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Longitudinal evaluation of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Spain

2020; Elsevier BV; Volume: 277; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.018

1573-2517

Álvaro Planchuelo‐Gómez, Paula Odriozola-González, María Jesús Irurtia Muñiz, Rodrigo de Luis-Garcı́a,

Mental Health Research Topics

Strict confinement and social distancing measures have been imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries. The aim was to assess the temporal evolution of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis and lockdown from two surveys, separated by one month, performed in Spain. Symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, and the psychological impact of the situation were longitudinally analyzed using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) respectively. There was a total of 4,724 responses from both surveys. Symptomatic scores of anxiety, depression and stress were exhibited by 37.22%, 46.42% and 49.66% of the second survey respondents, showing a significant increase compared to the first survey (32.45%, 44.11% and 37.01%, respectively). There was no significant longitudinal change of the IES scores, with 48.30% of the second survey participants showing moderate to severe impact of the confinement. Constant news consumption about COVID-19 was found to be positively associated with symptomatic scores in the different scales, and daily physical activity to be negatively associated with DASS-21 scores. Results indicated a temporal increase of anxiety, depression and stress scores during the COVID-19 lockdown. Factors such as age, consumption of information about COVID-19 and physical activity seem to have an important impact on the evolution of psychological symptoms.