Page 104 - GHES-2-1

Global Health Econ Sustain

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Psychological distress, stressful events, and

well-being in Spanish women through the first
and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic

and two years later

1
1
M. Pilar Matud *, Mª José del Pino , Demelsa Fortes ,
2
1
D. Estefanía Hernández-Lorenzo , and Ignacio Ibáñez 1
1 Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychobiology and Methodology, Faculty of Psychology and
Logopedic, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Spain
2 Department of Sociology, Faculty of Sociology, University Pablo de Olavide, Seville, Spain

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted human lives and posed significant
threats to the mental health and well-being of the population, with women being
particularly affected. This study investigates the well-being, stress levels, and
Academic editor: psychological distress experienced by women while also identifying both risk and
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE protective factors across different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: (i) the Spanish
*Corresponding author: national lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic; (ii) the second wave;
M. Pilar Matud (iii) 2 years after the beginning of the pandemic; and (iv) 2 years following the second
(pmatud@ull.edu.es)
wave. To conduct this investigation, a total of 4,047 women aged 16 – 87 years old and
Citation: Matud, M.P., drawn from the general population, completed eight questionnaires and scales. The
del Pino, M.J., Fortes, D.,
Hernández-Lorenzo, D.E., & findings revealed percentages of psychological distress among women, revealing
Ibáñez, I. (2024). Psychological rates of 60.5% during the lockdown, 65.7% during the second wave, 55.3% between
distress, stressful events, and well- February and April 2022, and 49.7% between October 2022 and February 2023. High
being in Spanish women through
the first and second waves of the self-esteem was the most important protective factor against psychological distress
COVID-19 pandemic and two years among women and was most associated with their well-being. In addition, high
later. Global Health Econ Sustain, resilience and social support provided further protective effects, although to a lesser
2(1): 2255. extent. Conversely, experiencing a higher number of stressful events was a risk factor
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2255
for increased distress and posing a threat to women’s well-being.
Received: November 15, 2023
Accepted: January 18, 2024
Keywords: COVID-19; Women; Psychological distress; Stressful events; Well-being;
Published Online: February 26, Self-esteem
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the 1. Introduction
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution, SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019 in Wuhan, China,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is and swiftly spread globally, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare
properly cited. it a global pandemic on March 11, 2020 (WHO, 2020). Regarded as one of the most
Publisher’s Note: AccScience significant global crises in generations, the COVID-19 pandemic has had profound and
Publishing remains neutral with far-reaching effects on health systems and societies (WHO, 2022), impacting various
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional facets of life, including the environment, education, economy, and human psychology
affiliations. (Miyah et al., 2022). To curb the transmission of the virus and protect the health and

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2255