Immediate Psychological Response during the Very Early Stage of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) in a Spanish Community Sample

Abstract

Introduction. The World Health Organization declared a pandemic due to COVID-19 on 11 March 2020 and remarked on the relevance of studying its consequences on mental health. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the immediate psychological response to the pandemic and quarantine in Spain.

Methods. From March 23 to 28, an online survey was conducted in a Spanish community sample. Sociodemographic, health and behavioral variables were surveyed. Depression and anxiety sypmtoms were measured by the Depressión, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), posttraumatic symptoms by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and self-care patterns by the Self-Care Scale (SCS).

Results. 3524 respondents were included, 24.1% showed moderate or severe psychological impact, 21.9% reported moderate, severe or extremely severe depression and 32% moderate, severe or extremely severe anxiety. Female gender, younger age, low education, psychiatric diagnosis, worse physical health, contact history, lack of routines, and some psychological symptoms were related to worse psychological responses.

Conclusions. This study provides evidence for a negative mental health impact of the pandemic in the Spanish community that started at the early stages and identifies some variables linked to worse psychological response.