Distress Levels Skyrocket During Pandemic. NewsWire

Newswire: 6/13/2020

• According to a new report, the share of American adults reporting symptoms of serious psychological distress was 13.6% in April, compared to 3.9% in April 2018. The biggest jump in stress during the pandemic has been among those ages 18 to 29, with the share reporting symptoms soaring from under 5% to 24%. (JAMA)
• NH: Researchers from John Hopkins and The Bloomberg School of Public Health conducted this study using the Kessler 6 (K-6) survey. The K-6 asks a series of 6 questions to determine a participant’s level of psychological distress. A typical question is to ask how many times one felt nervous in the last 30 days. The K-6 is used to identify a general mood rather than diagnosis a specific disorder.
• A nationwide survey using the K-6 was conducted in 2018. Researchers conducted the same survey in April 2020 to compare how the pandemic has affected distress levels.
• What did the survey find? Distress levels increased markedly across the board. The share of Americans reporting severe distress symptoms went from 3.9% in 2018 to 13.6% in April 2020. The most dramatic increase occurred in young adults, who saw an eight-fold rise from 3.7% to 24.0%. As for race, Hispanics had the biggest jump from 7.9% to 18.3%. Meanwhile, by wealth, low-income Americans had the most significant increase in distress from 8.0% to 19.3%.
• Not coincidentally, the groups that have seen the biggest rises in distress are also those who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. Young people and low-income Americans are the most likely to have lost their job or to be struggling financially. (See “Generational Financial Implications of COVID-19.”) By race, reports have shown Hispanics to be hit disproportionately by COVID infections and deaths.
• Other reports have had similar findings that Americans are in a mental health crisis. One poll from KFF found that 45% of Americans say COVID-19 has worsened their mental health. A model by Meadows Mental Health Policy predicted that if unemployment goes above 5%, which it has, suicides and drug overdoses could increase by almost 10,000 by the end of 2020. COVID-19 is deadly in its own right, but its mere mental toll has grave effects as well.

DID YOU KNOW?

• School’s Out (for Good). With colleges closed or moving instruction online, many students are unsure about what’s in store for them for the fall. And according to a new survey from the education startup OneClass, a significant share don’t know if they’ll be going at all. In the survey, which polled more than 10,000 college students at 255 universities, 51% of respondents said that the pandemic has forced them to look for new ways to finance school. Someone in their household may have lost a job, or they themselves may have lost a job or scholarship. The situation is particularly dire at certain schools: Among respondents attending Tulane University, for instance, fully 90% need new financing. Meanwhile, another 7% of students are opting out of their college plans, but for different reasons: They want to do something else, such as taking a gap year. The rest of the respondents (42%) said they haven’t been affected financially and will still attend.