A non-systematic, descriptive literature review of observational research on anxiety during the first COVID-19 pandemic phase

Fear of contagion, together with the consequences of mitigation strategies, are often cited as causes of high levels of anxiety in the general population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear whether published reports make it possible to distinguish between normal and pathological anxiety. We conducted a non-systematic, descriptive literature review on observational studies reporting the prevalence or frequency of anxiety symptoms in non-clinical settings published between July and December 2020. Seventy-six studies were included. Two were conducted through telephone contact while the remainder were conducted on the internet. Factors associated with greater presence/severity of anxiety symptoms were sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, gender, employment, place of residence, living conditions, marital status, and educational level). Thirty publications (39.4%) reported data on a comparison group, including samples of general populations from different geographic regions or in different periods. Only 16 studies (21%) included some estimation of the functional impairment of detected anxiety symptoms. Only seven of the studies that estimated functional impairment had comparison groups. None of the studies included in this review contain sufficient contextual or descriptive information to determine whether the reported high levels of anxiety are normal reactions of subjects in high-stress situations or actual psychiatric disorders.