Background: Since December 2019, China has been affected by a severe outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Frontline medical workers experienced difficulty due to the high risk of being infected and long and distressing work shifts. The current study aims to evaluate psychological symptoms in frontline medical workers during the COVID-19 epidemic in China and to perform a comparison with the general population. Methods: An online survey was conducted from 14 February 2020 to 29 March 2020. A total of 899 frontline medical workers and 1104 respondents in the general population participated. Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and resilience were assessed via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and abbreviated Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), respectively. Results: Overall, 30.43%, 20.29%, and 14.49% of frontline medical workers in Hubei Province and 23.13%, 13.14%, and 10.64% of frontline medical workers in other regions reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia, respectively. In addition, 23.33%, 16.67%, and 6.67% of the general population in Hubei Province and 18.25%, 9.22%, and 7.17% of the general population in other regions reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia, respectively. The resilience of frontline medical staff outside Hubei Province was higher than that of the general population outside Hubei Province. Conclusion: A large proportion of frontline medical workers and the general public experienced psychological symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak. Psychological services for frontline medical workers and the general public are needed.

By using the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) module of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as the gold standard to identify PTSD, the current study investigated the diagnostic efficiency of the PTSD Checklist (PCL) as a screening questionnaire in a sample of 152 Chinese victims of the Wenchuan earthquake. The results showed that the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was .96 (SE = .02), and the optimally efficient cutoff score was 44. The findings provide preliminary support of the PCL as a screening questionnaire among Chinese earthquake victims. The present study may contribute to further PTSD-related research and practices in Chinese disaster settings.

To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) and its applicability among Chinese children and adolescents, a study was conducted on two samples, the first, 1 month after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the second, 7 months after the earthquake. High levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms were found among both groups of children. The results also showed a decline of intrusion and arousal symptoms in accordance with the different periods of time elapsed since the earthquake; however, no difference was found in the avoidance symptoms between the two samples. Both the subscales and the CRIES total showed moderate to good reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of CRIES supported the presumed three inter-correlated factors model. However, the results of the second sample (with more than 6 months elapsed subsequent to the earthquake) are more likely to support this model than those of the first sample. This study generally justifies the use of CRIES as a screening instrument for probable PTSD victims among children and adolescents exposed to horrible natural disasters in China. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are also discussed.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe public health crisis in the 21st century. The pandemic not only posed great challenges to people's physical health but also induced wide-ranging impacts on mental health of infected and suspected patients, frontline healthcare workers, and the general public whose normal life was disrupted by the pandemic. In this commentary, we outline the initiatives and coordinated efforts on providing timely mental health services after the pandemic outbreak in China, including understanding the mental health impact of COVID-19, prioritizing and coordinating mental health services along with medical services in the efforts to contain the pandemic, initiating and implementing specific measures to improve mental wellbeing of frontline healthcare workers, and increasing the accessibility of mental health services to the general public. Theses services, along with other coordinated efforts, contribute to the containment of COVID-19 pandemic in China and could be valuable for other countries to take proactive measures to mitigate the mental health impacts of the pandemic now and in the future.

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As a diagnosis organized mainly on the basis of theoretical conceptualization, acute stress disorder (ASD) has been widely criticized for lack of empirical support since it was introduced into the DSM system. To address this issue, the present study investigated the latent structure of ASD symptoms measured by the Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS). A total of 350 adults with a mean age of 32.9 years (SD = 14.0, range: 16-85) took part in this study 12 to 15 days after an earthquake. The results of confirmatory factor analyses showed that a five-factor intercorrelated model (dissociation, reexperiencing, avoidance, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal) demonstrated the best data fit. The findings provide preliminary empirical evidence in favor of a new reconceptualization of ASD symptoms, and are informative for the impending DSM-5.

Background. The COVID-19 outbreakhas threatened both the physical healthof individualswho contracted the virus, and the mental health of everyone directly or indirectly associated with or concerned about it. Objective. As telecommunication technologies and online mental health apps become more available and affordable, they allowbehavioral and mental health professionalsto provide quality care by handling problems arising from the COVID-19 outbreakvirtually. The aim of the current article is to summarizethe online psychological assistancesupported by the Chinese governmentduring the epidemic. Design. Several measures, policies, action plans, and programs that have been underway in China during the COVID-19 outbreak epidemicare listedto provide guidance formental health interventionpractices around the world. Results. A total of seven types of mental health services and supports developed in China were listed andintroduced: 1) online psychological assistance;2) online psychological self-assessment and self-help; 3) a “Peace ofMind” self-help counseling camp; 4) a “Peace ofMind” self-help training camp; 5) mental health training and lectures; 6) psychological assistance to Hubei; and 7) collaboration with social workersin“Thousands of Institutions Send Peace ofMind.”Moreover, several areas forthe organization and management of psychological intervention activities in the futurewere identified. Conclusion. Mental health interventions helped peoplecopewith their mental health concerns duringthe outbreak of COVID-19. They couldfacilitatethe development of Chinese public emergency interventions, and eventually improve the quality and effectiveness of emergency interventions in China.