Abstract
Background:The current situation due COVID-19 may cause an eminent impact on mental health because the confinement restrictions.Aims:The aim of this study was to analyze and compare perceived stress, resilience, depression symptoms and coping strategies on the members of University of Campinas, in Brazil, before and during the outbreak of the COVID-19.Methods:Volunteers over 18 years of both sexes, members of the University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil answered instruments related to perceived stress, depression, resilience and coping strategies during final exams at the end of semester during 2018 to 2020.Results:We obtained 1,135 responses (893 before COVID-19 and 242 during COVID-19). The volunteers did not show significant differences for perceived stress, depressive signs and resilience before and during the pandemic. In both periods, men exhibited lower scores for perceived stress and depression and higher scores for resilience when compared to women. Undergraduate and graduate students exhibited higher perceived stress scores, more pronounced depressive signs and lower resilience, and employees and professors presented lower scores for perceived stress, depressive signs and greater resilience.Conclusions:These first months of confinement did not directly affect the scores of perceived stress, depression and resilience, however, each subgroup adapted to the new routine by changing the coping strategy used. This study suggests the importance of monitoring the mental health of member in the university, especially in times of epidemic, in the search for policies that aim to improve the resilience of the population and seek positive and effective coping strategies within the university environment.
Highlights
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was firstly detected in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) in December 2019 (Odriozola-González et al, 2020)
The University of Campinas (Unicamp) community follows this same pattern described in the literature, with high scores for perceived stress, depressive signs and low score for resilience when compared to men
Individuals who identified themselves with another option for sex or did not want to identify themselves with either sex exhibited a high score for perceived stress and depressive signs, and low scores for resilience
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was firstly detected in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) in December 2019 (Odriozola-González et al, 2020). Until 29th October 2020, Brazil has recorded 158,969 deaths and 5,494,376 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass). This panorama confirms Brazil as the second country in the world with the highest number of cases and deaths in the pandemic of the new coronavirus. Aims: The aim of this study was to analyze and compare perceived stress, resilience, depression symptoms and coping strategies on the members of University of Campinas, in Brazil, before and during the outbreak of the COVID-19. This study suggests the importance of monitoring the mental health of member in the university, especially in times of epidemic, in the search for policies that aim to improve the resilience of the population and seek positive and effective coping strategies within the university environment
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