Increase in Depression and Anxiety Among Australian Gay and Bisexual Men During COVID-19 Restrictions: Findings from a Prospective Online Cohort Study

We examined depression and anxiety prior to and during COVID-19 restrictions in Australian gay and bisexual men (GBM). In an online cohort, a COVID-19-focused survey was conducted in April 2020. During 2019 and in April 2020, 664 GBM completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9, measuring depre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of sexual behavior 2022, Vol.51 (1), p.355-364
Main Authors: Bavinton, Benjamin R., Chan, Curtis, Hammoud, Mohamed A., Maher, Lisa, Haire, Bridget, Degenhardt, Louisa, Holt, Martin, Lea, Toby, Bath, Nicky, Storer, Daniel, Jin, Fenyi, Grulich, Andrew E., Bourne, Adam, Saxton, Peter, Prestage, Garrett P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Anxiety - diagnosis
Anxiety - epidemiology
Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis
Anxiety Disorders - epidemiology
Australia - epidemiology
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Cohort analysis
Cohort Studies
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Depression - diagnosis
Depression - epidemiology
Humans
LGBTQ people
Male
Mens health
Mental depression
Mental health
Pandemics
Prospective Studies
Psychology
Public Health
SARS-CoV-2
Sexual and Gender Minorities
Sexual Behavior
Shelter in place
Social isolation
Social Sciences
Special Section: Impact of Covid-19 on Sexual Health and Behavior
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We examined depression and anxiety prior to and during COVID-19 restrictions in Australian gay and bisexual men (GBM). In an online cohort, a COVID-19-focused survey was conducted in April 2020. During 2019 and in April 2020, 664 GBM completed the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9, measuring depression) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7, measuring anxiety). Increased depression and anxiety were defined as a ≥ 5 point increase on the respective scales. Mean PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores increased between 2019 and 2020 (PHQ-9: from 5.11 in 2019 to 6.55 in 2020; GAD-7: from 3.80 in 2019 to 4.95 in 2020). The proportion of participants with moderate-severe depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) increased from 18.8% ( n  = 125) to 25.5% ( n  = 169), while the proportion of participants with moderate-severe anxiety (GAD-7 ≥ 10) increased from 12.7% ( n  = 84) to 17.3% ( n  = 115). Almost one-quarter of participants ( n  = 158, 23.8%) had increased depression; in these men, mean PHQ-9 increased from 2.49 in 2019 to 11.65 in 2020 ( p  
ISSN:0004-0002
1573-2800
DOI:10.1007/s10508-021-02276-2