Author:
Muraosa Haruka,Shirata Toshinori,Saito Yusuke,Noto Keisuke,Suzuki Akihito
Abstract
Abstract
Background
During the COVID-19 pandemic, depression and suicide rates increased worldwide, and in Japan. Presumably, an increase of neuroticism-related personality traits mediates the relation linking the COVID-19 pandemic with depression and suicide. This study examined COVID-19 pandemic effects on dysfunctional attitudes, cognitive vulnerability to depression, in healthy participants.
Methods
The study used Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) -24 data of three subscales (i.e., achievement, dependency, and self-control) obtained from 270 Japanese medical students during October 2017 – June 2022. Participants were divided into two groups: those for whom DAS-24 was assessed before the pandemic (phase 1 group, October 2017 – March 2020, n = 178) and those for whom DAS-24 was assessed during the pandemic (phase 2 group, April 2020 – June 2022, n = 92).
Results
Total DAS-24 scores of the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.047) lower than those of the phase 1 group. Scores of the dependency subscale for the phase 2 group were significantly (p = 0.002) lower than those for the phase 1 group, but no significant difference was found in the scores of the achievement and self-control subscales.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that a decrease in DAS-24 scores, particularly of the dependency subscale, occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Possible mechanisms underlying these results are 1) individuals became less preoccupied with receiving evaluation, 2) individuals realized that self-cognition depending on the approval of others is unimportant, and 3) high levels of dysfunctional attitude were maladaptive for obtaining affective benefits via social interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference28 articles.
1. COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in,. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet. 2020;2021(398):1700–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(21)02143-7.
2. Farooq S, Tunmore J, Wajid Ali M, Ayub M. Suicide, self-harm and suicidal ideation during COVID-19: A systematic review. Psychiatry Res. 2021;306:114228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114228.
3. Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, 2023. Suicide Statistics: Status in Each Year. (in Japanese). 2023.
https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/hukushi_kaigo/seikatsuhogo/jisatsu/jisatsu_year.html . 25 Accessed Jun 2023.
4. Klein DN, Kotov R, Bufferd SJ. Personality and depression: explanatory models and review of the evidence. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2011;7:269–95. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104540.
5. Ormel J, Jeronimus BF, Kotov R, Riese H, Bos EH, Hankin B, et al. Neuroticism and common mental disorders: meaning and utility of a complex relationship. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013;33:686–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003.