Depression, Anxiety and Stress during COVID-19: Associations with Changes in Physical Activity, Sleep, Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Australian Adults

Robert Stanton, Quyen G. To, Saman Khalesi, Susan L. Williams, Stephanie J. Alley, Tanya L. Thwaite, Andrew S. Fenning and Corneel Vandelanotte
Additional contact information
Robert Stanton: Cluster for Resilience and Well-being, Appleton Institute, Central Queensland University, 44 Greenhill Road, Wayville 5043, Australia
Quyen G. To: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia
Saman Khalesi: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia
Susan L. Williams: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia
Stephanie J. Alley: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia
Tanya L. Thwaite: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia
Andrew S. Fenning: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia
Corneel Vandelanotte: School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, Queensland 4702, Australia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has enforced dramatic changes to daily living including economic and health impacts. Evidence for the impact of these changes on our physical and mental health and health behaviors is limited. We examined the associations between psychological distress and changes in selected health behaviors since the onset of COVID-19 in Australia. An online survey was distributed in April 2020 and included measures of depression, anxiety, stress, physical activity, sleep, alcohol intake and cigarette smoking. The survey was completed by 1491 adults (mean age 50.5 ± 14.9 years, 67% female). Negative change was reported for physical activity (48.9%), sleep (40.7%), alcohol (26.6%) and smoking (6.9%) since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Significantly higher scores in one or more psychological distress states were found for females, and those not in a relationship, in the lowest income category, aged 18–45 years, or with a chronic illness. Negative changes in physical activity, sleep, smoking and alcohol intake were associated with higher depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. Health-promotion strategies directed at adopting or maintaining positive health-related behaviors should be utilized to address increases in psychological distress during the pandemic. Ongoing evaluation of the impact of lifestyle changes associated with the pandemic is needed.

Keywords: psychological distress; COVID; health behaviors; physical activity; smoking; alcohol intake (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4065/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/4065/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:4065-:d:368323

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().