COVID-19 and its association with depressive mood symptoms in the Spanish Population

Abstract

Introduction: Health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a global commotion, leading to a series of problems related to health, psychosocial factors and economic situation. Objective: To evaluate the effect of confinement on depressive mood in Spanish residents who are over 18 years old during the state of emergency which was declared due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this paper aims to analyze the possible impact of some variables such as sex, age, size of dwelling and income. Materials and Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational design with quantitative methodology. Access to the sample was based on a non-probabilistic sampling through snowball technique. CES-D scale was used to evaluate the state of depressive mood. In order to collect data related to sex, age, size of dwelling and economic situation, ad hoc questions were included in the survey. Results: Women presented higher values of depressive mood than men. Furthermore, depressive mood values are higher in younger individuals. People who live in smaller dwellings showed higher values of depressive mood compared to those who live in larger dwellings. Similarly, individuals with less favorable economic conditions perceive higher levels of depressive mood. Conclusions: The results show that depressive mood symptoms and their psychosocial consequences in the Spanish population during confinement are conditioned by sex, age, dwelling size and economic situation.

Keywords

• pandemia de covid-19 , depresión, cuarentena, epidemias, salud pública.