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. 2021 May;26(2):644-656.
doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12502. Epub 2021 Jan 7.

Mental health of Italian adults during COVID-19 pandemic

Simone Amendola  1 , Valentina Spensieri  1 , Michael P Hengartner  2 , Rita Cerutti  1
Affiliations

Mental health of Italian adults during COVID-19 pandemic

Simone Amendola et al. Br J Health Psychol. 2021 May.

Abstract

Objectives: On 31 January 2020, a new type of coronavirus was first confirmed in Italy and spread rapidly across the country leading to a national lockdown. The aim of this pilot study was to explore the impact of the public health emergency due to COVID-19 on individual's mental health among 299 Italian adults after a month of home isolation due to COVID-19.

Design: Cross-sectional study design. Adults of the general population were invited to a voluntary online health survey.

Methods: Hierarchical multiple regressions were used to examine diverse psycho-social and stressful contextual factors associated with symptoms of psychopathology.

Results: Results indicated that females reported higher symptoms of depression, anxiety and circadian rhythm dysregulation, than males. Age and the capacity to adapt to a new environment and to cope with illness were negatively associated with all symptoms of psychopathology. Conversely, engaging in verbally aggressive behaviours and having experienced stressful events related to COVID-19 were positively related to psychopathological symptoms. Finally, social support was negatively associated with depressive symptoms, and substance use during the past months was related to circadian rhythm dysregulation.

Conclusions: The findings of this study raise particular concern about psychological well-being considering the negative associations between stressful events during the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms of psychological distress, and perceived social support. These results have possible significant clinical implications.

Keywords: COVID-19; circadian rhythm dysregulation; internalizing symptoms; psychotic-like experiences; public health emergencies.

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