EXPLORACIÓN DE VARIABLES PSICOSOCIALES EN POBLACIÓN GENERAL EXPUESTA AL CONFINAMIENTO POR LA PANDEMIA DE LA COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of individuals worldwide, with specific implications for the general population and specific groups such as university medical students. This Doctoral Thesis aims to analyse the risk and protective factors associated with depression and anxiety among Spanish medical students, as well as in the general population, during two different times of the pandemic. A longitudinal design was employed and psychosocial measures were administered to a total of 472 medical students during the first and second waves of the COVID-19 infection. The results obtained support the hypothesised models, indicating the influence of protective factors on states of anxiety and depression. Furthermore, there are positive and significant correlations between resilience and several psychosocial variables, in particular between self-efficacy, dispositional optimism and emotional intelligence, but inverse relationships with anxiety and depression. A clarifying view is offered on the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care students and applied intervention strategies. In particular, self-efficacy, dispositional optimism and emotional intelligence are key protective factors, and educators and policy makers should develop upstream interventions and support mechanisms to safeguard students' mental well-being in these high-adversity situations. Additionally, the general Spanish population exposed to mandatory confinement as pandemic prevention (699 people, mostly women) demonstrate the predictive power of socio-demographic risk factors like gender and living with COVID-19 patients, as well as protective factors like self-efficacy and hope, on their mental health. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that self-efficacy and hope work as anxiety-reducing elements, particularly in the case of people living with people who use essential services. In the case of depression, hope appears to be the most important protective factor for those who live with COVID-19 patients. This work advances our understanding of the sociodemographic and psychological determinants impacting mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering significant insights into a Spanish sample exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 spillover effects. Overall, all of these findings have implications for health professionals, policy makers and educators, who can use this knowledge to develop specific interventions and support systems to address the mental health challenges faced by students and the general population in times of upcoming crises.