Results of the COVID-19 MEntal health inTernational for the General population (COMET-G) study

Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N.; Karakatsoulis, Grigorios Abraham Seri Adorjan Kristina Ahmed Helal Uddin Alarcón Renato D.; Arai, Kiyomi Auwal Sani Salihu Berk Michael Bjedov Sarah Bobes Julio Bobes-Bascaran Teresa Bourgin-Duchesnay Julie Bredicean Cristina Ana Bukelskis Laurynas Burkadze Akaki Abud Indira Indiana Cabrera Castilla-Puentes Ruby Cetkovich Marcelo Colon-Rivera Hector Corral Ricardo Cortez-Vergara Carla Crepin Piirika De Berardis Domenico Zamora Delgado Sergio De Lucena David De Sousa Avinash Stefano Ramona Di Dodd Seetal Elek Livia Priyanka Elissa Anna Erdelyi-Hamza Berta Erzin Gamze Etchevers Martin J.; Falkai, Peter Farcas Adriana Fedotov Ilya Filatova Viktoriia Fountoulakis Nikolaos K.; Frankova, Iryna Franza Francesco Frias Pedro Galako Tatiana Garay Cristian J.; Garcia-Álvarez, Leticia García-Portilla Maria Paz Gonda Xenia Gondek Tomasz M.; González, Daniela Morera Gould Hilary Grandinetti Paolo Grau Arturo Groudeva Violeta Hagin Michal Harada Takayuki Hasan Tasdik M.; Hashim, Nurul Azreen Hilbig Jan Hossain Sahadat Iakimova Rossitza Ibrahim Mona Iftene Felicia Ignatenko Yulia Irarrazaval Matias Ismail Zaliha Ismayilova Jamila Jakobs Asaf Jakovljević Miro Jakšić Nenad Javed Afzal Kafali Helin Yilmaz Karia Sagar Kazakova Olga Khalifa Doaa Khaustova Olena Koh Steve Kopishinskaia Svetlana Kosenko Korneliia Koupidis Sotirios A.; Kovacs, Illes Kulig Barbara Lalljee Alisha Liewig Justine Majid Abdul Malashonkova Evgeniia Malik Khamelia Malik Najma Iqbal Mammadzada Gulay Mandalia Bilvesh Marazziti Donatella Marčinko Darko Martinez Stephanie Matiekus Eimantas Mejia Gabriela Memon Roha Saeed Martínez Xarah Elenne Meza Mickevičiūtė Dalia Milev Roumen Mohammed Muftau Molina-López Alejandro Morozov Petr Muhammad Nuru Suleiman Mustač Filip Naor Mika S.; Nassieb, Amira Navickas Alvydas Okasha Tarek Pandova Milena Panfil Anca-Livia Panteleeva Liliya Papava Ion Patsali Mikaella E.; Pavlichenko, Alexey Pejuskovic Bojana Da Costa Mariana Pinto Popkov Mikhail Popovic Dina Raduan Nor Jannah Nasution Ramírez Francisca Vargas Rancans Elmars Razali Salmi Rebok Federico Rewekant Anna Flores Elena Ninoska Reyes Rivera-Encinas María Teresa Saiz Pilar de Carmona Manuel Sánchez Martínez David Saucedo Saw Jo Anne Saygili Görkem Schneidereit Patricia Shah Bhumika Shirasaka Tomohiro Silagadze Ketevan Sitanggang Satti Skugarevsky Oleg Spikina Anna Mahalingappa Sridevi Sira Stoyanova Maria Szczegielniak Anna Tamasan Simona Claudia Tavormina Giuseppe Tavormina Maurilio Giuseppe Maria Theodorakis Pavlos N.; Tohen, Mauricio Tsapakis Eva Maria Tukhvatullina Dina Ullah Irfan Vaidya Ratnaraj Vega-Dienstmaier Johann M.; Vrublevska, Jelena Vukovic Olivera Vysotska Olga Widiasih Natalia Yashikhina Anna Prezerakos Panagiotis E.; Smirnova, Daria

Introduction: There are few published empirical data on the effects of COVID‐19 on mental health, and until now, there is no large international study. Material and Methods: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an online questionnaire gathered data from 55,589 participants from 40 countries (64.85% females aged 35.80 ±13.61;34.05% males aged 34.90±13.29 and 1.10% other aged 31.64±13.15). Distress and probable depression were identified with the use of a previously developed cut-off and algorithm respectively. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics were calculated. Chi-square tests, multiple forward stepwise linear regression analyses and Factorial Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tested relations among variables. Results: Probable depression was detected in 17.80% and distress in 16.71%. A significant percentage reported a deterioration in mental state, family dynamics and everyday lifestyle. Persons with a history of mental disorders had higher rates of current depression (31.82% vs. 13.07%). At least half of participants were accepting (at least to a moderate degree) a non-bizarre conspiracy. The highest Relative Risk (RR) to develop depression was associated with history of Bipolar disorder and self-harm/attempts (RR=5.88). Suicidality was not increased in persons without a history of any mental disorder. Based on these results a model was developed. Conclusions: The final model revealed multiple vulnerabilities and an interplay leading from simple anxiety to probable depression and suicidality through distress. This could be of practical utility since many of these factors are modifiable. Future research and interventions should specifically focus on them.