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Psychopathological consequences and dysfunctional behaviours during the COVID-19 epidemic in italy: A longitudinal study before and after the lockdown

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

E. Cassioli ,
E. Rossi ,
G. Castellini ,
G. Sanfilippo ,
C. Silvestri ,
F. Voller  and
V. Ricca
E. Cassioli*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department Of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
E. Rossi
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department Of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
G. Castellini
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department Of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
G. Sanfilippo
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department Of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
C. Silvestri
Affiliation:
Agenzia Regionale di Sanità Toscana, Florence, Italy
F. Voller
Affiliation:
Agenzia Regionale di Sanità Toscana, Florence, Italy
V. Ricca
Affiliation:
Psychiatry Unit, Department Of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

In the first months of 2020 the COVID-19 epidemic spread in Italy, and the Italian government implemented a general lockdown. These events are at high risk for psychiatric symptoms in the general population, including anxiety/depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).

Objectives

To characterize the psychopathological correlates of the spread of COVID-19 and lockdown in a sample of subjects from the Italian population, with a before-after follow-up.

Methods

Six weeks after the lockdown, 671 subjects aged 18-60 years completed the Brief Symptom Inventory and Impact of Event Scale-Revised, for the evaluation of psychopathology and PTSS respectively. Environmental factors and subjectively-perceived deteriorations related to COVID-19 were also investigated. Pre-COVID-19 data on psychopathology, collected in December 2019/January 2020, were available for 130 subjects and were used for longitudinal analyses.

Results

With respect to males, female subjects more frequently reported deteriorations of relations (21.5% vs 10.9%), household arguments (26.0% vs 12.6%), sleep quality (47.6% vs 26.6%), episodes of overeating (22.5% vs 12.5%), worries for oneself (19% vs 8.9%) and for loved ones (55.7% vs 36.5%). These changes were associated with increased psychopathology, PTSS, and numerous environmental conditions, including significant economic damage from COVID-19/lockdown. Longitudinal analyses showed an increase in phobic anxiety in the whole sample, and in depression for female subjects only, following the spread of COVID-19. Pre-existing psychopathology was a significant predictor of PTSS.

Conclusions

COVID-19 epidemic and lockdown have a high impact on psychopathology and PTSS. Female subjects and those with pre-existing psychopathology were found to be more vulnerable and may need additional support.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

post-traumatic stress disorderquarantineCOVID-19Depression
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S96 - S97
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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