Adjustment to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel: Demographics, Behavioral and Psychological Factors

Background: Israel's strategy for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic was to keep the general population in home quarantine and to maintain social distancing. This strategy can lead to psychological and behavioral symptoms known to have detrimental long-term effects on health. This study examines the prevalence of these symptoms among the general, non-infected community in comparison to people with adjustment difficulties, and investigates whether psychological and behavioral symptoms and demographic characteristics are associated with levels of adjustment. Method: In the first two weeks of April, when restrictions were at their most severe, we surveyed adjustment (ADNM-4), anxiety, depression, and stress (DASS21), sleep quality (PSQI), and emotional eating (DEBQ) among 421 participants. We used a snowball sampling strategy via social media. Comparisons in outcome measures between adjustment difficulties groups (with/without) were analyzed via one-way ANCOVA, with age as a covariate. Results: Significant psychological and behavioral effects on coping strategies were found among the full sample and differences between the group with adjustment difficulty and the group without in anxiety, depression, stress, sleep quality, and emotional eating. The group with adjustment difficulties included more women, more avid news consumers, and more people whose economic situation was affected by COVID-19. Conclusions: These results suggest that the quarantine strategy unintentionally created risk groups of potential future morbidity. Gathering more information about people with adjustment difficulties is essential in order to accelerate diagnosis and treatment.