ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The impact of the pandemic on mental health has been demonstrated in several reports. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple dimensions of psychopathology in Portuguese adults. We compare a pandemic sample assessed during the second lockdown in Portugal with a prepandemic sample. METHOD(S): Participants provided socio-demographic and clinical information and responded to the Brief Symptom Inventory. RESULT(S): The pandemic group relative to the prepandemic group demonstrated significantly higher levels for BSI scales of depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety, and lower scores for paranoid ideation. At the level of the 53 BSI items, significant difference between pandemic and prepandemic groups occurred for 20 of the items. CONCLUSION(S): Results describe the multidimensional influence of the pandemic on psychological functioning and are relevant to guiding the implementation of intervention strategies.Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA.
ABSTRACT
Australia handled many aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic very well. The international border was closed early, contract tracing regimes were implemented quickly, and targeted lockdowns helped keep case and death rates per capita to relatively low levels. Yet in mid-2021, Australia's vaccine rollout was the slowest in the OECD. We estimate that an optimal vaccine rollout could have saved lives and averted at least A$31 billion in economic damage. The policy errors reflected a failure to heed basic economic concepts of portfolio diversification, option value, and dynamic optimization. We conclude with some policy lessons concerning pandemic preparedness for Australia and other countries.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency in Portugal and the contribution of several socio-demographic and clinical variables, including having had a psychiatric diagnosis, on suicide ideation. Further, we tested whether the perceived impact of the pandemic mediated the association between having had a psychiatric diagnosis and suicide ideation. METHODS: Asample of 227 Portuguese community adults (183 women, 44 men) participated online. RESULTS: Low education, having had a psychiatric diagnosis, and the perceived psychological impact of the pandemic each related to the presence of suicide ideation. Perceived psychological impact partially mediated the association between having had a psychiatric diagnosis and suicide ideation, as indexed by the total score on the Suicide Ideation Scale. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with a psychiatric diagnosis, with a lower education level, and with a perceived psychological impact of the pandemic are at greater risk for experiencing suicide ideation, and psychological impact appears to be stronger for persons with a psychiatric diagnosis and, thus, resulting in more suicide ideation. Apotential limitation was the use of only three items for assessing the impact of the pandemic.