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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Horm Metab Res 2023; 55(02): 89-95
DOI: 10.1055/a-1997-0550
Review

The Impact of Information About COVID-19 on the Endocrine Stress System and Cognitive Distortions

Mariel Leclère
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
,
Arben Hysenaj
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
,
Rina Meha
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
,
Bernard Tahirbegolli
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
,
Peter Schwarz
2   Department of Medicine III, Dresden, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Germany
,
Charlotte Steenblock
2   Department of Medicine III, Dresden, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Germany
,
Lulejete Prekazi
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
,
Albane Isufi
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
,
Nevzat Shemsedini
1   Psychology of Assessment and Intervention, College Heimerer, Pristina, Kosovo
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Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the major health concerns worldwide affecting not only human physical health but also contributing to the development of many mental disorders including impairment of the cognitive function. It is highly conceivable that elevation of the stress hormones, i.e., glucocorticoids and catecholamines, due to the infection, as well as the presence of psychosocial stressors, such as COVID-19 information, play a critical role in the development of these disorders. In the present study, the potential impact of exposure to COVID-19 information on the cognitive distortion and stress levels was analyzed in a population of 32 first-year medical sciences students using the stress assessment questionnaire (SAQ) and the posttraumatic cognitions inventory (PTCI) surveys. Both surveys demonstrated no acute change in the stress and post-traumatic cognition levels between medical sciences students who were either exposed or not to information about COVID-19. Interestingly, analysis of the stress and cognition points across the first and second measurements of the SAQ categories revealed a significant change in the control group but not in the experimental group. In addition, there was no significant difference among groups when considering the time*group factor. To conclude, we found that exposure to information about COVID-19 did not contribute acutely to cognitive distortion and stress levels among participating students. The previous exposure to COVID-19-related information from media and living during the COVID-19 pandemic era might have enhanced the awareness of the students to the situation.

Key words

stress - cognition - information - SARS-CoV-2


Publication History

Received: 29 October 2022

Accepted after revision: 05 December 2022

Article published online:
20 January 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, Germany

 

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