Ribeiro, Fabiana Silva;
Santos, Flávia H;
Anunciação, Luis;
Barrozo, Lucas;
Landeira-Fernandez, Jesus;
Leist, Anja K;
(2021)
Exploring the Frequency of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a Brazilian Sample during the COVID-19 Outbreak.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
, 18
(9)
, Article 4847. 10.3390/ijerph18094847.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency of international concern, and the main measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus causing COVID-19 were social distancing, quarantine, and self-isolation. Although these policies are effective in containing the spread of the virus, they might represent a challenge to psychological well-being, increasing levels of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms. Aims: We explored the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms during COVID-19 restrictions and associations with sociodemographic factors in a Brazilian sample. Method: Data of a total of 936 Brazilian adults (68.2% women) aged 18 to 77 years old (M = 38.95, SD = 13.91) were collected through an online survey. Results: In general, we observed a frequency of 17.36% for severe anxiety and 66.13% for severe depression symptoms, in which younger participants (18–39 years old) and women showed higher scores in anxiety and depression scales compared to older age groups. Logistic regressions showed that women were more likely to present severe symptoms of anxiety (20.4%) compared to men (10.9%), as well as respondents in the educational sector (24.3%) compared to those in the health sector (10%). Conclusions: We highlight the importance of mental health professionals in developing strategies to help younger adults to mitigate the effects of social restriction.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exploring the Frequency of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a Brazilian Sample during the COVID-19 Outbreak |
| Location: | Switzerland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph18094847 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094847 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Depression; anxiety; social distancing; Brazil; COVID-19 |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10197446 |
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