Abstract
Background: We aimed to: (1) analyze differences in both general (in terms of psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, and psychological distress) and specific (depression, trait-anxiety, negative alcohol-related consequences, and suicidal risk) mental health state (MHS) in college students, residing in four different Argentinean regions (center, north, south, and the most populated) exposed to different spread-rates of the COVID-19; (2) analyze between-group differences in both general and specific MHS indicators at four quarantine sub-periods (twice prior, and twice following the first quarantine extension).Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample including 2,687 college students. Data was collected online during the Argentinean quarantine. We calculated one-way between-groups ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test.Results: Regionally, the center and the most populated area differed in psychological well-being/discomfort and negative alcohol-related consequences, but not in the remaining MHS indicators. According to the quarantine sub-periods, there were differences in psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, psychological distress, and negative alcohol-related consequences. Negative alcohol-related consequences were the only MHS indicator improving over time. For all of the remaining MHS indicators, we found a similar deterioration pattern in the course of time, with mean scores decreasing from the first to the 2nd week of the quarantine pre-extensions, then increasing toward the 1st week of the quarantine post-extension (with some MHS indicators reaching mean scores worse than the start), and then continued to increase.Conclusion: A worsened mean MHS during quarantine suggests that quarantine and its extensions contribute to negative mental health impacts.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus
For all of the remaining mental health state (MHS) indicators, we found a similar deterioration pattern in the course of time, with mean scores decreasing from the first to the 2nd week of the quarantine pre-extensions, increasing toward the 1st week of the quarantine post-extension, and continued to increase
A worsened mean MHS during quarantine suggests that quarantine and its extensions contribute to negative mental health impacts
Summary
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. While isolation consists of separating people who have been diagnosed with a contagious disease, from the general population, quarantine consists of separating and restricting the movement of people who are not sick, but may potentially been exposed to a contagious disease, reducing the risk of infecting others [2]. We aimed to: [1] analyze differences in both general (in terms of psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, and psychological distress) and specific (depression, trait-anxiety, negative alcohol-related consequences, and suicidal risk) mental health state (MHS) in college students, residing in four different Argentinean regions (center, north, south, and the most populated) exposed to different spread-rates of the COVID-19; [2] analyze between-group differences in both general and specific MHS indicators at four quarantine sub-periods (twice prior, and twice following the first quarantine extension)
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