Protective elements of mental health status during the COVID-19 outbreak in the Portuguese population.
Open accessAbstract
The outbreak of COVID-19 might produce dramatic psychological effects on the individuals’ life. In this study, we aimed to explore the elements that may reduce the negative effects on mental health of the quarantine period imposed by most governments during this worldwide crisis. We conducted an online survey to evaluate demographic, lifestyle and mental health variables in the Portuguese population. We observed that factors related with living conditions, maintaining the work either online or in the workplace, frequency of exercise and absence of a previous psychological or physic disorders are protective features of psychological well-being (anxiety, depression, stress and obsessive-compulsive symptoms). Finally, the individuals previously receiving psychotherapeutic support exhibited better psychological indicators if they did not interrupt the process as a consequence of the outbreak. Our results indicate that the practice of physical exercise, reduced consumption of COVID-19 information and the implementation of remote mental healthcare measures might prevent larger impacts on mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Recent data concerning immediate psychological impact among Portuguese individuals suggest that participants reported higher levels of moderate to severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than previously.
“recent data concerning immediate psychological impact among Portuguese individuals suggest that participants reported higher levels of moderate to severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress than previously (Passos et al., 2020; Paulino et al., 2020; Moreira et al., 2021).”
From Dealing With the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Portugal: On the Important Role of Positivity, Experiential Avoidance, and Coping Strategies (2021) · cites this paper as Moreira et al., 2021
The Results (section 3; page not provided) report severe depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in the Portuguese sample. They do not report a combined moderate-to-severe rate or establish that these symptoms were more common than previously. The Discussion (section 4; page not provided) says the cross-sectional design cannot determine whether relevant differences predated the pandemic. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThese results are higher than those reported in previous COVID-19 Portuguese studies, especially for stress and anxiety.
“Overall, these results are higher than those reported in previous COVID-19 Portuguese studies (Paulino et al., 2020; Moreira et al., 2021), especially for stress and anxiety.”
From Dealing With the Pandemic of COVID-19 in Portugal: On the Important Role of Positivity, Experiential Avoidance, and Coping Strategies (2021) · cites this paper as Moreira et al., 2021
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- Authors
- Moreira, P., Ferreira, S., Couto, B., Machado-Sousa, M., Fernández, M., Raposo-Lima, C., Sousa, N., Picó-Pérez, M., & Morgado, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Minho (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Morgado, P
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- openRxiv
- Published
- 2020-05-01
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 1910-1910
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7920474
- OpenAlex
- W3130731765
- Cited by
- 131
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 12 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 18.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/Multi/50026, 01-0145, COMPETE, NORTE-01–0145-FEDER-000013, NORTE2020, UID/Multi/50026/2019, 110_596697345, NORTE-01-0145)
- European Regional Development Fund (COMPETE, 01-0145-FEDER-000013, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, NORTE-2020)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, psychological well-being, quarantine, protective factors, anxiety, depression, stress, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, physical activity, psychotherapeutic support, lifestyle factors, Portuguese population
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Adult, Anxiety, Depression, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Portugal, Psychotherapy, Quarantine, Stress, Psychological, Exercise, Pandemics, Protective Factors
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