Gender, psychological distress, and subjective well-being two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Abstract

This study aimed to examine gender differences in distress and well-being two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing risk and protective factors for psychological distress and subjective well-being. It is a repeated cross-sectional study with a sample of 1,588 women (50%) and men (50%) from the general Spanish population aged 18-74 years who were assessed online by seven questionnaires and scales. Descriptive, variance, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed. From February to April 2022, 57.4% of women and 38.7% of men had psychological distress, percentages that totaled 50.5% and 41.5%, respectively, from October 2022 to February 2023. Women also had greater perceived vulnerability to diseases, more negative feelings, and lower affect balance, resilience, and self-esteem than men. The most important predictors of greater psychological distress refer to lower self-esteem, resilience, and social support and higher perceived vulnerability to diseases. Other statistically significant predictors included lower educational level in women and neither being married nor living with a partner in men. Lower self-esteem also best predicted lower subjective well-being, with lower social support and lower resilience also constituting significant predictors. Moreover, lower educational level and higher perceived vulnerability to diseases statistically and significantly predicted lower subjective well-being in women, as did not being a student in men. We conclude that psychological distress remains greatly prevalent in Spain two years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in women.