A Nationwide Survey of Psychological Distress among Italian People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors

By C. Mazza, Eleonora Ricci, S. Biondi, M. Colasanti, S. Ferracuti, C. Napoli, Paolo Roma. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020

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The uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has called for unprecedented measures, to the extent that the Italian government has imposed a quarantine on the entire country. Quarantine has a huge impact and can cause considerable psychological strain. The present study aims to establish the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and identify risk and protective factors for psychological distress in the general population. An online survey was administered from 18–22 March 2020 to 2766 participants. Multivariate ordinal logistic regression models were constructed to examine the associations between sociodemographic variables; personality traits; depression, anxiety, and stress. Female gender, negative affect, and detachment were associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Having an acquaintance infected was associated with increased levels of both depression and stress, whereas a history of stressful situations and medical problems was associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Finally, those with a family member infected and young person who had to work outside their domicile presented higher levels of anxiety and stress, respectively. This epidemiological picture is an important benchmark for identifying persons at greater risk of suffering from psychological distress and the results are useful for tailoring psychological interventions targeting the post-traumatic nature of the distress.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/20912833c7fd4d8d0fa59cf5378ec7b3247b6c6c

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Citations in the corpus

Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2020, background): “Recent studies have revealed an association between medical history and increased anxiety and depression caused by the COVID-19 spread [36].”
Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Big Five Personality on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being (2020, neutral): “Several studies have assessed well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic either cross-sectionally (e.g., Evans et al., 2020; Mazza et al., 2020; Qian & Yahara, 2020; Zhao et al., 2020) or longitudinally (e.g., Recchi et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020).”
Should I Stay or Should I Go? Tourists’ COVID-19 Risk Perception and Vacation Behavior Shift (2021, background): “The pandemic has already led to a significant increase in travel anxiety in India [21], the United States [19], Italy [22,23], and Spain [24].”
Risk Perceptions and Psychological Effects During the Italian COVID-19 Emergency (2020, background): “Based on the most recent and ongoing studies on COVID19, the pandemic has resulted in severely deleterious global outcomes: huge psychological strain (Mazza et al., 2020), traumatic impact from protracted social isolation and distance, shocking working aftermaths in terms of job loss and job search ”
Impact of Social Isolation Due to COVID-19 on Health in Older People: Mental and Physical Effects and Recommendations (2020, neutral): “Being female (36, 39, 42), having a negative self-perception of aging (42), healthcare workers (38), family and personal resources (42), time devoted to COVID-19 information (42), having an acquaintance or a family member infected with COVID-19 or a previous history of medical problems (39) seem to…”
Depression, Anxiety and Stress during COVID-19: Associations with Changes in Physical Activity, Sleep, Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Australian Adults (2020, background): “Mazza and colleagues [33] reported mean depression, anxiety and stress scores of 5.”
The role of psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19: Associations with depression, anxiety, and insomnia (2021, background): “We know from general population studies in China (Ahmed et al., 2020; Gao et al., 2020; Wang, Di, Ye, & Wei, 2020; Wang, Pan, et al., 2020), Italy (Mazza et al., 2020), and Spain, (Rodriguez-Rey, Garrido-Hernansaiz, & Collado, 2020), conducted during the first quarter of 2020, that roughly between o”