<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The aim of the study was to determine the extent to which people in Serbia in the post-pandemic period assess the impact of coronavirus pandemic on their mental/professional functioning, and whether this assessment is correlated with the occurrence of suicidal ideation and behaviours. The retrospective-prospective study was conducted online via Google Forms during January 2023. The sample included 341 respondents from the general population, 250 women (73.3%) and 91 men (26.7%), aged from 19 to 72 (M=36.41, SD=14.72). Sociodemographic questionnaire, a questionnaire on the pandemic effects, and the Risk Assessment Suicidality Scale were used to obtain data. The respondents assessed the pandemic not to have exerted a significant effect on their mental life (M=1.19±0.84) and professional functioning (M=1.55±1.02). The women, university students, pensioners and single respondents reported a greater impact of the pandemic on mental functioning, while university students and single respondents reported a greater impact on professional functioning. The respondents who were assessed to be at suicide risk (15.8%) reported a higher effect of the pandemic on mental (U=5385, p&lt;0.001) and professional functioning (U=5799, p&lt;0.01). Multivariant binary logistic regression showed that having a family history of mental disorders (odds ratio 2.73), younger age (OR, 1.1) and not being in a relationship (OR, 0.49) increased suicide risk in this sample. Results are in line with previous findings indicating that women, university students and pensioners reported a higher effect of the pandemic on the level of stress, depression and anxiety symptoms. The study also speaks in favour of a specific vulnerability of people suffering from mental difficulties after the pandemic.</p>
</abstract>

The aim of the study was to determine the extent to which people in Serbia in the post-pandemic period assess the impact of coronavirus pandemic on their mental/professional functioning, and whether this assessment is correlated with the occurrence of suicidal ideation and behaviours. The retrospective-prospective study was conducted online via Google Forms during January 2023. The sample included 341 respondents from the general population, 250 women (73.3%) and 91 men (26.7%), aged from 19 to 72 (M=36.41, SD=14.72). Sociodemographic questionnaire, a questionnaire on the pandemic effects, and the Risk Assessment Suicidality Scale were used to obtain data. The respondents assessed the pandemic not to have exerted a significant effect on their mental life (M=1.19±0.84) and professional functioning (M=1.55±1.02). The women, university students, pensioners and single respondents reported a greater impact of the pandemic on mental functioning, while university students and single respondents reported a greater impact on professional functioning. The respondents who were assessed to be at suicide risk (15.8%) reported a higher effect of the pandemic on mental (U=5385, p<0.001) and professional functioning (U=5799, p<0.01). Multivariant binary logistic regression showed that having a family history of mental disorders (odds ratio 2.73), younger age (OR, 1.1) and not being in a relationship (OR, 0.49) increased suicide risk in this sample. Results are in line with previous findings indicating that women, university students and pensioners reported a higher effect of the pandemic on the level of stress, depression and anxiety symptoms. The study also speaks in favour of a specific vulnerability of people suffering from mental difficulties after the pandemic.

The Perceived Assessment of Covid-19 Impact on Mental Functioning and Suicidality in Adult Population of Serbia

University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences

Experimental and Applied Biomedical Research (EABR)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The aim of the study was to determine the extent to which people in Serbia in the post-pandemic period assess the impact of coronavirus pandemic on their...

The Perceived Assessment of Covid-19 Impact on Mental Functioning and Suicidality in Adult Population of Serbia

Published Online: Mar 01, 2024

Page range: -

Received: Oct 10, 2023

Accepted: Jan 04, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eabr-2024-0001

Keywords
COVID-19, pandemic, mental functioning, suicidality

© 2024 Mladenović Milena et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The Perceived Assessment of Covid-19 Impact on Mental Functioning and Suicidality in Adult Population of Serbia

Published Online: Mar 01, 2024

Page range: -

Received: Oct 10, 2023

Accepted: Jan 04, 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/eabr-2024-0001

KeywordsCOVID-19, pandemic, mental functioning, suicidality

© 2024 Mladenović Milena et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
COVID-19, pandemic, mental functioning, suicidality