TY  - JOUR
AU  - Haucke, Matthias
AU  - Liu, Shuyan
AU  - Heinzel, Stephan
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/8/26
TI  - The Persistence of the Impact of COVID-19–Related Distress, Mood Inertia, and Loneliness on Mental Health During a Postlockdown Period in Germany: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
JO  - JMIR Ment Health
SP  - e29419
VL  - 8
IS  - 8
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - outbreaks
KW  - epidemics
KW  - pandemics
KW  - psychological responses and emotional well-being
KW  - ecological momentary assessment
KW  - risk and protective factors
KW  - low incidence and restrictions
AB  - Background: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 increased mental health problems globally. However, little is known about mental health problems during a low-incidence period of the pandemic without strict public health measures. Objective: We aim to investigate whether COVID-19–related risk factors for mental health problems persist beyond lockdown measures. We targeted a vulnerable population that is at risk of developing low mental health and assessed their daily dynamics of mood and emotion regulation after a strict lockdown. Methods: During a postlockdown period in Germany (between August 8, 2020, and November 1, 2020), we conducted an ecological momentary assessment with 131 participants who experienced at least mild COVID-19–related distress and loneliness. To estimate negative mood inertia, we built a lag-1 three-level autoregressive model. Results: We found that information exposure and active daily COVID-19 cases did not have an impact on negative mood amid a postlockdown period. However, there was a day-to-day carryover effect of negative mood. In addition, worrying about COVID-19, feeling restricted by COVID-19, and feeling lonely increased negative mood. Conclusions: The mental health of a vulnerable population is still challenged by COVID-19–related stressors after the lifting of a strict lockdown. This study highlights the need to protect mental health during postpandemic periods. 
SN  - 2368-7959
UR  - https://mental.jmir.org/2021/8/e29419
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/29419
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34347622
DO  - 10.2196/29419
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/29419
ER  -