!e Psychological Impact of Six Weeks of Lockdown as a Consequence of COVID-19 and the Importance of Social Support: A Cross-Cultural Study Comparing Spanish and Russian Populations

Abstract

Background. !e COVID-19 pandemic has been an unprecedented social and health emergency worldwide. Cross-cultural research on mental health during this situation is needed to better understand its consequences. Objective. To evaluate the di"erent psychological impacts of the crisis and lockdown situation during the #rst six weeks of COVID emergency measures in samples of the Spanish and Russian populations. Design. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey (NSpain = 1041; NRussia = 743). !e prevalence of loneliness, depression, anxiety, perceived discrimination (PD), internalized stigma (IS), and perceived social support (PSS) was evaluated. Chi-square tests and t-tests were administered. The Enter Method were used to identify the predictors of the mental health impact. Results. Di"erences were found between the Russian and the Spanish populations. While the degrees of anxiety and depression did not di"er signi#cantly, loneliness, the alienation dimension of IS, and PD were more pronounced in the Russian respondents. In Spain, the predictor of less negative impact was PSS from various sources, while in Russia we only found PSS from the family. Conclusion. Although in both countries the impact at the clinical level seemed to be similar, di"erences were found at the psychosocial level. Variables with a strong cultural component may be key to determining the means of alleviating the e"ects of the crisis, with PSS being a fundamental protective factor. More crosssectional studies are needed to understand the impact of the pandemic in depth.

Holistic Psychosocial Approaches in the Care of Hispanic Victims of Trauma: An Overview

“…Individuals from the Hispanic culture highly value family, social connections, and support systems. Collectivist cultures such as the Hispanic culture maintain problems related to acknowledging mental-health issues within the family system (Ausín et al, 2020). Therefore, when confronted with mental-health distress, Hispanics are more likely to seek advice from families, peers, or religious leaders than psychiatric professionals (Ausín et al, 2020; Rogers et al, 2018).…”

“…Social Support and Collaboration. Hispanic culture is influenced by collectivism; therefore, nurses and MHCs should include social-support groups, particularly family members, in the treatment plan of Hispanic clients (Ausín et al, 2020). Studies indicate that social support is a strong predictor of resilience among Hispanic individuals who have experienced trauma (Ausín et al, 2020; Saltzman et al, 2020), and a sense of social belonging helps Hispanic families cope with trauma in more positive ways (Abreu et al, 2020).…”

Alcohol consumption during the coronavirus epidemic in Russia

“…5), повторивший большой пик продаж в первую волну. Понятно, что делать водку индикатором стресса не вполне корректно, но пока что замеры стресса в России во время эпидемии единичны [28], но широко представлены в западной Теория общесТвенного здоровья научной литературе [29], даже в сравнительном аспекте (например, [30]) или с обозначением источников стресса (например, финансовый стресс [31]).…”

Loneliness among Middle-Aged and Older Middle-Aged Adults in Russia (Saint Petersburg) before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Results from a Dutch population-based longitudinal study [23] showed that while emotional loneliness increased during the pandemic, social and social emotional loneliness did not show any significant changes. There have also been studies claiming that loneliness rates due to lockdowns caused by COVID-19 were high or higher (often conducted during or right after the first lockdown), for example [24][25][26][27][28], but data were not compared with prepandemic rates. A rapid review, reported by Pai and Vella [14], outlined the inconsistencies in the existing studies: differences in samples in terms of demographic characteristics, and discrepancies in the results.…”