• Leticia García-Álvarez, Lorena de la Fuente-Tomás, María Paz García-Portilla, Pilar A Sáiz, Carlota Moya Lacasa, Francesco Dal Santo, Leticia González-Blanco, María Teresa Bobes-Bascarán, Mercedes Valtueña García, Clara Álvarez Vázquez, Ángela Velasco Iglesias, Clara Martínez Cao, Ainoa García Fernández, María Teresa Bascarán Fernández, Almudena Portilla Fernández, Julia Rodríguez Revuelta, Elisa Seijo Zazo, Paula Zurrón Madera, María Suárez Álvarez, Ángeles Paredes Sánchez, Claudia Fernández Delgado, Silvia Casaprima Suárez, Isabel Menéndez Miranda, Luis Jiménez Treviño, Gonzalo Paniagua Calzón, Iciar Abad, Cristina Pedrosa Duque, Leonor Riera, Pedro Marina González, Eduardo Fonseca Pedrero, and Julio Bobes.
• Department of Psychiatry, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain.
• J Glob Health. 2020 Dec 1; 10 (2): 020505.

BackgroundEpidemic outbreaks have significant impact on psychological well-being, increasing psychiatric morbidity among the population. We aimed to describe the early psychological impact of COVID-19 and its contributing factors in a large Spanish sample, globally and according to mental status (never mental disorder NMD, past mental disorder PMD, current mental disorder CMD).MethodsAn online questionnaire was conducted between 19 and 26 March, five days after the official declaration of alarm and the lockdown order. Data included sociodemographic and clinical information and the DASS-21 and IES questionnaires. We analysed 21 207 responses using the appropriate descriptive and univariate tests as well as binary logistic regression to identify psychological risk and protective factors.ResultsWe found a statistically significant gradient in the psychological impact experienced in five domains according to mental status, with the NMD group being the least affected and the CMD group being the most affected. In the three groups, the depressive response was the most prevalent (NMD = 40.9%, PMD = 51.9%, CMD = 74.4%, F = 1011.459, P < 0.001). Risk factors were female sex and classification as a case in any psychological domain. Protective factors were younger age and ability to enjoy free time. Variables related to COVID-19 had almost no impact except for having COVID-19 symptoms, which was a risk factor for anxiety in all three groups.ConclusionsOur results can help develop coping strategies addressing modifiable risk and protective factors for each mental status for early implementation in future outbreaks.Copyright © 2020 by the Journal of Global Health. All rights reserved.

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