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Psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis on young swiss men participating in a cohort study: Differences due to socioeconomic status and work situation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

S. Marmet ,
M. Wicki ,
G. Gmel ,
C. Gachoud ,
N. Bertholet  and
J. Studer
S. Marmet*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
M. Wicki
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
G. Gmel
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland Research, Addiction Switzerland, Lausanne, Switzerland Institute For Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada Department Of Health And Social Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom
C. Gachoud
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
N. Bertholet
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
J. Studer
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted daily life worldwide. It may also have had a psychological impact, especially on those with less resources already before the crisis and those who reported substantial changes to their work situation.

Objectives

To investigate whether socioeconomic status before the crisis and changes in work situation during the crisis (unemployment, home-office) are associated with psychological impact in a cohort of young Swiss men.

Methods

A total of 2345 young Swiss men (mean age = 29) completed assessments shortly before (April 2019 to February 2020) and early during the COVID-19 crisis (May to June 2020). Assessments covered psychological outcomes assessed before and during COVID-19 crisis (depression, perceived stress and sleep quality), and assessed during the crisis (fear, isolation and COVID-19 psychological trauma), socioeconomic status (relative financial status and difficulty to pay bills) before the crisis and changes in work situation (unemployment, home-office).

Results

About a fifth of the sample were in partial unemployment or lost their job during COVID-19 crisis. Those in partial or full unemployment, those mostly working from home and those with a lower socioeconomic status already prior to the crisis showed overall higher levels of depression, stress, psychological trauma, fear and isolation.

Conclusions

Even in a country with high social security such as Switzerland, the COVID-19 crisis had a higher psychological impact on those who were already disadvantaged before the crisis or experienced deteriorations in their work situation. Supporting disadvantaged subpopulations during the crisis may help to prevent an amplification of pre-existing inequalities.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

COVID-19psychological impactSwitzerlandSocioeconomic status
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S101
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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