Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among local residents in South of Brazil: during pandemic times, youth sleep matters

Abstract

Introduction: Social isolation has been associated with poor sleep quality and mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, most studies have investigated heterogeneous samples subjected to varying social distancing policies and did not focus on a single local profile subject to homogeneous prevention policies. Objective: To evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and sleep quality in a specific region in the South of Brazil where the populations have similar culture and local governments have adopted similar social distancing policies. Methods: This study was conducted with 327 individuals aged 18-72 years, living in the Vale do Taquari area, Brazil. We assessed sociodemographic variables with a standardized protocol, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress with the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), sleep quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and post-traumatic stress symptoms with the Impact of Event Scale (IES-R), using a web-based online survey. Results: Our results showed that sleep dysfunction moderated the effects of age on psychological symptoms, indicating that younger participants who had poorer sleep quality had worse mental health. Furthermore, participants with more perceived stress during the pandemic and more sleep dysfunction reported more symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Conclusion: Psychological symptoms were not related to social isolation duration but were related to the subjective perception that the pandemic interfered with life and generated stressful situations. These results may help governments make important decisions about protection and isolation measures in future waves of COVID-19 infection.

Subjective sleep alterations in healthy subjects worldwide during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression

“…The median number of participants was 338. Excluding manuscripts that reported age as range or median (i.e., 28%) [ 41 , [44] , [45] , [46] , 48 , 59 , [61] , [62] , [63] , 69 , 73 , 75 ], [ 84 , 87 , 96 , [98] , [101] , 104 , 111 , 112 , 121 ], [ 126 , 134 , 137 , 141 , 144 , 145 , 147 ], [ 158 , 161 , [163] , [164] , [165] , 167 , 169 , 175 ], the mean age of the participants was 32.22 ± 9.35 years. Regarding the administered sleep measures, 103 studies reported PSQI scores.…”

“…Regarding the administered sleep measures, 103 studies reported PSQI scores. Specifically, 100 reported PSQI global scores [ [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , 42 , 43 , 45 ], [ 46 , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [52] , [53] ], [ [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] , [65] , [66] , [67] , [68] ], [ [70] , [71] , [72] , [73] , 75 , [77] , [78] , [79] , [80] , [81] , [82] , [83] , [84] , 86 , 87 ], [ [91] , [92] , [93] , [94] , [96] , [97] , [98] , 102 , 103 , [106] , [107] , [108] , [109] , [110] ], [ [113] , [114] , [115] , [116] , 119 , 120 , [122] , [123] , [124] , [...…”

The psychological impact of COVID-19 in the general population: A review and reflection in Portuguese Speaking Countries

“…The prevalence of depression symptoms varied between 21.5% (Souza et al, 2021) and 68% (Goularte et al, 2021). About the PTSD symptoms, only one study presented the prevalence: 28.7% (Bücker et al, 2021).…”

“…Similarly, to the literature about Portugal, currently, there is already some studies about the psychological consequences of this period in Brazil. Different studies, present different prevalence levels of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, and other indicators of mental health associated with the pandemic in general (Barros et al, 2020;Bücker et al, 2021;Campos et al, 2020;Goularte et al, 2021;Lipp & Lipp, 2020;Serafim et al, 2021;Souza et al, 2021)youth sleep matters","type":"article-journal","volume":"00"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/ documents/?uuid=dda0e721-9b56-4eab-867e-0cf5a57f78c6"]},{"id":"ITEM-2","i-temData":{"DOI":"10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.09.021","ISSN":"18791379","PMI-D":"33038563","abstract":"Public health interventions at general population level are imperative in order to decrease the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2.…”

“…Considering the idea that can be the influence of individual characteristics that can impact the way these stressful situations contribute to develop or not mental health issues, many risk factors were identified to be associated with psychological distress in Portuguese speaking countries amongst the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature developed in Portugal and Brazil (Aguiar et al, 2022;Barros et al, 2020;Bücker et al, 2021;Campos et al, 2020;Frade et al, 2021;Goularte et al, 2021;Lipp & Lipp, 2020;Moreira et al, 2021;Patrão et al, 2020;Paulino et al, 2021;Pereira et al, 2022;Picó-Pérez et al, 2021;Pombo et al, 2020;Santana et al, 2021;Serafim et al, 2021;Souza et al, 2021;Vieira & Meirinhos, 2021) the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 that considered the effects of predictors, identified any of the following variables as risk factors: being female, having chronical diseases, physical or mental health problems, being younger, having a lower level of education, unemployment or lay-off, being student, lower income or income decrease, having and live with children. Other variables were found in isolated studies: live in rural areas (Paulino et al, 2021), being single (Souza et al, 2021), being a health worker (Pombo et al, 2020), working outside home (Frade et al, 2021).…”