Across the COVID-19 Waves; Assessing Temporal Fluctuations in Perceived Stress, Post-Traumatic Symptoms, Worry, Anxiety and Civic Moral Disengagement over One Year of Pandemic.

Alessio Gori,Eleonora Topino

doi:10.3390/ijerph18115651

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the psychological effect of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy by analysing the trends of perceived stress, post-traumatic symptoms, state anxiety, worry, and civic moral disengagement in four different moments from March 2020 to March 2021. The study involved a total of 1827 Italian participants (30% men and 70% women; Mage = 34.72; SD = 12.40) divided into four groups to which an online survey was administered. The first group completed the survey in March 2020, the second one in August 2020, the third one in November 2020, and the fourth one in March 2021. Results highlighted significant decreases in post-traumatic symptoms and a significant increase in civic moral disengagement over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The levels of perceived stress, worry, and state anxiety remained constant. The correlations between the variables at different times were also explored, as well as gender differences over the year. The COVID-19 emergency has had significant effects on the mental state of the population, with important repercussions for individual and collective well-being during but probably also after the pandemic. This study offers a clear snapshot of the psychological outcomes over one COVID-19 pandemic year, providing important information that may contribute to tailor more effective interventions for mental health.

Highlights

The COVID-19 disease is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2), and it has brought about sudden, drastic, and unexpected changes in daily life for people around the world [1]
This study offers a clear snapshot of the psychological outcomes over one COVID-19 pandemic year, providing important information that may contribute to tailor more effective interventions for mental health
March 2021, civic moral disengagement was positively and significant associated with state anxiety (r = 0.135, p < 0.05) and post-traumatic symptoms (r = 0.158, p < 0.05) but not with perceived stress (r = 0.103, p = 0.112) and worry (r = 0.090, p = 0.162; see Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 disease is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2), and it has brought about sudden, drastic, and unexpected changes in daily life for people around the world [1]. Was the first European country with a diagnosed case of COVID-19 on 20 February 2020 This resulted in a succession of government measures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus, including a national lockdown which lasted almost two months, from 10 March to 3 May 2020. As in Italy, other countries adopted numerous preventive and virus-containment measures over time [4]. Given this framework, the international scientific literature highlights how the pandemic has had an impact on the sphere of physical health but how it has caused psychological disorders (see Vindegaard and Benros [5] for a review). Restrictions to contain the virus, economic instability, risk of contagion, uncertainty about the future, unpredictability of the virus spread, and the growing emergence of its variants may cause significant and lasting effects

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