TABLE 1. Respondent characteristics and prevalence of adverse mental health outcomes, increased substance use to cope with stress or emotions related to COVID-19 pandemic, and suicidal ideation — United States, June 24–30, 2020.
| Characteristic | All respondents who completed surveys during June 24–30, 2020 weighted* no. (%) | Weighted %* |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditions |
Started or increased substance use to cope with pandemic-related stress or emotions¶ | Seriously considered suicide in past 30 days | ≥1 adverse mental or behavioral health symptom | |||||
| Anxiety disorder† | Depressive disorder† | Anxiety or depressive disorder† | COVID-19–related TSRD§ | |||||
|
All respondents
|
5,470 (100)
|
25.5
|
24.3
|
30.9
|
26.3
|
13.3
|
10.7
|
40.9
|
|
Gender
| ||||||||
| Female |
2,784 (50.9) |
26.3 |
23.9 |
31.5 |
24.7 |
12.2 |
8.9 |
41.4 |
| Male |
2,676 (48.9) |
24.7 |
24.8 |
30.4 |
27.9 |
14.4 |
12.6 |
40.5 |
| Other |
10 (0.2) |
20.0 |
30.0 |
30.0 |
30.0 |
10.0 |
0.0 |
30.0 |
|
Age group (yrs)
| ||||||||
| 18–24 |
731 (13.4) |
49.1 |
52.3 |
62.9 |
46.0 |
24.7 |
25.5 |
74.9 |
| 25–44 |
1,911 (34.9) |
35.3 |
32.5 |
40.4 |
36.0 |
19.5 |
16.0 |
51.9 |
| 45–64 |
1,895 (34.6) |
16.1 |
14.4 |
20.3 |
17.2 |
7.7 |
3.8 |
29.5 |
| ≥65 |
933 (17.1) |
6.2 |
5.8 |
8.1 |
9.2 |
3.0 |
2.0 |
15.1 |
|
Race/Ethnicity
| ||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic |
3,453 (63.1) |
24.0 |
22.9 |
29.2 |
23.3 |
10.6 |
7.9 |
37.8 |
| Black, non-Hispanic |
663 (12.1) |
23.4 |
24.6 |
30.2 |
30.4 |
18.4 |
15.1 |
44.2 |
| Asian, non-Hispanic |
256 (4.7) |
14.1 |
14.2 |
18.0 |
22.1 |
6.7 |
6.6 |
31.9 |
| Other race or multiple races, non-Hispanic** |
164 (3.0) |
27.8 |
29.3 |
33.2 |
28.3 |
11.0 |
9.8 |
43.8 |
| Hispanic, any race(s) |
885 (16.2) |
35.5 |
31.3 |
40.8 |
35.1 |
21.9 |
18.6 |
52.1 |
| Unknown |
50 (0.9) |
38.0 |
34.0 |
44.0 |
34.0 |
18.0 |
26.0 |
48.0 |
|
2019 Household income (USD)
| ||||||||
| <25,000 |
741 (13.6) |
30.6 |
30.8 |
36.6 |
29.9 |
12.5 |
9.9 |
45.4 |
| 25,000–49,999 |
1,123 (20.5) |
26.0 |
25.6 |
33.2 |
27.2 |
13.5 |
10.1 |
43.9 |
| 50,999–99,999 |
1,775 (32.5) |
27.1 |
24.8 |
31.6 |
26.4 |
12.6 |
11.4 |
40.3 |
| 100,999–199,999 |
1,301 (23.8) |
23.1 |
20.8 |
27.7 |
24.2 |
15.5 |
11.7 |
37.8 |
| ≥200,000 |
282 (5.2) |
17.4 |
17.0 |
20.6 |
23.1 |
14.8 |
11.6 |
35.1 |
| Unknown |
247 (4.5) |
19.6 |
23.1 |
27.2 |
24.9 |
6.2 |
3.9 |
41.5 |
|
Education
| ||||||||
| Less than high school diploma |
78 (1.4) |
44.5 |
51.4 |
57.5 |
44.5 |
22.1 |
30.0 |
66.2 |
| High school diploma |
943 (17.2) |
31.5 |
32.8 |
38.4 |
32.1 |
15.3 |
13.1 |
48.0 |
| Some college |
1,455 (26.6) |
25.2 |
23.4 |
31.7 |
22.8 |
10.9 |
8.6 |
39.9 |
| Bachelor's degree |
1,888 (34.5) |
24.7 |
22.5 |
28.7 |
26.4 |
14.2 |
10.7 |
40.6 |
| Professional degree |
1,074 (19.6) |
20.9 |
19.5 |
25.4 |
24.5 |
12.6 |
10.0 |
35.2 |
| Unknown |
33 (0.6) |
25.2 |
23.2 |
28.2 |
23.2 |
10.5 |
5.5 |
28.2 |
|
Employment status††
| ||||||||
| Employed |
3,431 (62.7) |
30.1 |
29.1 |
36.4 |
32.1 |
17.9 |
15.0 |
47.8 |
| Essential |
1,785 (32.6) |
35.5 |
33.6 |
42.4 |
38.5 |
24.7 |
21.7 |
54.0 |
| Nonessential |
1,646 (30.1) |
24.1 |
24.1 |
29.9 |
25.2 |
10.5 |
7.8 |
41.0 |
| Unemployed |
761 (13.9) |
32.0 |
29.4 |
37.8 |
25.0 |
7.7 |
4.7 |
45.9 |
| Retired |
1,278 (23.4) |
9.6 |
8.7 |
12.1 |
11.3 |
4.2 |
2.5 |
19.6 |
|
Unpaid adult caregiver status§§
| ||||||||
| Yes |
1,435 (26.2) |
47.6 |
45.2 |
56.1 |
48.4 |
32.9 |
30.7 |
66.6 |
| No |
4,035 (73.8) |
17.7 |
16.9 |
22.0 |
18.4 |
6.3 |
3.6 |
31.8 |
|
Region
¶¶
| ||||||||
| Northeast |
1,193 (21.8) |
23.9 |
23.9 |
29.9 |
22.8 |
12.8 |
10.2 |
37.1 |
| Midwest |
1,015 (18.6) |
22.7 |
21.1 |
27.5 |
24.4 |
9.0 |
7.5 |
36.1 |
| South |
1,921 (35.1) |
27.9 |
26.5 |
33.4 |
29.1 |
15.4 |
12.5 |
44.4 |
| West |
1,340 (24.5) |
25.8 |
24.2 |
30.9 |
26.7 |
14.0 |
10.9 |
43.0 |
|
Rural-urban classification***
| ||||||||
| Rural |
599 (10.9) |
26.0 |
22.5 |
29.3 |
25.4 |
11.5 |
10.2 |
38.3 |
| Urban |
4,871 (89.1) |
25.5 |
24.6 |
31.1 |
26.4 |
13.5 |
10.7 |
41.2 |
|
Know someone who had positive test results for SARS-CoV-2
| ||||||||
| Yes |
1,109 (20.3) |
23.8 |
21.9 |
29.6 |
21.5 |
12.9 |
7.5 |
39.2 |
| No |
4,361 (79.7) |
26.0 |
25.0 |
31.3 |
27.5 |
13.4 |
11.5 |
41.3 |
|
Knew someone who died from COVID-19
| ||||||||
| Yes |
428 (7.8) |
25.8 |
20.6 |
30.6 |
28.1 |
11.3 |
7.6 |
40.1 |
| No |
5,042 (92.2) |
25.5 |
24.7 |
31.0. |
26.1 |
13.4 |
10.9 |
41.0 |
|
Receiving treatment for previously diagnosed condition
| ||||||||
|
Anxiety
| ||||||||
| Yes |
536 (9.8) |
59.6 |
52.0 |
66.0 |
51.9 |
26.6 |
23.6 |
72.7 |
| No |
4,934 (90.2) |
21.8 |
21.3 |
27.1 |
23.5 |
11.8 |
9.3 |
37.5 |
|
Depression
| ||||||||
| Yes |
540 (9.9) |
52.5 |
50.6 |
60.8 |
45.5 |
25.2 |
22.1 |
68.8 |
| No |
4,930 (90.1) |
22.6 |
21.5 |
27.7 |
24.2 |
12.0 |
9.4 |
37.9 |
|
Posttraumatic stress disorder
| ||||||||
| Yes |
251 (4.6) |
72.3 |
69.1 |
78.7 |
69.4 |
43.8 |
44.8 |
88.0 |
| No | 5,219 (95.4) | 23.3 | 22.2 | 28.6 | 24.2 | 11.8 | 9.0 | 38.7 |
Abbreviations: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; TSRD = trauma- and stressor-related disorder.
* Survey weighting was employed to improve the cross-sectional June cohort representativeness of the U.S. population by gender, age, and race/ethnicity according to the 2010 U.S. Census with respondents in which gender, age, and race/ethnicity were reported. Respondents who reported a gender of “Other” or who did not report race/ethnicity were assigned a weight of one.
† Symptoms of anxiety disorder and depressive disorder were assessed via the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4). Those who scored ≥3 out of 6 on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) subscales were considered symptomatic for each disorder, respectively.
§ Disorders classified as TSRDs in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM–5) include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress disorder (ASD), and adjustment disorders (ADs), among others. Symptoms of a TSRD precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic were assessed via the six-item Impact of Event Scale (IES-6) to screen for overlapping symptoms of PTSD, ASD, and ADs. For this survey, the COVID-19 pandemic was specified as the traumatic exposure to record peri- and posttraumatic symptoms associated with the range of stressors introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who scored ≥1.75 out of 4 were considered symptomatic.
¶ 104 respondents selected “Prefer not to answer.”
** The Other race or multiple races, non-Hispanic category includes respondents who identified as not being Hispanic and as more than one race or as American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or “Other.”
†† Essential worker status was self-reported. The comparison was between employed respondents (n = 3,431) who identified as essential vs. nonessential. For this analysis, students who were not separately employed as essential workers were considered nonessential workers.
§§ Unpaid adult caregiver status was self-reported. The definition of an unpaid caregiver for adults was a person who had provided unpaid care to a relative or friend aged ≥18 years to help them take care of themselves at any time in the last 3 months. Examples provided included helping with personal needs, household chores, health care tasks, managing a person’s finances, taking them to a doctor’s appointment, arranging for outside services, and visiting regularly to see how they are doing.
¶¶ Region classification was determined by using the U.S. Census Bureau’s Census Regions and Divisions of the United States. https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf.
*** Rural-urban classification was determined by using self-reported ZIP codes according to the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy definition of rurality. https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/definition/datafiles.html.