We examined the associations of lockdown stringency and duration with Google searches for four mental health concepts (i.e., “Anxiety,” “Depression,” “Suicide,” “Mental Health”) in nine countries (i.e., Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Paraguay, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We retrieved national-level data for each country from Google Trends and the Global Panel Database of Pandemic Policies. In our primary analysis, we used data from all countries to estimate a set of multilevel regression models examining associations of overall lockdown stringency and lockdown duration with relative search volumes for each mental health term. We repeated the models after replacing overall lockdown stringency with each of the lockdown stringency components. A negative association was found between overall lockdown stringency and “Depression.” Lockdown duration and the most stringent stay-at-home requirements were negatively associated with “Anxiety.” Policies that recommended or required the cancelation of public events evidenced negative associations with “Depression,” whereas associations between policies that required some or all levels of schooling to close and “Depression” were positive. Policies that recommended or required workplaces to close and those that enforced quarantines on non-citizens arriving from high-risk regions or closed borders entirely were negatively associated with “Suicide.” Lockdown duration and some lockdown policies during the COVID-19 pandemic were generally associated with significantly lower, rather than higher, Google searches for selected mental health terms. These findings could be used alongside other evidence to develop future lockdown strategies that are sensitive to mental health issues during public health crises.

Background. Acne vulgaris causes profound negative physical, psychological and social effects on self-image and a negative impact on the quality of life. Most research so far has been limited to adults, and little is known about the emotion regulation, medication adherence, clinical dimensions and psychopathology symptoms in young people with acne vulgaris. Methods. A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in a center in western Turkey. Ninety-six adolescents with acne vulgaris and 100 controls participated in the study. All participants completed self-report questionnaires including the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Difficulties in emotion regulation scale (DERS) and Morisky medication adherence scale-8 (MMAS-8). Acne severity was assessed with The Global Acne Grading Score (GAGS). Results. Acne vulgaris patients showed poorer SDQ and DERS scores reflecting the emotional regulation problems and psychopathological symptoms compared to healthy controls. The percentages of high, medium and low adherence were 6%, 36% and 58% for oral medication; and 17.39%, 56.52% and 26.09% for topical medication, respectively. There were significant correlations between all SDQ subscale scores and the scores for the impulsivity subscale and total scores of DERS. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between MMAS-8 and the choice of topical/oral medication. Likewise, GAGS were correlated with three specific SDQ domains: emotional symptoms, prosocial behavior and total scores, and with three specific DERS domains: clarity, strategy and total scores. Conclusions. Maladaptive emotion regulation strategies of patients with acne vulgaris may be associated with higher psychopathological symptoms and lower beliefs in treatment efficacy. It is important to include emotional regulation interventions to improve medication adherence and quality of health care in young acne patients.