Covid-19 and the impacts on mental health: a sample from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract Pandemics such as that of COVID-19 affect a relatively large number of people and impose new rules and social habits on the world population. Information about the pandemic is constant in the media. Moreover, social distancing has been adopted in Brazil to prevent the spread of COVID-19, which may have economic and psychosocial consequences. This study aimed to verify the factors associated with indicators of mental disorders symptoms in residents of Rio Grande do Sul during the initial period of the social distancing policy. The study was approved by CONEP. There were 799 participants, aged between 18 and 75 years (M = 36.56; SD = 12.88); 82.7% were women, who answered a sociodemographic questionnaire of social distancing and the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20). The results indicated that having decreased income in the period, being part of the risk group and being more exposed to information about deaths and infected, are factors that can significantly harm mental health in this pandemic period. Investigating social determinants that contribute to greater vulnerability to the mental illness of the population is vital in the field of collective health for the planning of public actions and policies.

摘要：以新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）疫情为代表的大流行病，波及数量庞大的人群，并为全球民众推行了全新的防疫规范与社交模式。疫情相关资讯在各类媒体中持续传播。此外，巴西为遏制COVID-19的传播实施了社交距离措施，该举措可能引发经济与社会心理层面的负面影响。本研究旨在探究巴西南里奥格兰德州（Rio Grande do Sul）居民在社交距离政策实施初期阶段，与精神障碍症状指标相关的影响因素。本研究已获得CONEP批准。本次研究共纳入799名研究对象，年龄介于18至75岁之间（均值M=36.56；标准差SD=12.88）；其中82.7%为女性，所有研究对象均填写了社交距离相关社会人口学问卷以及自我报告问卷（Self-Report Questionnaire, SRQ-20）。研究结果显示，疫情期间收入下降、属于感染高危人群，以及更频繁接触死亡与确诊病例相关资讯，均为该疫情时期显著损害心理健康的关键因素。探究能够提升人群精神疾病易感性的社会决定因素，对于群体健康领域制定公共行动与政策规划而言至关重要。