A study of the impact of personality traits on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in China offers valuable insights into the complex interplay between personality and mental health in the context of a global crisis. 

A young Chinese woman wearing a medical face mask. Source: Kay Lau on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/woman-in-black-sweater-covering-her-face-with-her-hands-vvgSoo6fvXM

The study, co-authored by Professor Eugenio Proto, Cairncross Chair in Applied Economics and Econometrics in the Adam Smith Business School, Professor Michele Battisti, and Xiao Zhang is published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The key findings reveal that individuals with open personality traits experienced greater mental health deterioration compared to those with more neurotic traits, who were less negatively affected. This research highlights the nuanced interplay between personality traits and mental health during extreme situations like pandemics.

Using two waves of the China Family Panel Studies, the study followed the same individuals before and during the pandemic. The research finds a moderate overall increase in severe depression cases from 2018 to 2020. Individuals subjected to strict lockdowns reported greater mental health deterioration. Significantly, those with open personalities experienced more severe impacts, while more neurotic individuals were less negatively affected. 

The prevalence of severe cases of depression, measured using an eight-item version of the common Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), increased from 6.68% in 2018 to 7.86% in 2020; quantifiable as around a 18% increase. This deterioration is higher for individuals subject to strict lockdowns, about 0.4 symptoms more on average, and it is stronger among those who already reported symptoms of depression in the 2018 wave of data. 

Identifying how individuals with different personalities may have experienced mental health effects associated with the pandemic, can firstly, lead to identification of at-risk groups, as well as more personalised psychological or psychiatric treatments, especially for the post-COVID-19 period.

Secondly, understanding how different personalities are affected in China, and comparing this reaction with individuals in other countries, may improve our understanding of how extreme situations affect mental health and the link between personality and mental health.

Read the paper in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

Image credit: Photo by Kay Lau on Unsplash

First published: 13 December 2023

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