Our study aimed to investigate the immediate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and quality of life among local Chinese residents aged ≥18 years in Liaoning Province, mainland China. An online survey was distributed through a social media platform between January and February 2020. Participants completed a modified validated questionnaire that assessed the Impact of Event Scale (IES), indicators of negative mental health impacts, social and family support, and mental health-related lifestyle changes. A total of 263 participants (106 males and 157 females) completed the study. The mean age of the participants was 37.7 ± 14.0 years, and 74.9% had a high level of education. The mean IES score in the participants was 13.6 ± 7.7, reflecting a mild stressful impact. Only 7.6% of participants had an IES score ≥26. The majority of participants (53.3%) did not feel helpless due to the pandemic. On the other hand, 52.1% of participants felt horrified and apprehensive due to the pandemic. Additionally, the majority of participants (57.8–77.9%) received increased support from friends and family members, increased shared feeling and caring with family members and others. In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with mild stressful impact in our sample, even though the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing. These findings would need to be verified in larger population studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a profound impact on health and well-being of populations. However, there are limited studies that have investigated the psychological aspects of vulnerable groups including pregnant women amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we aimed to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among Chinese pregnant women from February 2020 until March 2020. Our study was conducted using a modified validated online questionnaire comprising of sociodemographic, the Impact of Event Scale (IES), attitude and mental health-related questions towards COVID-19. A total of 560 women were included. The overall mean age and IES of women was 25.8 ± 2.7 years and 31.4 ± 13.7. Moreover, 67.1% of them had IES ⩾26. Psychological impact seemed to be more severe in women in second trimester of pregnancy (the highest IES) (p = .016). There was a significant association between trimesters of pregnancy and some indicators of negative health impacts (including increased stress from work, increased stress from home, feeling apprehensive and helpless during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic) (all p < .05). Our results reported moderate-to-severe stressful impact among Chinese pregnant women. We recommend that appropriate measures should be taken to address the maternal mental health issues.

Background Since 23^rd January 2020, the Chinese government has imposed restrictive measures including self-isolation, travel restrictions and lockdown of Wuhan city in order to prevent the incoming waves of COVID-19 outbreak in the country. However, the impact of mental health and stress concerns on relationship and sexuality amidst the COVID-19 lockdown was currently unclear. Aim The cross-sectional study was designed to determine the changes in health, relationship and sexuality among the Chinese couples who lived together amid the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods Participants of Chinese nationality aged ≥18 years were asked to complete a self-administered online questionnaire regarding sexuality behaviour and impact of event scale (IES) in March 2020. Non-random sampling was used for participant recruitment. Also assessed were sociodemographic data including sex, age, employment, region, sexual dysfunction, and whether participants tested positive for COVID-19. Outcomes IES score, frequency of sexual intercourse per week, quality of usual sex life, emotional bonding and duration of relationship were measured. Results A total of 1139 participants (i.e., 735 males and 404 females) were included in the study. Mean age and IES of participants was 33.6±9.5 years and 27.4±8.6, respectively. Being male was significantly associated with increased frequency of sexual intercourse amid the COVID-19 pandemic (P=0.012). Also, participants with an IES score <26 were more likely to report that they had increased frequency of sexual intercourse per week (P<0.001) and the COVID-19 pandemic had positively affected the quality of their usual sex lives (P<0.001). On the other hand, participants with IES score ≥26 were more likely to report that the COVID-19 pandemic had positively affected their emotional bonding (P<0.001). Clinical implications Frequency of sexual intercourse and quality of sex life in participants who experienced high stressful impact were more likely to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Strengths and limitations This was one of the first studies to assess sexual behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chinese adults. Since participants were asked to self-report their sexual behaviour, this potentially introduced self-reporting and recall bias into our findings. Conclusions Our study reported that despite the moderate-to-severe stressful impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority reported no significant changes in the frequency of their sexual intercourse per week, quality of their usual sexual lives and emotional bonding.