Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar;43(3):1521-1532.
doi: 10.1007/s10072-021-05768-0. Epub 2021 Nov 25.

Age- and gender-related differences in the evolution of psychological and cognitive status after the lockdown for the COVID-19 outbreak: a follow-up study

Gianpaolo Maggi  1 , Ivana Baldassarre  1 , Andrea Barbaro  1 , Nicola Davide Cavallo  1 , Maria Cropano  1 , Raffaele Nappo  1 , Gabriella Santangelo  2
Affiliations

Age- and gender-related differences in the evolution of psychological and cognitive status after the lockdown for the COVID-19 outbreak: a follow-up study

Gianpaolo Maggi et al. Neurol Sci. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Individuals experienced psychological symptoms in response to quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the possible effect of age and gender on the evolution of mental health status after the quarantine in the Italian population and the baseline predictors of post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Methods: An online follow-up questionnaire including an assessment of depression, anxiety, anger, post-traumatic stress, subjective cognitive failures, resilience, and coping style was completed by participants 2 months after the end of the quarantine (n = 758).

Results: Individuals experienced psychological symptoms also 2 months after the end of the quarantine. No decrease in depression and anxiety scores emerged, but younger individuals and females experienced more severe symptoms. Anger symptoms decreased in young adults, whereas they increased in older adults. Moreover, individuals reported more cognitive failures at follow-up. No changes were observed in resilience, whereas participants reported adopting fewer coping strategies at follow-up. Finally, post-traumatic stress symptoms 2 months after the end of the lockdown were associated with more severe psychological symptoms and more fear of getting infected at baseline.

Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that the long-term psychological impact and the cognitive consequences of quarantine differ according to age and gender. The identification of more vulnerable groups allows the implementation of interventions to reduce psychological symptoms and the risk for cognitive impairment.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cognitive difficulties; Gender; Longitudinal changes; Mental Health; Young adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Graph showing the interaction between time and gender for DSM-5-Anger scores
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graph showing the interaction between time and age for DSM-5-Anger scores
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Graph showing the main effect of time for PerMAFaQ scores
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ilardi A, Chieffi S, Iavarone A, Ilardi CR. SARS-CoV-2 in Italy: population density correlates with morbidity and mortality. Jpn J Infect Dis. 2021 doi: 10.7883/yoken.JJID.2020.200. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Torales J, O’Higgins M, Castaldelli-Maia JM, Ventriglio A (2020) The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health. Int J Soc Psychiatry - PubMed
    1. Xiong J, Lipsitz O, Nasri F, et al (2020) Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: a systematic review. J Affect Disord - PMC - PubMed
    1. Santangelo G, Baldassarre I, Barbaro A, et al. Subjective cognitive failures and their psychological correlates in a large Italian sample during quarantine/self-isolation for COVID-19. Neurol Sci. 2021 doi: 10.1007/s10072-021-05268-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Forte G, Favieri F, Tambelli R, Casagrande M. COVID-19 pandemic in the italian population: validation of a post-traumatic stress disorder questionnaire and prevalence of PTSD symptomatology. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 doi: 10.3390/ijerph17114151. - DOI - PMC - PubMed