Abstract
Nowadays and worldwide, the attention is focused on coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and its consequences on mental health are yet to be fully understood. It is important to capture differences in anxiety levels among populations, groups, and the gender-related variation. Therefore, the present study had two main purposes: (1) to characterize the levels of state anxiety and trait anxiety by examining gender-related, sleep-related, and physical activity-related variations in a nonrepresentative sample of the Portuguese population during the first weeks of lockdown; and (2) to explore the possible relationship between trait anxiety and state anxiety and the possible role of gender as a moderator. This cross-sectional study comprised 1,332 Portuguese adults (aged 18–55 years old) recruited online during COVID-19 outbreak measures. Participants answered to sociodemographic data and the Portuguese version of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Gender differences were found in both state anxiety (p = < 0.001; d = 0.385) and trait anxiety (p = < 0.001; d = 0.467) with females presenting higher values. People reporting doing more physical activity than usual during COVID-19 lockdown presented lower levels of state anxiety (p = < 0.001; d = 0.200). People reporting more satisfaction with the quality of sleep presented lower levels of both state anxiety (p = < 0.001; d = 0.701) and trait anxiety (p = < 0.001; d = 0.899). Variation associated with the physical activity level (low, moderate, and high) was significantly different among groups in both state anxiety (p = < 0.001) and trait anxiety (p = < 0.001). When analyzing in more detail separating the levels of physical activity, participants performing moderate and high physical activity showed lower values of state and trait anxiety compared to participants with low physical activity. Participants performing high physical activity also showed lower values of state anxiety compared to participants performing moderate physical activity. Higher levels of trait anxiety were related to higher levels of state anxiety, but this association was not moderated by gender. Interventions aiming to support people psychologically during this outbreak should consider anxiety as well as gender and possible behavioral changes in sleep and physical activity, for example. Health professionals should not only consider the anxiety related to the situation we are living but also address trait anxiety to help overcome COVID-19 psychological consequences.
Highlights
Global attention is focused on the coronavirus disease (COVID19) and its physical and psychosocial consequences, on mental health
When the comparison was performed according to the satisfaction with the quality of sleep, we found that individuals who reported being satisfied with the quality of their sleep, during the lockdown period, had lower levels of anxiety
By examining the results according to the amount of physical activity (PA) performed, based on the three categories recommended by the IPAQ questionnaire, we found that people who reported practicing a greater amount of PA during the lockdown (Group 3—high PA) were those who reported lower levels of anxiety
Summary
Global attention is focused on the coronavirus disease (COVID19) and its physical and psychosocial consequences, on mental health. The Portuguese government declared a state of emergency on March 18, and, a set of preventive public health measures were gradually implemented (Ribeiro et al, 2020) These measures are vital to prevent the spread of the virus and may have a positive effect in protecting peoples’ physical health, it may have consequences on mental health, for instance, higher levels of anxiety (Cao et al, 2020; Huang and Zhao, 2020), depression, or even stress (Roma et al, 2020; Hawes et al, 2021). The fact that we are living in an unprecedented situation entails several feelings of fear and uncertainty that, along with the aforementioned consequences of the application of preventive measures, may enhance anxiety levels
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