COVID-19 and the impacts on mental health: a sample from Rio Grande do Sul

Abstract

Pandemics, such as COVID-19 affect a relatively large number of people and impose new rules and social habits for the whole population. Information about the pandemic are constant in the media. Social distancing was also initiated in Brazil as a measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, which can have economic and psychosocial consequences. In this context, the objective of this paper was to verify the association between social distance, impact on family income and exposure to information, with indicators of symptoms of mental disorders in residents of the state of Rio Grande do Sul/Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was approved by CONEP/BR. 799 people participated, 18 - 75 years old (M = 36.56; SD = 12.88), 82.7% women, who answered a sociodemographic and social distance questionnaire, and the Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ -20). The results indicated that not being a health worker, having a reduced income in the period, being part of the risk group and being more exposed to information about dead and infected people, are factors that can cause greater damage to mental health in this pandemic period. These factors and their association with social distance are discussed.