Abstract
On January 30th 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Italy has been one of the most affected countries in the world. To contain further spread of the virus, the Italian government has imposed an unprecedented long-period lockdown for the entire country. This dramatic scenario may have caused a strong psychological distress, with potential negative long-term mental health consequences. The aim of the present study is to report the prevalence of high psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the general population, especially considering that this aspect is consistently associated with PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, the present study aims to identify the risk factors for high PTSD symptoms, including individual differences and subjective perception of both economic and psychological aspects. We administered an online survey to 1253 participants during the peak period of the contagion in Italy. A logistic regression on the Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R) scores was used to test the risk factors that predict the possibility to develop PTSD symptoms due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gender (female), lower perceived economic stability, higher neuroticism, and fear and consequences of contagion were predictors of high PTSD symptomatology. The results, highlighted in the present study, extend our understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the population’s mental health, by identifying individuals at high-risk of developing PTSD. This may help with the implementation of specific protocols to prevent the possibility of developing symptoms of PTSD in target populations.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) arises from SARS-CoV2, which is an infection that affects the lower respiratory tracts (Ashour et al, 2020; Wölfel et al, 2020)
In the present study we focus on the role of individual differences, perception of economic stability, and psychological factors in predicting symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Our aim was to examine the factors leading to high PTSD symptoms related to COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) arises from SARS-CoV2, which is an infection that affects the lower respiratory tracts (Ashour et al, 2020; Wölfel et al, 2020). It has been estimated that around 20% of COVID-19 patient symptoms will show a severe form of the disease (Zhong et al, 2020). At this time, there is no specific vaccine or treatment for this disease and the elective clinical procedures consist in isolating patients to manage their clinical symptoms. China has been relatively successful in containing its outbreak by reducing new cases of infection by more than 90%, the number of infections spread in other countries, especially Italy, Iran, and United States (Callaway, 2020). To contain further spread of the virus, governments are implementing unprecedented strict restrictive measures to reduce person-toperson transmission of COVID-19. The implementation of restrictive measures, such as “social distancing” or “social isolation,” have caused an inevitable readjustment in the daily life of modern societies causing limitations in traveling, social interactions, and work life
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