Abstract
Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency has imposed important challenges in the lives of individuals, particularly since the restriction of free movement. In Spain, this mandatory home confinement started on March 14, 2020. In this scenario, some calls have been made to better understand the exact impact of the quarantine on the emotional status of individuals across time. Materials and Methods: On the first day that the Spanish government imposed the quarantine, our team launched an online longitudinal study to monitor emotional responses to the COVID-19 emergency over time. For 2 weeks, 187 people have responded to a daily diary on emotion functioning. An emotion network analysis was performed to study the network structure of 30 mood states and its changes during the first 2 weeks of the quarantine. Results: The emotional network showed critical changes in the interactions of emotions over time. An analysis of mean emotional levels did not show statistically significant changes in mood over time. Interestingly, two different network patterns were found when the sample was divided between those with favorable responses and those with unfavorable responses. Discussion: This new approach to the study of longitudinal changes of the mood state network of the population reveals different adaptation strategies reflected on the sample’s emotional network. This network approach can help identify most fragile individuals (more vulnerable to external stressors) before they develop clear and identifiable psychopathology and also help identify anti-fragile individuals (those who improve their functioning in the face of external stressors). This is one of the first studies to apply an emotional network approach to study the psychological effects of pandemics and might offer some clues to psychologists and health administrators to help people cope with and adjust to this critical situation.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency has imposed important challenges in the lives of individuals, since the restriction of free movement
This quarantine strategy has been used for centuries because self-isolation can help contain and control the spread of infectious diseases. Both isolation per se and its uncontrollability have important negative psychological effects on individuals. Previous pandemics, such as those associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), have been described as a mental health catastrophe due to the widespread psychopathology associated with the disease (Gardner and Moallef, 2015)
We found no statistical change in negative moods across time for the total sample when we compared averaged levels of negative moods from the first 3 and the last 3 days (Mday1 = 25.8; SD = 9.97; M-day 20 = 26.27; SD = 10.64; t[400] = 0.10; p = 0.32)
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency has imposed important challenges in the lives of individuals, since the restriction of free movement. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency imposed important challenges in the lives of individuals, since the restriction of free movement and limitation of social contact started. This quarantine strategy has been used for centuries because self-isolation can help contain and control the spread of infectious diseases. Some people become so anxious, distressed, avoidant, and functionally impaired under pandemics that end up requiring treatment due to the development of an emotional disorder (Wheaton et al, 2012) In this sense, SARS was dangerous for the elderly and medically fragile, the psychological impact of SARS inflicted a great deal of suffering in terms of the number of people affected by it and its duration (Chang et al, 2004; Washer, 2004). It seems clear that mental disorders can be triggered or exacerbated by pandemic-related situational stressors (Wu et al, 2005; Gardner and Moallef, 2015; Shultz et al, 2015)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call