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Are thoughts and behaviours of individuals with schizophrenia more susceptible to being influenced during pandemic situations? A glimpse provided by the COVID-19 pandemic

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Abstract

Individuals with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia may be more vulnerable during pandemics, but research on this topic is limited. This study examined COVID-19 impact on a population affected by schizophrenia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Levels of psychological distress and COVID-19-related behaviours, from the COVID-related Thoughts and Behavioral Symptoms (Cov-Tabs) Scale, were compared between 107 patients with schizophrenia and 70 control participants. Participants with schizophrenia had significantly higher Cov-Tabs scores than non-clinical participants. These results suggest a higher vulnerability in this population, emphasising the need for targeted support and further assessment.

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Fig. 1

Data availability

The anonymised dataset is available from the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the participants for their time and cooperation.

Funding

This work was funded by a 2021 ANR Grant (SCHIZOVAC; ANR-21-COVR-0017).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Saint Eloi Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier, Montpellier, Hérault, France

    Erica Fongaro

  2. CESP INSERM U 1018 UVSQ Psychiatry Development and Trajectories, Villejuif, France

    Erica Fongaro

  3. Univ Paul Valery Montpellier 3, EPSYLON EA 4556, Montpellier, France

    Royce Anders & Yasmine Laraki

  4. University Department of Adult Psychiatry, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Yasmine Laraki, Margot Eisenblaetter, Sophie Bayard, Delphine Capdevielle & Stephane Raffard

  5. IGF, Univ. Montpellier, CNRS, INSERM, Montpellier, France

    Delphine Capdevielle & Stephane Raffard

  6. Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, C2S, Reims, France

    Ali Oker

Authors
  1. Erica Fongaro
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  2. Royce Anders
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  3. Ali Oker
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  4. Yasmine Laraki
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  5. Margot Eisenblaetter
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  6. Sophie Bayard
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  7. Delphine Capdevielle
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  8. Stephane Raffard
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Contributions

SR, SB, and DC: conceptualised the study. ME and YL: recruited and collected the data. EF: conducted statistical analyses and wrote the manuscript. SR and RA: critically revised the manuscript. All authors approved the final submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Erica Fongaro.

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Fongaro, E., Anders, R., Oker, A. et al. Are thoughts and behaviours of individuals with schizophrenia more susceptible to being influenced during pandemic situations? A glimpse provided by the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-024-01771-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-024-01771-6

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