コロナ禍における大都市在住若年成人のメンタルヘルスに及ぼす心理社会的影響―ソーシャル・キャピタルに着目して―

抄録

The purpose of this study was to examine psychosocial factors affecting the mental health of young adults in Tokyo during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, we conducted an Internet survey of young adults in their 20s living in the 23 wards of Tokyo, asking about their mental health, group-level cognitive social capital in the community, anxiety about COVID-19 (hereafter, “COVID-19 worries”), and economic conditions. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the associations between mental health and other variables for the 377 valid respondents who had no chronic illness. The results reveal that social capital and subjective economic affluence have significant effects on mental health, while COVID-19 worries has no effect on mental health. These findings suggest that in order to improve mental health under the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts should be made to revitalize community ties, keeping in mind that poor subjective economic conditions are a risk factor.