Page 113 - GHES-2-1

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

While the current research indicates that rates of psychological distress among women more than 2 years
psychological distress more than 2 years after the outbreak after the beginning of the pandemic. While exposure to
of the COVID-19 pandemic are lower than those observed stress is considered a critical determinant of health and well-
among women during the first and second pandemic waves, being, there exists substantial variability in mental health
it remains concerning that half of women still meet the cutoff outcomes related to stressful events (Cohen et al., 2019).
points for categorization as experiencing psychological It is noteworthy that more than half of the women (56%)
distress. Notably, rates of psychological distress were higher reported the illness of relatives or loved ones, and more than
during the second pandemic wave than during the national a third reported the death of one or more relatives or loved
lockdown. These findings are in line with previous studies ones, and more than 2 years after the start of the pandemic.
suggesting that the psychological impact of COVID-19 In addition, financial difficulties and illnesses of one’s own
lockdowns varied widely and was relatively modest overall were also more prevalent during this period than during the
(Prati & Mancini, 2021). During the second wave of the first and second waves of the pandemic.
COVID-19 pandemic, women also reported experiencing While sociodemographic characteristics initially played
more negative feelings, lower affect balance, and lower self-
esteem than the other study periods, although they reported a certain role in predicting psychological distress and well-
greater emotional support. This finding suggests that while being, their relevance decreased markedly, almost to the
the second pandemic wave had a considerable psychological point of disappearance, with the inclusion of social support
impact on women, they were able to mobilize emotional and self-esteem in the regression equation. However, there
support from others, which was significantly greater during were exceptions, such as the increased risk of psychological
this period than during the lockdown and 2 years after the distress associated with having more children during the
second wave. Although low emotional support was a less lockdown period, likely due to school closures necessitating
relevant predictor of psychological distress, it remained a risk children to stay home. This finding is congruent with
factor during three of the four study periods. Furthermore, research indicating that the pandemic exacerbated domestic
higher emotional support was linked to greater well-being, conflicts (Pedersen & Burnett, 2022). Furthermore, during
serving as the second most influential predictor of women’s the second wave, higher levels of education emerged as a
well-being. These results are congruent with previous risk factor for increased distress among women. Research
research indicating that social support is a protective factor on the relevance of education to mental health outcomes
for mental health (Grey et al., 2020; Rens et al., 2021). during the COVID-19 pandemic has yielded contradictory
results (Gibson et al., 2021). Students were also at increased
While mental distress affected half the women more risk for psychological distress during the lockdown and
than 2 years after the second wave of the pandemic (between between February and April 2022. This finding is consistent
October 2022 and February 2023), their emotional state with previous research (Gamonal-Limcaoco et al., 2022;
during this period appeared to be better than during the Manchia et al., 2022), as it has been recognized that the
other study periods, characterized by fewer negative onset of the COVID-19 pandemic involved drastic changes
feelings, more positive feelings, and greater affective for students. However, this risk was not evident between
balance. Although lower self-esteem remained the most October 2022 and February 2023, when being a student
important predictive factor for women’s mental distress was associated with higher well-being. At this time, another
during this period, other relevant predictors included lower sociodemographic factor associated with greater women’s
resilience, a higher number of stressful events since the onset well-being was employed, suggesting the relevance of
of the pandemic, and lower emotional support. Similarly, a these variables in the recovery of women’s well-being after
greater number of stressful events and lower resilience were overcoming the most challenging periods of the pandemic.
identified as risk factors for higher psychological distress
among women between February and April 2022, alongside The current study highlights the relevance of self-esteem
being a student and being married/partnered. Resilience both as a factor promoting women’s well-being when it is high
also emerged as a relevant predictor of well-being in the and as a risk factor for their psychological distress when it is
current research, in line with findings from previous studies low. These results are congruent with previous research that
(Li et al., 2021; Riehm et al., 2021). has highlighted the relevance of self-esteem in environmental
adaptation (Zhao et al., 2021) and as a protective factor against
The occurrence of more stressful events since the onset
of the pandemic emerged as one of the most important the negative psychological consequences of COVID-19
(Lin & Chen, 2021; Rossi et al., 2020).
predictors of both decreased well-being and increased
psychological distress. The frequency of stressful events However, the present study has a number of limitations.
was found to increase during different study periods, First, it is a cross-sectional study, which precludes the
which could elucidate the sustained high rates of establishment of cause-and-effect relationships. Second, all

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 10 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2255