Social Isolation During COVID-19 Pandemic. Perceived Stress and Containment Measures Compliance Among Polish and Italian Residents

Abstract

BackgroundIn this study, we analyze the association of social isolation in the first phase of the pandemic with perceived stress among residents of Poland and Italy with a look at how these populations adjust to and comply with implemented regulations, guidelines, and restrictions.Materials and MethodsInternet survey with Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) and questions regarding mobility patterns, attitude, and propensity to adjust toward the implemented measures and current health condition was made among Polish and Italian residents (Cronbach’s alpha 0.86 and 0.79, respectively). The sample size was 7,108 (6,169 completed questionnaires in Poland and 939 in Italy).ResultsThe Polish group had a higher stress level than the Italian group (mean PSS-10 total score 22,14 vs 17,01, respectively; p < 0.01). There was a greater prevalence of chronic diseases among Polish respondents. Italian subjects expressed more concern about their health, as well as about their future employment. Italian subjects did not comply with suggested restrictions as much as Polish subjects and were less eager to restrain from their usual activities (social, physical, and religious), which were more often perceived as “most needed matters” in Italian than in Polish residents.ConclusionHigher activity level was found to be correlated with lower perceived stress, but the causality is unclear. Difference in adherence to restrictions between Polish and Italian residents suggests that introducing similar lockdown policies worldwide may not be as beneficial as expected. However, due to the applied method of convenience sampling and uneven study groups, one should be careful with generalizing these results.

Perceived Stress Levels among Ukrainian Migrant and LGBT+ Minorities in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Consequently, it is difficult to assess the extent to which the values obtained reflect a gradually deteriorating functioning in or, on the contrary, an increasing adaptation to the epidemic situation. Previously conducted large studies [ 5 ] indicate, however, that the level of stress among Polish male citizens (without distinguishing between sexual orientation) was at a much lower level during the first wave of the pandemic (the average PSS-10 score at that time was 19.66 vs. 24.71 in the present study during the third wave). In addition, research on quality of life in Gdańsk (part of the studied Tri-City agglomeration) conducted in June 2021, already after the end of the third wave, on a group of 1500 people [ 6 ] indicated that nearly half of the respondents (48.1%) assessed their mental well-being as worse than before the pandemic.…”

“…However, although the problem of using single-item scales and single elements of multi-item scales is known [ 56 ], the value of comparability is worth recognizing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a similar study was conducted on the perceived level of stress among Polish and Italian residents [ 5 ].…”

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, also in the Polish population, a high level of stress experienced by the studied individuals has been observed [ 4 , 5 ], with a tendency to correlate with factors such as an unstable work situation, a lower level of education, and a younger age. Among residents of Gdańsk (the largest city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship and one of the largest cities in Poland), almost half of the 1500 respondents in non-representative, convenience sampling assessed their mental well-being in June 2021 as worse than before the pandemic [ 6 ].…”

The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Stress Levels and Occurrence of Stomatoghnatic System Disorders (SSDs) among Physiotherapy Students in Poland

“…All participants agreed to voluntarily participate in the study by signing an informed consent. They were asked to fill in the survey consisting of two parts: the first part included a respondent's particulars (age, sex, year of study) and ten close-ended questions concerning the symptoms of SSDs and pain (Likert scale) [39][40][41][42][43][44][45]. The second part consisted of standardized psychological questionnaires, PSS10 (perceived stress scale), Mini-Cope (Inventory for measuring coping with stress), DS14 (Type-D scale) [46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54].…”

Attitudes and Perceptions of Health Protection Measures Against the Spread of COVID-19 in Italy and Poland

“…In view of the above we investigated the attitude and perception of health protection measures against COVID-19 during the first pandemic wave in Italy and Poland, to inform public health policy makers on the respective determinants. Despite Italy being more heavily hit than Poland during the first COVID-19 wave, social restrictions in the latter two countries were in fact similar ( Dong et al, 2020 ; Roser et al, 2020 ; Grabowski et al, 2021 ).…”