Individuals who have been incarcerated are a vulnerable group in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only are they already isolated from the general population, but the rise of the pandemic has influenced a reduction in social interaction between inmates which poses as a threat for their mental health.

Psychological Effect of COVID-19 on Prisoners

The global population of refugees and asylum seekers is continually growing as people are being forcibly displaced from their homes and are fleeing their countries. These forced displacements are largely due to human rights violations, amongst other reasons, which leads to a disproportionately high percentage of mental health issues in these groups. Not only is their access to proper sanitation and necessary food supply severely limited at this time but the restriction of community-based support due to social distancing procedures is having detrimental psychosocial effects. Many people in these groups are also the victims of xenophobia and are being blamed for "spreading the virus". 

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers

COVID-19 is more severe in older age groups and in those with common age-associated comorbidities, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Therefore, the COVID-19 crisis is drastically affecting the quality of life of older adults, especially those living in retirement homes. In their effort to prevent infections, retirement homes have been forced to separate residents from the outside world and to reduce their activities and programs. These decisions have impacted residents’ wellbeing and mental health.

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on the Elderly in Care Homes


The effects the pandemic/COVID may be having on motivation in students who have to work online.

Pandemic's effect on Motivation in Students

Results from a study which asked caregivers in Italy and Spain to report changes seen in their children (aged 3-18) after going through isolation or quarantine showed that 85.7% of them perceived changes in both the emotional state and behaviors of their kids. These emotional changes included increases in: difficulty concentrating (76.6%), boredom (52%), irritability (39%), restlessness (38.8%), nervousness (38%), feelings of loneliness (31.3%), uneasiness (30.4%), and worries (30.1%). The behavioral changes seen were more screen-time, less physical activity, and more sleep. It was seen that difficult family situations caused more stress and more emotional issues within the kids. Caregivers who reported themselves as feeling more stressed reported that their children also appeared more worrisome and anxious which can indicate the effect of the caregivers’ mentality on the children’s psychological changes.

Psychological effect of COVID-19 on youth quarantined or isolated

The COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges for adolescents because of disruptions in both school and social life.

Psychological effects of Covid-19 on Adolescents

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected the education experience of students. The lockdowns had serious implications on students' mental health, resulting in psychological problems including frustration, stress, and depression

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on Students

The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a worldwide encouragement of quarantine and isolation protocols to curb the spread of the disease. However, these self-quarantining practices may prove detrimental to the mental and psychological well-being of individuals at home with abusive family or household members, increasing the risk of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on Individuals Subjected to Household Abuse

A qualitative study conducted in China evaluated the psychological effects of COVID-19 on parents of hospitalized neonatal patients, as they tend to endure more stress than the general population (a separate study mentioned in this article (n=307) showed that 22% parents of hospitalized newborns experienced anxiety and 29% had depression. This study, which took place in China and surveyed parents of patients admitted within two weeks of the initial response to COVID, acted to evaluate the psychological needs of parents and propose suggestions to help alleviate their stress. This article identified 5 themes of parents’ needs: 

1. Urgent demand for timely up-to-date information on the child’s condition
2. Need for psychological and emotional support
3. Reduction of inconvenience cause by the epidemic outbreak
4. Demand for protective information after discharge
5. Demand for financial support

This study proposed that installing changes in hospitals to tailor medical services to each family would be helpful in fulfilling those needs and alleviating their stress. 

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on Parents of Hospitalized Newborns

- Caregivers of people with mental health disorders 
- Parents of hospitalized newborns
- People quarantined or isolated
- People quarantined in abusive households 
- Patients with confirmed and suspected infections
- People who have had close contacts with patients
- People who refused to seek medical treatment
- People who are incarcerated  
- People with mental health disorders
- Medical care personnel/Health care workers
- Susceptible groups (elderly, children, pregnant women)
- Homeless population
- Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers
- People who experience financial hardship and/or unemployment
- Mental health providers

City University of New York

Columbia University

University of Pennsylvania

Washington State University at Tri-Cities

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Wayne State University

University of California, Davis

The psychological effect COVID-19 is having on the populations affected by the pandemic

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

Duan, L., & Zhu, G. (2020). Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(4), 300-302.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(20)30073-0/fulltext

Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic

Yao, H., Chen, J., & Xu, Y. (2020). Patients with mental health disorders in the COVID-19 epidemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(4), E21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30090-0
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2215-0366%2820%2930090-0

Patients with mental health disorders in the COVID-19 epidemic

Eckardt, J. (2020). Caregivers of people with severe mental illness in the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(8), E53. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30252-2
https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2215-0366%2820%2930252-2

Caregivers of people with severe mental illness in the COVID-19 pandemic

Spoorthy, M. S., Pratapa, S. K., & Mahant, S. (2020). Mental health problems faced by healthcare workers due to the COVID-19 pandemic-A review. Asian journal of psychiatry, 51, 102119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102119


Mental Health Problems Faced by Healthcare Workers due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Endale, T., Jean, N. S., &amp; Birman, D. (2020). COVID-19 and refugee and immigrant youth: A community-based mental health perspective. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1). http://doi:10.1037/tra0000875

COVID-19 and refugee and immigrant youth: A community-based mental health perspective

Stewart, A., Cossar, R., &amp; Stoové, M. (2020). The response to COVID-19 in prisons must consider the broader mental health impacts for people in prison. Australian &amp; New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 000486742093780. http://doi:10.1177/0004867420937806

The response to COVID-19 in prisons must consider the broader mental health impacts for people in prison

Vieira, C. M., Franco, O. H., Restrepo, C. G., &amp; Abel, T. (2020). COVID-19: The forgotten priorities of the pandemic. Maturitas, 136, 38-41. http://doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2020.04.004

COVID-19: The forgotten priorities of the pandemic

Bukuluki, P., Mwenyango, H., Katongole, S. P., Sidhva, D., &amp; Palattiyil, G. (2020). The socio-economic and psychosocial impact of Covid-19 pandemic on urban refugees in Uganda. Social Sciences &amp; Humanities Open, 2(1). http://doi:10.1016/j.ssaho.2020.100045

The socioeconomic and psychosocial impact of Covid-19 pandemic on urban refugees in Uganda 

Xiong, J., Lipsitz, O., Nasri, F., Lui, L. M. W., Gill, H., Phan, L., … McIntyre, R. S. (2020, August 8). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032720325891. 

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review

Populations affected psychologically by the COVID-19 pandemic

- Historically, exaggerated fear of infection compared to other conditions because infection is rapid, invisible, and imminent; patient is a victim and a vector; high mortality and ever evolving
- Psychosocial consequences in previous acute outbreaks (SARS) included stigmatization caused by lack of preparedness that amplified physiological and psychological effects; fear, denial, frustration, three stages in the response to fear
- Psychosocial consequences of gradually evolving epidemics (AIDS): activism as double-edged sword where awareness augments health literacy but also enhances fear/sense of threat, especially when misinterpreted by media
- Fear of forthcoming epidemics (avian influenza, mad cow disease): highlighting subconscious and memories of past epidemics and how that distorts our perception and response to the perceived threat

Fear, germ panic, and psychosocial consequences of infectious diseases

There have been many studies conducted on the psychological impact COVID-19 has on different age groups.

COVID-19 Psychological Impacts Studied in Different Countries

There are several psychological factors that heavily effect the progression of the development of the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Psychological factors effecting COVID-19 vaccine progression 

Psychological effects on Covid-19 outcomes

- By Organization
- By Newspaper/Magazine/Website
-  By Educational Institution
- By Journal

References for Psychological Effects in COVID-19 Pandemic

In times of disaster, people turn to religion for comfort and explanation. In the article In Crisis, We Pray, the Abstract points out that the COVID-19 pandemic has created loss, anxiety, and a general sense of fear in a lot of communities. Bentzen researched that there were google searches 95 times for searches in prayer, and the prayer searches continued as churches, temples, mosques, etc. shut down due to COVID-19. There has been a demand for soul searching. Key Words: COVID-19 Pandemic, psychological coping, religiosity, empirical analysis, google search data.

In Crisis we Pray: Abstract 


The global pandemic has severely impacted our mental health. It is important to recognize how changes in our normal lives such as isolation, grief, financial instability, etc. have been the cause to changes in our behavioral psychology. 

The impacts of COVID-19 on behavioral health

To many, the COVID-19 pandemic was a traumatic life event. As such, it is possible that individuals may experience PTSD symptoms after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of PTSD

The World Happiness is an annual report produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.  The report primarily uses data gathered by the Gallup World Poll, and other additional sources, the study produces articles, rankings, and other figures.  It uses factors gathered from the surveys and other quality of life factors during the formation of the report.  

Learn Before

Related

Learn After