Network analysis of psychological distress, posttraumatic stress and fear symptoms by COVID-19 in Peruvian adults

Abstract

Introduction:The coronavirus pandemic and the social distancing measures used to mitigate the spread of the virus may have serious mental health consequences.Objective: To investigate the components network of the symptomatology of psychological distress, stress and fear of COVID-19 in Peruvian adults during the first pandemic wave in Peru during 2020.Methods: Six hundred nine Peruvian adults were includeds (57.51% women; M age: 27.04) from the Metropolitan city of Lima, who responded to the instruments adapted to Spanish: Impact of event scale-revised-R (IES-R), Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) and Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), whose item responses represented the network analysis with measures of centrality and stability of the nodes.Results: Higher measures of centrality were observed for the depressed mood, fear of contagion and fear of death items by COVID-19. The greatest network connections were found among depressive symptoms, post-traumatic avoidance symptoms, emotional symptoms of fear of COVID-19. Also, the stability of the strength centrality measures and the accuracy of the network nodes or variables was demonstrated.Conclusions: Participants manifested higher levels of symptoms of depression and fear of COVID-19, such symptoms were more central in the network, and reported higher activation connections in the network, the consideration of which is determinant for better effectiveness in pandemic intervention and prevention for health and behavioral sciences professionals