COVID-19 Vaccination and Mental Health Outcomes among Greek Adults in 2021: Preliminary Evidence

Kyriakos Souliotis; Lily E Peppou; Theodoros V Giannouchos; Myrto Samara; Dimitra Sifaki-Pistolla; Marina Economou; Helena C Maltezou

doi:10.3390/vaccines10081371

COVID-19 Vaccination and Mental Health Outcomes among Greek Adults in 2021: Preliminary Evidence

Vaccines (Basel). 2022 Aug 22;10(8):1371. doi: 10.3390/vaccines10081371.

Authors

Kyriakos Souliotis^{1

2}, Lily E Peppou^{3

4}, Theodoros V Giannouchos⁵, Myrto Samara⁶, Dimitra Sifaki-Pistolla², Marina Economou^{3

4}, Helena C Maltezou⁷

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Peloponnese, 221 00 Corinth, Greece.
² Health Policy Institute, 151 23 Athens, Greece.
³ Unit of Social Psychiatry & Psychosocial Care, University Mental Health, Neurosciences & Precision Medicine Research Institute, "Costas Stefanis" (UMHRI), 156 01 Athens, Greece.
⁴ Prefrecture of Athens Mental Health Promotion Programme, First Department of Psychiatry, Medical School, Aiginition Hospital, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, 157 72 Athens, Greece.
⁵ Department of Health Services Policy & Management, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
⁶ Third Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
⁷ Directorate for Research, Studies and Documentation, National Public Health Organization, 151 23 Athens, Greece.

Abstract

Existing research on the association between COVID-19 vaccination and quantitatively measured mental health outcomes is scarce. We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey on a random sample of 1039 adult Greek citizens in June 2021. Among the participants, 39.6% were vaccinated with two doses, 23.1% with one dose, 21.4% were planning to become vaccinated later, and 8.1% refused vaccination. Compared to those fully vaccinated, those against vaccination ("deniers") and those who planned to do so later on ("not vaccinated yet") had significantly higher scores across three stress, anxiety, and depression construct scales. Our findings suggest an association between COVID-19 vaccination status and mental health.

Keywords: COVID-19; mental health; vaccination.

Grants and funding

This study was conducted by the Health Policy Institute and funded through an unrestricted grant by the non-profit company “Breathe—a mindful mental health movement”.