Psychosocial variables and quality of life during the COVID-19 lockdown: a correlational study on a convenience sample of young Italians

Abstract

Background In 2020, to limit the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), many countries, including Italy, have issued a lengthy quarantine period for the entire population. For this reason lifestyle has changed, bringing inevitable repercussions to the Quality of Life (QoL). The present study aims to identify which psychosocial variables predict behaviors capable of affecting the QoL during the lockdown period, potentially highlighting factors that might promote well-being and health in the Italian population during the epidemic. Methods Between 27 April 2020 and 11 May 2020, we administered a web-survey to a sample of young Italian people (age M = 21.2; SD = 3.5; female = 57.7% of the sample). Employing variance-based structural equation modeling, we attempted to identify whether social connectedness, social support, and loneliness were variables predictive of the QoL of young Italians. We also sought to identify specific psychological factors, such as symbolic threat, realistic threat, and the threat from potentially contaminated objects, was correlated to COVID-19 fear and whether engaging in particular behaviors was likely to improve the QoL. Results Our results suggest that social connectedness and loneliness are significant predictors of QoL, while social support did not have a significant effect on QoL. Furthermore, we observed that symbolic and realistic threats and the threat from potentially contaminated objects are significant and positive predictors of COVID-19 fear. Moreover, COVID-19 fear had significant and positive relationships with the carrying out of specific behaviors, such as creative activities during the isolation period and that this related to affirming individuals’ country-specific identity. Finally, COVID-19 fear is a significant predictor of behavioral factors related to the adherence to public health advice in line with national guidance regarding the containment of COVID-19; this factor, however, did not correlate with QoL. Conclusion Our results suggest the importance of social context and psychological factors to help devise intervention strategies to improve the QoL during lockdown from epidemic events and, in particular, support the importance of promoting social communication and accurate information about the transmission of the virus.

Cyberchondria severity and quality of life among Lebanese adults: the mediating role of fear of COVID-19, depression, anxiety, stress and obsessive–compulsive behavior—a structural equation model approach

“…We found that stress, fear of COVID-19 and to a lesser limit OCD, mediated the association between cyberchondria severity and physical QOL, whereas anxiety, stress and fear of COVID-19 mediated the association between cyberchondria severity and mental QOL. Well-being and life satisfaction have been adversely impacted by the new pandemic of COVID-19 [ 16 ]. The findings of a latest study found that there was a marked rise in pandemic issues and major behavioral changes [ 54 ].…”

“…Fear of contacting people who may be infected with COVID-19 has been reported, and this, unfortunately, may intensify the damage of the disease itself [ 15 ]. People tried to cope in a socially distancing context by engaging in activities that affirm social (e.g., communicating virtually online) in order to overcome perceived threats and contagion fear [ 16 ]. These behaviors may serve as coping mechanisms for people who are scared of getting the disease, improving their well-being and therefore their quality of life [ 16 ].…”

Change in mental health, physical health, and social relationships during highly restrictive lockdown in the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Australia

“…COVID-19 lockdown experiences have the potential to significantly impair core aspects of relationship maintenance by disrupting the frequency and quality of shared experiences, and interpersonal communication patterns. This could be associated with psychological consequences such as a decreased sense of closeness and a reduction in perceived relationship quality ( Aleman & Sommer, 2020 ; Lardone et al, 2020 ).…”

Behavioral Restriction Determines Left Attentional Bias: Preliminary Evidences From COVID-19 Lockdown

“…The scientific literature concerning similar pandemics, such as the SARS epidemic, demonstrated that quarantine negatively affects psychological well-being, leading to the development of post-traumatic stress symptoms (Reynolds et al, 2008;Castelli et al, 2020;Lardone et al, 2020). To this regard, there are many studies that document a strong relation between COVID-19 quarantine and the onset of stress or stress-related behaviors (Brooks et al, 2020;Lardone et al, 2020;Pisano et al, 2020;Zurlo et al, 2020) among other things, more observed in females (Mazza et al, 2020) and in those who are younger (≤40 years) (Xiong et al, 2020).…”