human and economic consequences. However, there is a lack of mental health interventions t...

    Authors: Zhaohui Su, Dean McDonnell, Stephanie Roth, Quanlei Li, Sabina Šegalo, Feng Shi and Shelly Wagers
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:67
  2. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is closely associated with physical and mental health problems; however, little is known about the severity of stigma caused by COVID-19 among its survivors. Thus, the aim o...

    Authors: Yuan Yuan, Yan-Jie Zhao, Qing-E Zhang, Ling Zhang, Teris Cheung, Todd Jackson, Guo-Qing Jiang and Yu-Tao Xiang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:54
  3. Due to the implementation of social distancing and quarantine measures, loneliness has been a major public health concern during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies have examined loneliness in Chinese ...

    Authors: Li Bao, Wen-Tian Li and Bao-Liang Zhong
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:51
  4. To explore the influences of digital media use on the core symptoms, emotional state, life events, learning motivation, executive function (EF) and family environment of children and adolescents diagnosed with...

    Authors: Lan Shuai, Shan He, Hong Zheng, Zhouye Wang, Meihui Qiu, Weiping Xia, Xuan Cao, Lu Lu and Jinsong Zhang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:48
  5. The possibility of psychopathological symptoms and related risk factors among normal persons and patients infected during the outbreak of COVID-19 has been widely investigated. The mental health outcomes of th...

    Authors: Zhiyang Zhang, Yi Feng, Rui Song, Di Yang and Xuefei Duan
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:44
  6. The negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on public mental health can be persistent and substantial over a long period of time, but little is known regarding what psychological factors or processes can buffer s...

    Authors: Yuen Yu Chong, Wai Tong Chien, Ho Yu Cheng, Angelos P. Kassianos, Andrew T. Gloster and Maria Karekla
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:43
  7. Little is known about the prevalence of and risk factors for adolescent mental health problems during the COVID-19 outbreak. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms, their association wit...

    Authors: Jingyi Wang, Hao Wang, Haijiang Lin, Marcus Richards, Shuyue Yang, Hongbiao Liang, Xiaoxiao Chen and Chaowei Fu
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:40
  8. Italy was the first European country to implement a national lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide, this pandemic had a huge impact on the mental health of people in many countries causing simil...

    Authors: Leonardo Villani, Roberta Pastorino, Enrico Molinari, Franco Anelli, Walter Ricciardi, Guendalina Graffigna and Stefania Boccia
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:39
  9. Mental burden due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been widely reported for the general public and specific risk groups like healthcare workers and different patient populations. We aimed to assess its impact on...

    Authors: Angela M. Kunzler, Nikolaus Röthke, Lukas Günthner, Jutta Stoffers-Winterling, Oliver Tüscher, Michaela Coenen, Eva Rehfuess, Guido Schwarzer, Harald Binder, Christine Schmucker, Joerg J. Meerpohl and Klaus Lieb
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:34
  10. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has impacted adversely upon the mental health of millions of people worldwide. Impacts on the mental health conditions and the associated predictors relating to adults in Pakist...

    Authors: Tooba Lateef, Jiyao Chen, Muhammad Tahir, Teba Abdul Lateef, Bryan Z. Chen, Jizhen Li and Stephen X. Zhang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:32
  11. The impact of general population lockdown implemented in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic needs to be evaluated. We describe here a longitudinal study on the mental health of adults in France.

    Authors: Leila Ramiz, Benjamin Contrand, Madelyn Yiseth Rojas Castro, Marion Dupuy, Li Lu, Catherine Sztal-Kutas and Emmanuel Lagarde
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:29
  12. The psychological distress caused by COVID-19 may be pronounced among the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to investigate psychological distress among parents of childr...

    Authors: Luxi Wang, Dexin Li, Shixu Pan, Jinhe Zhai, Wei Xia, Caihong Sun and Mingyang Zou
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:23
  13. Deaths by COVID-19 have left behind nearly 12 million recent bereaved individuals worldwide and researchers have raised concerns that the circumstances of COVID-19 related deaths will lead to a rise prevalence...

    Authors: Suqin Tang and Zhendong Xiang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:19
  14. The COVID-19 pandemic has made unprecedented impact on the psychological health of university students, a population vulnerable to distress and mental health disorders. This study investigated psychiatric symp...

    Authors: Shufang Sun, Simon B. Goldberg, Danhua Lin, Shan Qiao and Don Operario
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:15

    The Correction to this article has been published in Globalization and Health 2021 17:52

  15. During isolation, sharing physical activity experiences on social network sites (SNS) can enhance individual social connectedness. The objective of the present study was to examine the associations between sha...

    Authors: Yifan Zuo, Yudan Ma, Mu Zhang, Xiaoyuan Wu and Zhanbing Ren
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:10
  16. During global pandemics, such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), crisis communication is indispensable in dispelling fears, uncertainty, and unifying individuals worldwide in a collective fight against he...

    Authors: Zhaohui Su, Dean McDonnell, Jun Wen, Metin Kozak, Jaffar Abbas, Sabina Šegalo, Xiaoshan Li, Junaid Ahmad, Ali Cheshmehzangi, Yuyang Cai, Ling Yang and Yu-Tao Xiang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:4
  17. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Previous studies of infectious diseases showed that infectious diseases not only cause physical damage ...

    Authors: Ji Ho Lee, Hocheol Lee, Ji Eon Kim, Seok Jun Moon and Eun Woo Nam
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2021 17:3
  18. The pattern of fatigue in older psychiatric patients during the COVID-19 outbreak was unknown. This study examined the prevalence of fatigue and its association with overall quality of life (overall QOL) in cl...

    Authors: Siyun Zou, Zi-Han Liu, Xiaona Yan, Huan Wang, Yulong Li, Xiuying Xu, Xiangdong Du, Lan Zhang, Qinge Zhang, Todd Jackson, Gabor S. Ungvari and Yu-Tao Xiang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:119
  19. Early evidence indicates increased mental health burden arising from COVID-19 and related control measures. The study aim was to examine concern about COVID-19 and its association with symptoms of mental disor...

    Authors: Nino Makhashvili, Jana Darejan Javakhishvili, Lela Sturua, Ketevan Pilauri, Daniela C. Fuhr and Bayard Roberts
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:111
  20. The influence of COVID-19 on mental health problems has received considerable attention. However, only a few studies have examined the relationship between exposure to COVID-19 and mental health problems, and ...

    Authors: Li Zhang, Min Ma, Danfeng Li and Ziqiang Xin
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:105
  21. The continued spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a serious impact on everyone across the globe, both physically and psychologically. In addition to proactive measures addressing physical sur...

    Authors: Yumeng Ju, Yan Zhang, Xiaoping Wang, Weihui Li, Roger M. K. Ng and Lingjiang Li
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:102
  22. The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease is causing considerable acute risk to public health and might also have an unanticipated impact on the mental health of children and adolescents in the long run. This study ...

    Authors: Shitao Chen, Zeyuan Cheng and Jing Wu
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:96
  23. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the personal, professional and social life of Australians with some people more impacted than others.

    Authors: Muhammad Aziz Rahman, Nazmul Hoque, Sheikh M. Alif, Masudus Salehin, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful Islam, Biswajit Banik, Ahmed Sharif, Nashrin Binte Nazim, Farhana Sultana and Wendy Cross
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:95
  24. In all epidemics, healthcare staff are at the centre of risks and damages caused by pathogens. Today, nurses and physicians are faced with unprecedented work pressures in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, res...

    Authors: Nader Salari, Habibolah Khazaie, Amin Hosseinian-Far, Hooman Ghasemi, Masoud Mohammadi, Shamarina Shohaimi, Alireza Daneshkhah, Behnam Khaledi-Paveh and Melika Hosseinian-Far
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:92
  25. A recent editorial urged those working in global mental health to “change the conversation” on coronavirus disease (Covid-19) by putting more focus on the needs of people with severe mental health conditions. ...

    Authors: Richard Mpango, Jasmine Kalha, Donat Shamba, Mary Ramesh, Fileuka Ngakongwa, Arti Kulkarni, Palak Korde, Juliet Nakku and Grace K. Ryan
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:90
  26. Health care workers exposed to COVID-19 might be at increased risk of developing mental health problems. The study aimed to identify factors associated with anxiety, depression and insomnia among health worker...

    Authors: Pratik Khanal, Navin Devkota, Minakshi Dahal, Kiran Paudel and Devavrat Joshi
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:89
  27. Nepal, a South Asian country, was in nationwide lockdown for nearly three months in 2020 with partial restrictions still in place. Much worryingly, COVID-19 induced restrictions have confined women and young g...

    Authors: Minakshi Dahal, Pratik Khanal, Sajana Maharjan, Bindu Panthi and Sushil Nepal
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:84
  28. The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has led many countries to opt for social quarantine of the population. During this quarantine, communication systems have been characterized by disintermediation, the accelera...

    Authors: Álex Escolà-Gascón, Francesc-Xavier Marín, Jordi Rusiñol and Josep Gallifa
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:72
  29. The outbreak of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) could increase the risk of depression. However, epidemiological data on outbreak-associated depressive morbidity of female adolescents are not available. Thi...

    Authors: Jiaojiao Zhou, Xiaofei Yuan, Han Qi, Rui Liu, Yaqiong Li, Huanhuan Huang, Xu Chen and Gang Wang
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:69
  30. The positive predictive effect of altruism on physical and psychological well-being has been extensively demonstrated in previous studies, but few studies have examined the effect of altruism on negative menta...

    Authors: Yi Feng, Min Zong, Zhizun Yang, Wen Gu, Dan Dong and Zhihong Qiao
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:61
  31. Coronavirus Disease is impacting the entire world. As the first country that has needed to confront this disease, China has responded with unprecedented and hugely successful public health initiatives. Almost ...

    Authors: Shitao Chen, Feihan Li, Chaihua Lin, Yuge Han, Xilun Nie, Robert N. Portnoy and Zhihong Qiao
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:59
  32. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on public mental health. Therefore, monitoring and oversight of the population mental health during crises such as a panedmic is an immediate priority. The ai...

    Authors: Nader Salari, Amin Hosseinian-Far, Rostam Jalali, Aliakbar Vaisi-Raygani, Shna Rasoulpoor, Masoud Mohammadi, Shabnam Rasoulpoor and Behnam Khaledi-Paveh
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:57
  33. During the COVID-19 pandemic, as a large city located in Southwest China, Chengdu was mainly affected by imported cases. For a psychiatric hospital, the enclosed management model, the crowded wards and the unc...

    Authors: Jiajia Chen, Maoxiang Xiong, Zongling He, Wen Shi, Yuchuan Yue and Manxi He
    Citation: Globalization and Health 2020 16:53