Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar)

Bárbara-Cristina da-Silva-Lopes; Pedro Gil-da-Silva-Lopes; Rusi Jaspal

doi:10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461

Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar)

Bárbara-Cristina da-Silva-Lopes, Pedro Gil-da-Silva-Lopes, Rusi Jaspal

Vice-Chancellor's Office

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This study examined the impact of being in lockdown, perceived COVID-19 symptomatology and exposure to COVID-19 risk representations on state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology in a UK sample based on data from 348 participants. In this between-subjects experiment, individuals were randomly assigned to view either a video focusing on the high mortality rate during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK (COVID-19 risk news) or a news video about the Eden reforestation project focusing on planting trees to address the impact of climate change (control condition). Results showed no effect of being in lockdown on depressive symptomatology but did show an effect of the video condition on depression. Moreover, those with perceived COVID-19 symptomatology exhibited higher levels of state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology. Overall, results suggest that, while accurate risk appraisal is important, health communication concerning COVID-19 must inform, reassure and empower people to take effective action against the pandemic.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	615-651
Number of pages	37
Journal	Studies in Psychology
Volume	42
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461
Publication status	Published - 23 Aug 2021

Bibliographical note

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

Keywords

COVID-19
anxiety
depression
lockdown
risk
social representations
stress

Access to Document

10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

02109395.2021Final published version, 1.16 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this

da-Silva-Lopes, B-C., Gil-da-Silva-Lopes, P., & Jaspal, R. (2021). Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar). Studies in Psychology, 42(3), 615-651. https://doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461

da-Silva-Lopes, Bárbara-Cristina ; Gil-da-Silva-Lopes, Pedro ; Jaspal, Rusi. / Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar). In: Studies in Psychology. 2021 ; Vol. 42, No. 3. pp. 615-651.

@article{a0b14b2dd4634a2989e28ec0eaa10f33,

title = "Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposici{\'o}n al COVID-19 y s{\'i}ntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar)",

abstract = "This study examined the impact of being in lockdown, perceived COVID-19 symptomatology and exposure to COVID-19 risk representations on state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology in a UK sample based on data from 348 participants. In this between-subjects experiment, individuals were randomly assigned to view either a video focusing on the high mortality rate during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK (COVID-19 risk news) or a news video about the Eden reforestation project focusing on planting trees to address the impact of climate change (control condition). Results showed no effect of being in lockdown on depressive symptomatology but did show an effect of the video condition on depression. Moreover, those with perceived COVID-19 symptomatology exhibited higher levels of state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology. Overall, results suggest that, while accurate risk appraisal is important, health communication concerning COVID-19 must inform, reassure and empower people to take effective action against the pandemic.",

keywords = "COVID-19, anxiety, depression, lockdown, risk, social representations, stress",

author = "B{\'a}rbara-Cristina da-Silva-Lopes and Pedro Gil-da-Silva-Lopes and Rusi Jaspal",

note = "This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.",

year = "2021",

month = aug,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461",

language = "English",

volume = "42",

pages = "615--651",

journal = "Studies in Psychology",

number = "3",

}

da-Silva-Lopes, B-C, Gil-da-Silva-Lopes, P & Jaspal, R 2021, 'Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar)', Studies in Psychology, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 615-651. https://doi.org/10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461

Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar). / da-Silva-Lopes, Bárbara-Cristina; Gil-da-Silva-Lopes, Pedro; Jaspal, Rusi.
In: Studies in Psychology, Vol. 42, No. 3, 23.08.2021, p. 615-651.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar)

AU - da-Silva-Lopes, Bárbara-Cristina

AU - Gil-da-Silva-Lopes, Pedro

AU - Jaspal, Rusi

N1 - This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.

PY - 2021/8/23

Y1 - 2021/8/23

N2 - This study examined the impact of being in lockdown, perceived COVID-19 symptomatology and exposure to COVID-19 risk representations on state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology in a UK sample based on data from 348 participants. In this between-subjects experiment, individuals were randomly assigned to view either a video focusing on the high mortality rate during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK (COVID-19 risk news) or a news video about the Eden reforestation project focusing on planting trees to address the impact of climate change (control condition). Results showed no effect of being in lockdown on depressive symptomatology but did show an effect of the video condition on depression. Moreover, those with perceived COVID-19 symptomatology exhibited higher levels of state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology. Overall, results suggest that, while accurate risk appraisal is important, health communication concerning COVID-19 must inform, reassure and empower people to take effective action against the pandemic.

AB - This study examined the impact of being in lockdown, perceived COVID-19 symptomatology and exposure to COVID-19 risk representations on state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology in a UK sample based on data from 348 participants. In this between-subjects experiment, individuals were randomly assigned to view either a video focusing on the high mortality rate during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK (COVID-19 risk news) or a news video about the Eden reforestation project focusing on planting trees to address the impact of climate change (control condition). Results showed no effect of being in lockdown on depressive symptomatology but did show an effect of the video condition on depression. Moreover, those with perceived COVID-19 symptomatology exhibited higher levels of state depressive, anxious and stress symptomatology. Overall, results suggest that, while accurate risk appraisal is important, health communication concerning COVID-19 must inform, reassure and empower people to take effective action against the pandemic.

KW - COVID-19

KW - anxiety

KW - depression

KW - lockdown

KW - risk

KW - social representations

KW - stress

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113760125&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461

DO - 10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461

M3 - Article

VL - 42

SP - 615

EP - 651

JO - Studies in Psychology

JF - Studies in Psychology

IS - 3

ER -

da-Silva-Lopes B-C, Gil-da-Silva-Lopes P, Jaspal R. Exposure to COVID-19 risk representations and state depressive symptoms in a United Kingdom sample: a preliminary experimental study (Representaciones de riesgos referentes a la exposición al COVID-19 y síntomas depresivos actuales en una muestra del Reino Unido: un estudio experimental preliminar). Studies in Psychology. 2021 Aug 23;42(3):615-651. doi: 10.1080/02109395.2021.1950461