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

data were obtained through self-reports, which are susceptible Methodology: M. Pilar Matud, Ignacio Ibáñez
to various biases, including social desirability bias. Third, Writing – original draft: M. Pilar Matud, D. Estefanía
although the sample size is large, it is a convenience sample Hernández-Lorenzo
with an overrepresentation of women with university degrees. Writing – review & editing: All authors
In addition, while the age range is extensive, the majority of
women are under 50 years old. Another limitation is that the Ethics approval and consent to participate
study was conducted exclusively in Spain, thereby limiting Ethics approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee
the generalizability of the results to women in other countries for Human Research (CEIH) of the University Pablo de
who may have different health and social conditions. Olavide of Seville (code 21/8-6) and the Ethics of Research

5. Conclusion and Animal Well-Being Committee of the University of
La Laguna (CEIBA2022-3136). Written informed consent
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated gender was obtained from all the respondents before answering
inequalities (Flor et al., 2022; Su et al., 2022) and has put the questionnaire.
decades of progress toward gender equality under threat
(Morgan et al., 2022). It has been argued that safeguarding Consent for publication
women’s health and well-being should be a priority (Su Informed consent was obtained from all the respondents
et al., 2022). The present work contributes to the knowledge before answering the questionnaire.
of the pandemic’s impact on women’s health and well-being
by examining their psychological distress, stress levels, and Availability of data
well-being, as well as identifying the risk and protective
factors affecting their mental health, at four study periods: Data can be obtained from the corresponding author
during the national lockdown of the first wave of the following a formal request.
COVID-19 pandemic, during the second wave, 2 years after References
the onset of the pandemic, and 2 years after the second wave.
Cohen, S., Murphy, M.L.M., & Prather, A.A. (2019). Ten
While women’s rates of psychological distress have surprising facts about stressful life events and disease risk.
decreased compared to the 1 year of the pandemic and their Annual Review of Psychology, 70:577-597.
st
emotional well-being has increased, more than 2 years after
the onset of the pandemic, half of the women still reported https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-102857
psychological distress, indicating that mental health risks Collins, C., Landivar, L.C., Ruppanner, L., & Scarborough, W.J.
persist for a significant portion of the female population. (2021). COVID-19 and the gender gap in work hours.
High self-esteem emerges as the most relevant protective Gender, Work, and Organization, 28(Suppl 1):101-112.
factor for their mental health and well-being, alongside https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12506
high resilience and social support, whereas a high number
of stressful events is a significant risk factor. These findings COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators. (2021). Global
hold important implications for the development of policies, prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders
in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-
programs, and strategies aimed at promoting women’s health 19 pandemic. The Lancet, 398(10312):1700-1712.
and well-being, as well as fostering greater gender equality.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02143-7
Acknowledgments Daly, M., & Robinson, E. (2021). Longitudinal changes in

The authors thank the participants who answered the survey. psychological distress in the UK from 2019 to September
2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from a large
Funding nationally representative study. Psychiatry Research, 300:113920.
None. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113920
Daly, M., & Robinson, E. (2022). Psychological distress associated
Conflict of interest with the second COVID-19 wave: Prospective evidence
The authors declare that they have no competing interests. from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Journal of
Affective Disorders, 310:274-278.
Author contributions https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.025
Conceptualization: All authors Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The
Formal analysis: M. Pilar Matud, Ignacio Ibáñez satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment,
Investigation: All authors 49(1):71-75.

Volume 2 Issue 1 (2024) 11 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2255