{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,19]],"date-time":"2026-05-19T21:31:04Z","timestamp":1779226264247,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,2]],"date-time":"2025-04-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743552000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>The current study is a cross-sectional survey that aims to assess an association COVID-19 on mental health in rural areas of Central India.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) were used to evaluate the anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among families with at least one member having been affected by COVID-19 during November 2022 to December 2022 in Durg District of Chhattisgarh State.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 431 participants were interviewed from 18 villages of Durg district of Chhattisgarh state. Symptoms of distress, anxiety and depression were observed in 26.2, 14.8 and 11.8% of participants. The death of family members due to COVID-19 and out of pocket expenditure was considerably associated with a higher risk of mental distress. A reduction in income was significantly associated with depression (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>-value\u202f=\u202f0.025, OR\u202f=\u202f2.066, 95% CI\u202f=\u202f1.115\u20133.817). Decline in income was also linked to depression among study participants (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> value\u202f=\u202f0.025, OR\u202f=\u202f2.066, 95% CI\u202f=\u202f1.115\u20133.817). Education, smoking and out of pocket expenditure was found be independently associated with occurrence of symptoms concerned with PTSD.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The study points to the significance of socioeconomic factors like food security, and income stability during COVID-19 in mental health outcomes even after 1\u202fyear of pandemic. Increasing access to mental health resources and support for those affected by financial and food insecurities can help individuals cope with stress and maintain mental well-being.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1526300","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,2]],"date-time":"2025-04-02T16:24:03Z","timestamp":1743611043000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Food scarcity and decrease in income are associated with depression after COVID-19 pandemic in rural settings"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Dharmendra","family":"Gahwai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sonal","family":"Dayama","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aakanksha","family":"Mishra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sandip Kumar","family":"Chandraker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Babita","family":"Sahu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mini","family":"Sharma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ravindra","family":"Kumar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"636","DOI":"10.12688\/f1000research.24457.1","article-title":"Epidemiology of mental health problems in COVID-19: a review","volume":"9","author":"Hossain","year":"2020","journal-title":"F1000Res"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"05011","DOI":"10.7189\/jogh.12.05011","article-title":"Mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"12","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Glob Health"},{"key":"ref3","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.08.001","article-title":"Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: a systematic review","volume":"277","author":"Xiong","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Affect Disord"},{"key":"ref5","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e24131","DOI":"10.7759\/cureus.24131","article-title":"Epidemiological characteristics of the COVID-19 pandemic during the first and second waves in Chhattisgarh, Central India: a comparative analysis","volume":"14","author":"Agarwala","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"266","DOI":"10.1097\/MLR.0b013e318160d093","article-title":"Validation and standardization of the generalized anxiety disorder screener (GAD-7) in the general population","volume":"46","author":"L\u00f6we","year":"2008","journal-title":"Med Care"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"606","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x","article-title":"The PHQ-9. 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