Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. May 19, 2025; 15(5): 104565
Published online May 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i5.104565
Impact of perceived severity on depression, anxiety, and insomnia among Chinese community residents during the COVID-19 lockdown
Jia-Xi Peng, Tian Huang, Lei Wang, Yang Yu, Jia-Xi Zhang, Jin Wang
Jia-Xi Peng, Mental Health Education Center, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan Province, China
Tian Huang, Yang Yu, College of Teachers, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610106, Sichuan Province, China
Lei Wang, Department of Medical Psychology, Strategic Support Force Medical Center, Beijing 100875, China
Jia-Xi Zhang, Department of Political Theory, Rocket Force University of Engineering, Xi’an 710025, Shaanxi Province, China
Jin Wang, Department of Aviation Psychology, Air Force Medical Center of PLA, Beijing 100037, China
Co-corresponding authors: Jin Wang and Jia-Xi Zhang.
Author contributions: Peng JX, Wang L, Zhang JX, and Wang J designed the study, methodology, and performed the research; Peng JX, Huang T, Zhang JX, and Wang J wrote and revised the manuscript; Yu Y revised the format; Peng JX and Wang J contributed to the analytic tools, software, and visualization; Wang J and Zhang JX contributed equally to this manuscript as co-corresponding authors; and all the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Young Talent Project of Air Force Medical Center, No. 2022YXQN008; and Rapid Response Project of Air Force Medical University, No. 2023KXKT041.
Institutional review board statement: The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. This study was approved by the Clinical Trial Ethics Committee of Chengdu University (No. 2022CDU87726).
Informed consent statement: The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The dataset used in this study is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jin Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Aviation Psychology, Air Force Medical Center of PLA, No. 30 Fucheng Road, Beijing 100037, China. 3821899063@qq.com
Received: December 25, 2024
Revised: February 12, 2025
Accepted: March 17, 2025
Published online: May 19, 2025
Processing time: 127 Days and 5.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Depression, anxiety, and insomnia were found out that were significant relevance to the mental health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown.

AIM

To examine the interrelationships among perceived severity, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and sense of security in Chinese community residents during the COVID-19 lockdown period.

METHODS

Participants were selected using simple random sampling from four large gated communities in Chengdu, China. All participants were invited to complete a survey that included the Perceived Severity Questionnaire, Security Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item, and Insomnia Severity Index-7. In total, 568 valid questionnaires were gathered. Correlation analysis and structural equation models were used to explore the relationship between perceived severity, sense of security, depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

RESULTS

The observed prevalence rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia among residents during lockdown were 27.5%, 17.6%, and 16.0%, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that both perceived severity and sense of security were positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and insomnia [Pearson’s r was perceived severity and anxiety r = 0.44 (P < 0.01); with depression r = 0.48 (P < 0.01); with insomnia r = 0.43 (P < 0.01); security with anxiety r = -0.65 (P < 0.01); with depression r = -0.65 (P < 0.01); with insomnia r = -0.53 (P < 0.01)]. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap tests revealed that sense of security acted as a significant mediator in the relationship between perceived severity and emotional and sleep disorders (anxiety, depression, and insomnia).

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that sense of security is a significant predictor of emotional and sleep disorders (namely, depression, anxiety, and insomnia) among residents during the COVID-19 lockdown, with sense of security acting as a mediating factor. These findings suggest that mental health interventions for Chinese community residents during lockdowns may benefit from developing community-based educational programs to reduce perceived severity and ensuring the stable supply of essential resources and promoting social support networks to enhance the sense of security.

Keywords: Perceived severity; Sense of security; Depression; Anxiety; Insomnia; Structural equation modeling; COVID-19

Core Tip: The observed prevalence rates of anxiety, depression, and insomnia among residents during lockdown were 27.5%, 17.6%, and 16.0%, respectively during the coronavirus disease 2019 lockdown. Perceived severity is a significant predictor of emotional and sleep disorders (namely, depression, anxiety, and insomnia) among residents. Structural equation modeling and bootstrap tests revealed that sense of security acted as a significant mediator in the relationship between perceived severity and emotional and sleep disorders (anxiety, depression, and insomnia).