Abstract

Introduction. As part of the holistic concept of health, mental health can be focused on prevention of contagion and coping with the disease and its consequences in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The present study describes, compares, and analyzes the association of the impact of the event, perceived stress, coping strategies, emotional regulation, and sociodemographic characteristics during the quarantine in various countries. Material and methods. This research is a multicentric and epidemiological study with a convenience online snowball sampling of the general population and university students. Results. 1.179 participants from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, and Spain responded to the survey. Most of them included students and workers, with a high educational level and living with family during the quarantine. There are significant differences in the medians of all variables among countries and sociodemographic characteristics. The variables positively and significantly associated with the impact of the event during quarantine included the perceived stress, the coping strategies of alcohol/drug use, planning and active coping, focus on emotions and vent, the emotional regulation strategy expressive suppression, and living in Italy. Conclusions. These results have contributed to the understanding of mental, emotional, and behavioral response to quarantine, as well as underline the urgency of monitoring mental health among the vulnerable groups, in order to design specific prevention and intervention programs.

Highlights

  • As part of the holistic concept of health, mental health can be focused on prevention of contagion and coping with the disease and its consequences in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic

  • Participants were asked to share the link with their contacts

  • When analyzing the differences in responses to quarantine, it must be considered that the evaluation of these variables was carried out at an individual and not collective level

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Summary

Introduction

As part of the holistic concept of health, mental health can be focused on prevention of contagion and coping with the disease and its consequences in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The present study describes, compares, and analyzes the association of the impact of the event, perceived stress, coping strategies, emotional regulation, and sociodemographic characteristics during the quarantine in various countries. The variables positively and significantly associated with the impact of the event during quarantine included the perceived stress, the coping strategies of alcohol/drug use, planning and active coping, focus on emotions and vent, the emotional regulation strategy expressive suppression, and living in Italy. During the 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) epidemic, Khalid et al [13] investigated emotions, perceived stressors, and coping strategies in healthcare personnel working in a hospital in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), finding that as a coping strategy, positive attitudes in the workplace, clinical improvement of infected colleagues, and interruption of disease transmission among healthcare workers after taking strict protective measures eased their fear

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