Investigating the effect of quarantine caused by COVID-19 on mental health and social trust

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to examine the effect of quarantine caused by COVID-19 on people's mental health and social trust. METHOD: In this study, the sample size covers 2919 people in the southwest of Iran that was selected cluster sample method and was evaluated online using tools of social trust and a checklist of mental disorder syndrome. RESULTS: Due to the results, COVID-19 affected all people's mental health negatively, but there was a significant difference between the rates of COVID-19 caused anxiety and the dimensions of the psychological problems and social trust different between men and women and married and single people, and also the education level. There was no significant relationship between any of the demographic variables and social trust variables, corona anxiety, and dimensions of psychological problems. And there was a negative and significant relationship between the dimensions of social trust and the dimensions of psychological problems. Moreover, the social trust rate in the subjects was desirable. Based on the results and the cutoff point of 2.5 as a border of healthy and unhealthy psychological dimensions, 4.5% had pathological anxiety, 7.3% had pathological depression, 5% had aggression, and 5.9 % had pathological obsessive-compulsive disorder. Depression had the highest scores, and aggression had the lowest scores. CONCLUSION: Due to this study's results, policymakers should consider measures that should be taken in crisis to support all people, especially vulnerable people in psychological, economic, social, spiritual, and psychological fields. On the other hand, the government must train the public through the mass media to cope with COVID-19.