A researcher at StFX says her study on the mental health effects of COVID-19 has gotten a lot of interest from participants and decision-makers.
Karen Blair. an assistant professor of psychology at the university, says it comes in two parts- an initial survey and a daily diary.
She says they ask participants to write about their experiences, as well as collect more specific data points about how they’re feeling.
Blair tells The Hawk the diary measures the little day-to-day changes.
“Many people are really treating it like a diary,” she says. “The first question each night asks them if there’s anything they want to record in their diary about the past 24 hours, and some people even begin it with ‘Dear COVID-19 Diary’.”
Blair says 90 per cent of people who completed the initial survey go on to do the daily dairy survey entries since it opened March 30.
She says that number is usually close to 25 per cent.
Blair says they bring together the stories and the data for a complete picture.
She says they’re getting a lot of good stories, but others as well.
“We’re also seeing stories of the dark side, of abusive relationships getting worse, domestic violence being exacerbated by the pandemic,” she says. “We’re really seeing the good, the bad, and the awful.”
Blair says she hopes data from her study will help leaders make good decisions.
She says it was originally not geographically-specific, but now they’re going to focus more on participants within the province.
Blair says it seems COVID-19 will be with us for a while, and this research could help during the next wave.
“If we can learn from this first round what things help and what things hurt, then that’s going to help us to provide the information that we need really quickly about suggestion for how people can cope better in the future.”
Blair says they’ve found people are concerned about their parents most of all, then their finances.
She says they’ll collect data until the pandemic in over.
