Department of Economics, Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Millennium Nucleus in Social Development (DESOC), Santiago, Chile.
PLoS One. 2021 Nov 3;16(11):e0251683. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251683. eCollection 2021.
Previous research has shown that the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing, and lockdown can affect people's psychological well-being. The aims of this study were (1) to estimate the extent to which perceptions and expectations regarding the social, economic, and domestic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak are associated with psychological distress and (2) to identify some demographic, psychosocial, and economic factors associated with increased vulnerability to psychological distress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Chile. 1078 people participated in a telephone survey between May 30 and June 10, 2020. The sample is representative of the Chilean adult population. Psychological distress was assessed through a questionnaire of anxious and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-4). We analyzed the data set using ordinary least-squares regression models, first estimating models for the entire sample, and then stratifying the sample into different groups to explore differences by gender and age. 19.2% of participants displayed significant psychological distress (PHQ-4 ≥ 6), with moderate to severe anxiety-depression symptoms being more prevalent in women than in men (23.9% vs 14.1%, χ2 16.78, p<0.001). The results of this study suggest that being a woman, feeling lonely and isolated, living in the areas hit hardest by the pandemic and lockdown, expecting a lack of income due to having to stop working as a consequence of the pandemic, and having a history of diagnosed mental disorders are significantly associated with psychological distress (p<0.05). The results of this study highlight the need to implement psychosocial programs to guard people's psychological well-being and social policies to address economic uncertainty during the current COVID-19 outbreak in Chile.
先前的研究表明，新冠疫情、社交距离和封锁措施可能会影响人们的心理健康。本研究旨在：(1) 评估人们对新冠疫情社会、经济和家庭影响的看法和预期与心理困扰的关联程度；(2) 确定一些与智利新冠疫情期间心理困扰易感性增加相关的人口统计学、心理社会和经济因素。2020 年 5 月 30 日至 6 月 10 日期间，1078 人参与了一项电话调查。该样本具有代表性，代表了智利的成年人口。通过焦虑和抑郁症状问卷（PHQ-4）评估心理困扰。我们使用普通最小二乘法回归模型分析数据集，首先估计整个样本的模型，然后对样本进行分层，以探索性别和年龄差异。19.2%的参与者存在明显的心理困扰（PHQ-4≥6），女性的中度至重度焦虑-抑郁症状比男性更为常见（23.9%比 14.1%，χ2=16.78，p<0.001）。研究结果表明，女性、感到孤独和孤立、生活在受疫情和封锁影响最严重的地区、预计因疫情而停止工作导致收入减少、以及有诊断为精神障碍的病史与心理困扰显著相关（p<0.05）。本研究结果强调，有必要实施社会心理计划来保护人们的心理健康，并在智利当前的新冠疫情期间制定社会政策来应对经济不确定性。
