1. Stressors related to the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and the Ukraine crisis, and their impact on stress symptoms in Germany: analysis of cross-sectional survey data
- Author
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Roland Weierstall-Pust, Thomas Schnell, Philipp Heßmann, Michael Feld, Max Höfer, Anna Plate, and Matthias J. Müller
- Subjects
Covid-19 ,Ukraine war ,Climate change ,Covert stress effects ,Physical stress response ,Psychological stress response ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Abstract Background Climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Ukraine crisis are considered unprecedented global stressors, potentially associated with serious health consequences. However, simultaneous effects of these stressors are not yet understood, making it difficult to evaluate their relative contribution to the population burden and potential future manifestations in clinically significant psychiatric disorders. This study aimed at disentangling the relative contribution of the three stressor groups on current sub-clinical stress symptoms. Methods A cross-sectional, representative survey study was conducted two months after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in Germany. Proportional quota sampling was applied for age, gender, income, and regional characteristics. Data were recruited by means of an online survey. 3094 data sets (1560 females) were included. Age ranged from 18–89 (M: 50.4 years; SD: 17.2). The Subclinical Stress Questionnaire (SSQ-25) served as main outcome measure. In collaboration with a professional media agency, 20 items were generated to capture salient population stressors. A three-factor exploratory structural equation model confirmed the appropriateness of this scale. Results (1) Differences in subjective rankings revealed that stressors related to the Ukraine crisis were rated as most worrying, followed by climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic (Generalized-Linear-Model: Epsilon = .97; F(1.94, 6001.14) = 1026.12, p
- Published
- 2022
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