Psycho-Emotional Approach to the Psychological Distress Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study

Abstract

<jats:p>Anxiety, depression, and stress are common and expected reactions to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The objective of this study is to analyze psychological distress in a sample of Spanish population, identifying the predictive nature of the information received, the preventive measures taken, level of concern, beliefs, and knowledge about the infection. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on a sample of 4615 participants. Data were collected through a self-prepared questionnaire and the general health questionnaire (GHQ-12). Bivariate analyses and logistic regressions were performed. Of the total participants, 71.98% presented psychological distress. The study population actively sought information about coronavirus, expressed a high level of concern and knowledge, and the most frequent preventive behavior was hand washing. As predictive factors, the degree of concern for COVID-19 was identified (odds ratio (OR) = 1.244, 95% confidence interval (CI) = [1.179, 1.312]), the number of hours spent consulting information on COVID-19 (OR = 1.038, 95% CI = [1.009, 1.068]), or the need for psychological support (OR = 1.135, 95% CI = [1.094, 1.177]), among others. These results could help design more effective strategies towards a psycho-emotional approach for the population when in similar health crisis situations. There is a need for interventions aimed at the psychological well-being of the population that meet the needs of their reality.</jats:p>

Self-reported changes in anxiety, depression and suicidality during the COVID-19 lockdown in Greece

“…Here also, being female and younger age were risk factors ( Gualano et al, 2020 ). In Spain 71.98% presented psychological distress ( Dominguez-Salas et al, 2020 ), and there was a circular relationship, in which perceived threat influenced the presence of negative mood, and negative mood, in turn, linked to emotions of irritation and agitation from a present situation, promoted the feeling of threat ( Perez-Fuentes et al, 2020 ). In Colombia 7.6% of participants reported a high suicide risk ( Caballero-Dominguez et al, 2020 ).…”

Sense of Coherence and Psychological Distress Among Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain

“…Frontline workers can be better informed about the development of the pandemic and have more up-to-date data on protocols and trends. Quality information on the COVID-19 health crisis offered by official sources has been associated with less psychological distress [57].…”

<p>REAC Cervicobrachial Neuromodulation Treatment of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic</p>

“…This erroneous belief that equatorial and subequatorial populations would be protected from the pandemic probably contributed to aggravating a sense of psychological unease by triggering a sense of depression, anxiety, and stress [1][2][3][4] in the population, which is difficult to self-manage. However, in all populations involved in the Covid-19 pandemic, its impact on mental health and emotional distress 5,6 is increasingly observed in various clinical situations 7 and healthy participants. 8,9 Various therapeutic strategies have been proposed to deal with the problems of psychoemotional distress and its most common consequences induced by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as depression 10,11 and anxiety.…”

“…[12][13][14] Essentially, these strategies are based on psychological support. 6,15 However, psychological support requires prolonged and continuous physical or web-based contact between a psychologist and a patient, which limits the number of patients able to be treated. While other therapeutic neuromodulation techniques have previously demonstrated efficacy in treating these disorders, such as neuromodulation treatments using radio electric asymmetric conveyer (REAC) technology, [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] although they have the advantage of requiring much shorter administration times, unfortunately, they are not web-based.…”