Do psychological strengths protect college students confined by COVID-19 to emotional distress? The role of gender

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a stressful situation for the university population due to the important changes in the development of their studies and in their living conditions. However, the impact of factors related to the family unit (living with COVID-19 positive patients and living with Essential Services Workers-ESW) and other protective psychosocial factors that could produce resilient or psychopathological results (anxiety and depression) in this population has not been sufficiently assessed, differentiating them by gender. The results obtained show that both variables related to the family unit and psychosocial protective variables explain 28.6% of the variance in general distress in the total sample (R2 = 0.286; F(3,250) =34,717; p < .001). However, models of regression of distress and anxiety levels differ between men and women, but not in terms of mood alteration. Women facing circumstances reminiscent of mandatory pandemic containment have moderately higher levels of resilience than men (tCDRISC(125) = 2.218; p < .05; tGSE(125) = 2.415; p < .05; tCDRISC(125) = 0.146; p = .884; tGSE(125) = 0.315; p = .756). The results are discussed from the perspective of gender differences, taking into account the contribution of sociodemographic factors that increase remembrance of the stressor/trauma and the coping styles of the participants.