IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i9p4847-d547623.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Frequency of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a Brazilian Sample during the COVID-19 Outbreak

Author

Listed:
  • Fabiana Silva Ribeiro

    (Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, L-4366 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg)

  • Flávia H. Santos

    (School of Psychology, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland)

  • Luis Anunciação

    (Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University, 22541-041 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

  • Lucas Barrozo

    (Institute of Psychology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 21941-901 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

  • Jesus Landeira-Fernandez

    (Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University, 22541-041 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)

  • Anja K. Leist

    (Department of Social Sciences, University of Luxembourg, L-4366 Esch-Sur-Alzette, Luxembourg)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency of international concern, and the main measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus causing COVID-19 were social distancing, quarantine, and self-isolation. Although these policies are effective in containing the spread of the virus, they might represent a challenge to psychological well-being, increasing levels of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms. Aims: We explored the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms during COVID-19 restrictions and associations with sociodemographic factors in a Brazilian sample. Method: Data of a total of 936 Brazilian adults (68.2% women) aged 18 to 77 years old (M = 38.95, SD = 13.91) were collected through an online survey. Results: In general, we observed a frequency of 17.36% for severe anxiety and 66.13% for severe depression symptoms, in which younger participants (18–39 years old) and women showed higher scores in anxiety and depression scales compared to older age groups. Logistic regressions showed that women were more likely to present severe symptoms of anxiety (20.4%) compared to men (10.9%), as well as respondents in the educational sector (24.3%) compared to those in the health sector (10%). Conclusions: We highlight the importance of mental health professionals in developing strategies to help younger adults to mitigate the effects of social restriction.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabiana Silva Ribeiro & Flávia H. Santos & Luis Anunciação & Lucas Barrozo & Jesus Landeira-Fernandez & Anja K. Leist, 2021. "Exploring the Frequency of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in a Brazilian Sample during the COVID-19 Outbreak," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4847-:d:547623
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4847/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4847/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lígia Passos & Filipe Prazeres & Andreia Teixeira & Carlos Martins, 2020. "Impact on Mental Health Due to COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Study in Portugal and Brazil," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Paulo Sérgio Boggio, 2019. "Science and education are essential to Brazil’s well-being," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 3(7), pages 648-649, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maurício Rech & Gabriela Bertoletti Diaz & Bruno Luis Schaab & Carolina Garcia Soares Leães Rech & Prisla Ücker Calvetti & Caroline Tozzi Reppold, 2023. "Association of Emotional Self-Regulation with Psychological Distress and Positive Functioning Dimensions in Brazilian University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-13, July.
    2. Yazmín Hernández-Díaz & Alma Delia Genis-Mendoza & Miguel Ángel Ramos-Méndez & Isela Esther Juárez-Rojop & Carlos Alfonso Tovilla-Zárate & Thelma Beatriz González-Castro & María Lilia López-Narváez & , 2022. "Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mexican Population: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-10, June.
    3. Dorota Ortenburger & Dariusz Mosler & Iuliia Pavlova & Jacek Wąsik, 2021. "Social Support and Dietary Habits as Anxiety Level Predictors of Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arndt Büssing & Michaela Zupanic & Jan P. Ehlers & Angelika Taetz-Harrer, 2022. "Mental Stress in Medical Students during the Pandemic and Their Relation to Digital and Hybrid Semester—Cross-Sectional Data from Three Recruitment Waves in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Christine Ipsen & Marc van Veldhoven & Kathrin Kirchner & John Paulin Hansen, 2021. "Six Key Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home in Europe during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.
    3. Diana Frasquilho & Ricardo Matias & Jaime Grácio & Berta Sousa & Fernando Luís-Ferreira & João Leal & Fátima Cardoso & Albino J. Oliveira-Maia, 2021. "Protocol for the Implementation and Assessment of “MoodUP”: A Stepped Care Model Assisted by a Digital Platform to Accelerate Access to Mental Health Care for Cancer Patients Amid the COVID-19 Pandemi," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-11, April.
    4. Burger,Martijn & Hendriks,Martijn & Ianchovichina,Elena, 2022. "Anatomy of Brazil’s Subjective Well-Being : A Tale of Growing Discontent and Polarization in the 2010s," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9924, The World Bank.
    5. Nayoon Lee & Hyun-Ju Lee, 2020. "South Korean Nurses’ Experiences with Patient Care at a COVID-19-Designated Hospital: Growth after the Frontline Battle against an Infectious Disease Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-22, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4847-:d:547623. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.