Psychological distress, low-income, and socio-economic vulnerability in the COVID-19 pandemic
Open accessAbstract
Objectives Although literature broadly reports the impact of COVID-19 on global mental health, little is known about the extent of its deleterious impact on the most vulnerable individuals. The present study aimed to evaluate the level of psychological distress of adult's residents of two urban shantytown communities located in São Paulo city, Brazil. Study design This was a cross-sectional study. Methods An online questionnaire was divided into four sections: (1) informed consent, (2) socio-economic data, (3) 12-item general health questionnaire, and (4) Brazilian food insecurity scale was applied. Results Of the 495 family headship (448 females and 47 males), the mean age was 36.1 years, 85% have an indication of psychological distress, 61.4% had a monthly income less than or equal to $70, and the incidence of households experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity was 40%. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that respondents who experienced moderate or severe food insecurity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.701, confidence interval [CI] 95% = 1.265-5.769; P = 0.010) and lower monthly income (OR = 2.031, CI 95% = 1.056-3.908; P = 0.034) had a higher risk of psychological distress. On the other hand, having an employment is a protective factor against the stressful situations caused by COVID-19 pandemic (P = 0.029). Conclusion The present study identified low-income younger women residents of urban slums who suffer from food insecurity as high-risk groups to have psychological distress. Our findings are of particular importance because they showed the intersection of vulnerabilities during the COVID-19 outbreak.
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A few years prior, food insecurity in South Africa was almost 20%; thus, during the pandemic, food insecurity increased by approximately 3.6%.
“A few years prior, food insecurity in South Africa was almost 20%; thus, during the pandemic, food insecurity increased by approximately 3.6% [89].”
From Exploring Psychosocial Stressors and Coping Strategies During the COVID‐19 Lockdown: A Study of Two Low‐Income Communities in South Africa (2025) · cites this paper as [89]
The Results report food insecurity among households in two Brazilian communities, not South Africa. The Discussion says food insecurity before the pandemic was not determined in this study. Searches for South Africa, a baseline near 20%, and a 3.6% increase found no passage addressing those figures. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Gwadiso, X. A., Taliep, N., Ismail, G., James (née Louw), S., & Swart, L.-A. (2025) · Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology · doi:10.1155/jts5/8167323 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Santana, C. L. A., Manfrinato, C. V., Souza, P. R. P., Marino, A., Condé, V. F., Stedefeldt, E., Tomita, L. Y., & do Carmo Franco, M.
- Affiliations
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo (BR)
- Universidade Federal do ABC (BR)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Public Health
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-10
- Volume
- 199
- Pages
- 42-45
- ISSN
- 0033-3506 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8390360
- OpenAlex
- W3196544564
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 7.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Keywords
- psychological distress, COVID-19 pandemic, low-income households, socioeconomic vulnerability, urban slums, informal settlements, food insecurity, São Paulo
- MeSH terms
- Psychological Distress, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adult, Brazil, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Poverty Areas, Stress, Psychological, Pandemics
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