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Global Health Econ Sustain Distress in Spanish women through COVID-19

outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. This study was part 2.2.5. Brief Inventory of Thriving (BIT)
of a broader research project investigating the impact of The BIT consists of 10 items assessing the basic dimension of
the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and was approved by psychological well-being (Su et al., 2014). Each item is scored
the Ethics of Research and Animal Well-Being Committee on a five-point scale, with higher scores indicating greater
of the University of La Laguna (CEIBA2022-3136) and by psychological well-being. For the current investigation, the
the Ethics Committee for Human Research (CEIH) of the internal consistency was 0.89.
Pablo de Olavide University of Seville (code 21/8-6).
2.2.6. Social Support Scale
2.2. Measurements
The Social Support Scale (Matud, 1998) consists of
2.2.1. Stressful events occurring during and after the 12 items, with seven assessing emotional support and
COVID-19 pandemic five measuring instrumental support. Items are scored on

Women were asked whether the following events had a four-point scale, with higher scores indicating greater
occurred since the beginning of the pandemic: (i) job perceived social support. In the present study, the internal
loss, (ii) financial difficulties, (iii) serious disagreements consistency for emotional social support was 0.91, and for
with their partner, (iv) serious family discord, (v) illness instrumental social support, it was 0.87.
of family members and/or other loved ones, (vi) the death
of one or more family members and/or other loved ones, 2.2.7. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
(vii) illness of one’s own, and (viii) any other experienced The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965)
event(s) and/or loss. consists of 10 items assessing global self-esteem. Items are
rated on a four-point scale, with higher scores indicating
2.2.2. Psychological distress higher self-esteem. For the current investigation, the
The 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12, internal consistency was 0.86.
Goldberg et al., 1996) was utilized as a measure of
psychological distress. The GHQ-12 consists of 12 items 2.2.8. Brief Resilience Scale
with four response alternatives and has been widely used in The Brief Resilience Scale (Smith et al., 2008) consists of six
assessing psychological distress (Daly & Robinson, 2021). items assessing the person’s ability to recover from stress.
Two scoring methods were employed for the GHQ-12: Each item is answered on a five-point scale, with higher
(i) Likert-type scores (0–3), which served as the primary scores indicating greater resilience. This scale was only used
outcome and (ii) GHQ scores (0-0-1-1), which were used at two study periods: between February and April 2022 and
as threshold measures for psychological distress. A GHQ between October 2022 and February 2023. For the current
score ≥4, as proposed by Lundin et al. (2017), was employed investigation, the internal consistency was 0.80.
to discriminate cases from non-cases. For the present
investigation, the internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) for the 2.3. Analytic strategy
Likert-type score was 0.90, and for the GHQ score was 0.88. The prevalence of women’s psychological distress and the
occurrence of stressful events during the four study periods
2.2.3. Positive and Negative Experience Scale (SPANE)
were computed, and the differences in percentages were
The SPANE scale (Diener et al., 2010) consists of 12 items, calculated using Pearson’s Chi-square test. Analyses of
divided into six that assess positive experiences (SPANE-P) variance (ANOVA) were carried out to determine whether
and six that assess negative experiences (SPANE-N). there were differences in the study variables among the
These two aspects, SPANE-P and SPANE-N, are scored four study periods, treating each period as an independent
independently. The affect balance score is derived by variable and the scores on the number of stressful events
subtracting the SPANE-N score from the SPANE-P score. and each scale as dependent variables. To determine the
In the present study, the internal consistency was 0.91 for relevance of the main sociodemographic characteristics,
positive feelings, 0.84 for negative feelings, and 0.90 for the number of stressful events since the beginning of the
affective balance. COVID-19 pandemic, self-esteem, social support, and
resilience on the psychological distress and well-being of
2.2.4. Satisfaction with Life Scale the women, hierarchical multiple regression analyses were
The Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985) conducted for each study period. Well-being scores were
consists of five items measuring overall satisfaction with computed by summing the scores on the affective (affect
life. Each item is scored on a seven-point scale, with higher balance) and cognitive (life satisfaction) components of
scores indicating greater life satisfaction. For the current subjective well-being with scores on psychological well-
investigation, the internal consistency was 0.87. being. In each regression analysis, Model 1 (first step)

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2255