%0 Journal Article
%@ 2561-326X
%I JMIR Publications
%V 7
%N 
%P e40821
%T The Relationship Between a History of High-risk and Destructive Behaviors and COVID-19 Infection: Preliminary Study
%A Vike,Nicole L
%A Bari,Sumra
%A Stetsiv,Khrystyna
%A Woodward,Sean
%A Lalvani,Shamal
%A Stefanopoulos,Leandros
%A Kim,Byoung Woo
%A Maglaveras,Nicos
%A Katsaggelos,Aggelos K
%A Breiter,Hans C
%+ Department of Computer Science, University of Cincinnati, 2901 Woodside Drive, Cincinnati, OH, 45219, United States, 1 617 413 0953, breitehs@ucmail.uc.edu
%K substance use
%K gambling
%K violent behaviors
%K COVID-19
%K destructive behaviors
%K mental health
%D 2023
%7 14.4.2023
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Form Res
%G English
%X Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened mental health concerns, but the temporal relationship between mental health conditions and SARS-CoV-2 infection has not yet been investigated. Specifically, psychological issues, violent behaviors, and substance use were reported more during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic. However, it is unknown whether a prepandemic history of these conditions increases an individual’s susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2. Objective: This study aimed to better understand the psychological risks underlying COVID-19, as it is important to investigate how destructive and risky behaviors may increase a person’s susceptibility to COVID-19. Methods: In this study, we analyzed data from a survey of 366 adults across the United States (aged 18 to 70 years); this survey was administered between February and March of 2021. The participants were asked to complete the Global Appraisal of Individual Needs–Short Screener (GAIN-SS) questionnaire, which indicates an individual’s history of high-risk and destructive behaviors and likelihood of meeting diagnostic criteria. The GAIN-SS includes 7 questions related to externalizing behaviors, 8 related to substance use, and 5 related to crime and violence; responses were given on a temporal scale. The participants were also asked whether they ever tested positive for COVID-19 and whether they ever received a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. GAIN-SS responses were compared between those who reported and those who did not report COVID-19 to determine if those who reported COVID-19 also reported GAIN-SS behaviors (Wilcoxon rank sum test, α=.05). In total, 3 hypotheses surrounding the temporal relationships between the recency of GAIN-SS behaviors and COVID-19 infection were tested using proportion tests (α=.05). GAIN-SS behaviors that significantly differed (proportion tests, α=.05) between COVID-19 responses were included as independent variables in multivariable logistic regression models with iterative downsampling. This was performed to assess how well a history of GAIN-SS behaviors statistically discriminated between those who reported and those who did not report COVID-19. Results: Those who reported COVID-19 more frequently indicated past GAIN-SS behaviors (Q<0.05). Furthermore, the proportion of those who reported COVID-19 was higher (Q<0.05) among those who reported a history of GAIN-SS behaviors; specifically, gambling and selling drugs were common across the 3 proportion tests. Multivariable logistic regression revealed that GAIN-SS behaviors, particularly gambling, selling drugs, and attention problems, accurately modeled self-reported COVID-19, with model accuracies ranging from 77.42% to 99.55%. That is, those who exhibited destructive and high-risk behaviors before and during the pandemic could be discriminated from those who did not exhibit these behaviors when modeling self-reported COVID-19. Conclusions: This preliminary study provides insights into how a history of destructive and risky behaviors influences infection susceptibility, offering possible explanations for why some persons may be more susceptible to COVID-19, potentially in relation to reduced adherence to prevention guidelines or not seeking vaccination. 
%M 36888554
%R 10.2196/40821
%U https://formative.jmir.org/2023/1/e40821
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/40821
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36888554