Measuring Anxiety Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Lens of Sexual Orientation.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on anxiety symptoms, examining differences of sexual orientation. Methods: A total of 1590 individuals participated, 63% (n = 1002) were females, 88% (n = 1399) self-identified as straight, and all replied to the anxiety subscale of the Brief Symptoms Inventory-18, the Fear of COVID-19, and the COVID-19 Negative Impact scales. Results: Anxiety symptomatology negatively associated with age and positively associated with coronavirus disease-aggravated replies, Fear of COVID-19, and Negative Impact of COVID-19. Hierarchical linear regression examination revealed that age, gender, and sexual orientation explained 8% of the variance of anxiety symptoms, and together with the Fear and the Negative Impact of COVID-19, it explained 28% of the results. Conclusion: Perceived anxiety symptoms were higher than anticipated and aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic: female and bisexual participants showed higher levels of anxiety symptomatology compared to male and straight, and gay or lesbian participants.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Medical Students in Portugal.

(1) Background: The purpose of this article is to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of medical students in Portugal in the period after returning to face-to-face classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the 2020/2021 academic year. (2) Methods: We conducted an observational, descriptive, and cross-sectional study, between December 2020 and February 2021 with a representative sample of Portuguese medical students (n = 649), applying an anonymous questionnaire which was composed by a sociodemographic characterization, The Brief Symptoms Inventory-18, The Fear of COVID-19 Scale and the Negative Impact Assessment Scale. For statistical processing, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS ©) was used. (3) Results: 65.3% of participants said that self-perceived relevant anxiety symptoms, and around 10% said that they had a physical or a mental illness diagnosis. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found for Fear of COVID-19, Somatization, Anxiety and Overall Mental Health, indicating that women, students from the 1st and last years of training had higher scores. Age, year of training, Fear of COVID-19 and Negative Impact of COVID-19 were significant predictors of overall mental health. (4) Conclusion: In our sample of Portuguese medical students, age, year of training, but mostly fear of COVID-19 and the negative impact of COVID-19 contributed to mental health symptoms.

Male Sex Workers Selling Physical Sex during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Portugal: Motives, Safer Sex Practices, and Social Vulnerabilities

The purpose of this research was to assess the motives, safer sex practices, and vulnerabilities of male sex workers who sold physical sex during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a mixed strategy, utilizing purposive sampling techniques to conduct 13 online surveys with male sex workers working in Portugal during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were aged between 23 and 47 years old and mostly provided their services to other men. Additionally, half of the participants were immigrants. Participants mentioned paying for essential expenses (rent, food, phone, etc.), having money for day-to-day expenses, wanting to, and enjoying it, as their main motives for engaging in sex work. Regarding sexual practices, 3 to 11 participants did not always or did not consistently use condoms during penetrative sex with their clients. Thematic analysis was used to identify the following repeated patterns of meaning regarding COVID-19-related vulnerabilities, encompassing a loss of clients and income, increased work availability, price reductions and negotiation difficulties, emotional functioning, health care access, safer sex negotiations, age, and immigration status. The findings serve as a basis for recommendations regarding social policies aimed at male sex workers who sell physical sex in Portugal.

Burnout, Organizational Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem among Brazilian Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of, and the association between burnout, organizational self-efficacy and self-esteem, and to assess the predictive influence of burnout and organizational self-efficacy on self-esteem among Brazilian teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brazilian teachers (n = 302) between 24 and 70 years old (Mage = 46.75, SD = 11.02) participated in this study. Measurement instruments included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Burnout Assessment Tool, the Organizational Self-Efficacy Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The prevalence of burnout symptoms was 3.2%, the prevalence of low occupational self-efficacy was 21.5%, and the prevalence of low self-esteem was 2.7%. Significant correlations were found between all variables under study. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that overall levels of burnout explained 40% of the variance of self-esteem, while together with organizational self-efficacy, it explained 55%. This study presents evidence of the impact of overall levels of burnout and self-efficacy on teachers' self-esteem and also contributes to the body of knowledge under construction about the scenario perceived by teachers in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Psychosocial Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People Living in Portugal and Brazil—A Qualitative Study

Introduction:Not many studies have been reported from Portugal or Brazil to date, reading the psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people, especially from a qualitative perspective.Materials and Methods:A convenience sample of 65 self-identified LGB individuals from Portugal and Brazil participated in this study. Thirty-two participants were from Portugal and 33 from Brazil. The average age was 34.48 years (standard deviation = 11.66), ranging from 19 to 67. We used an online interview approach in an asynchronous format. All study respondents completed a structured inquiry consisting of a short section of sociodemographic questions and a single open-ended question: ?As a lesbian, gay, bisexual (or other) self-identified person, please elaborate on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your life.?Results:The thematic analysis of participants? responses revealed 9 recurring themes, encompassing 18 subcategories to occur: mental health (depression, anxiety, fear, anger, and loneliness), isolation (social distancing and leisure impediments), relationships (family and friends), work-related problems, education-related problems, financial problems, changes (behavioral changes and opportunity to grow), coping (seeking support, accessing information and physical activities), and LGBTQI topics (health barriers, going back into the closet, pride celebration events, and online dating).Conclusions:Our results provide voice to LGB Portuguese and Brazilian people during the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrating specific challenges exacerbated by stigma and sexual discrimination amplified by preexistent social inequalities.

Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Work-Related Quality of Life through the Lens of Sexual Orientation.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the exceptional situation that has been experienced on a global scale since 2020, it is essential to assess the impact of COVID-19 in several areas and domains. Therefore, this research seeks to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on work-related quality of life (WRQoL) in a Portuguese-speaking sample, through the lens of sexual orientation. One thousand, five hundred and seventy-seven individuals participated in this study, of which 1396 (88.5%) self-identified as heterosexual, 95 (6.0%) as gay or lesbian, and 87 (5.5%) as bisexual. Participants responded to the "Work-Related Quality of Life" scale, the "Fear of COVID-19" scale, and the "Negative Impact of COVID-19" scale. Bisexuals scored higher on "Fear of COVID-19" and "Negative Impact of COVID-19" than heterosexual, and gay, or lesbian participants. Differences between sexual orientations for all dimensions of WRQoL were found: heterosexual participants scored higher on general well-being, home-work interface, career satisfaction, working conditions, and lower on stress at work, compared to bisexual, and gay, or lesbian participants. Gay or lesbian participants scored lower than heterosexual and bisexual participants on career satisfaction and working conditions. Sexual orientation, the fear of COVID-19, and the negative impact of COVID-19 were significant predictors of overall WRQoL (explaining 13% of variance). Moderation analysis also showed that sexual orientation is a significant moderator of the association between the fear of COVID-19, the negative impact of COVID-19, and WRQoL. LGB people (especially bisexuals) suffer more severe impacts of COVID-19 and have lower WRQoL than heterosexual people. Inevitably, this has consequences in terms of mental health and overall quality of life for sexual minorities, thus reinforcing the need to adopt inclusive policies in organizations and companies to improve their WRQoL.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Depressive Symptoms through the Lens of Sexual Orientation.

This research seeks to explore the impact of COVID-19 on depressive symptoms, analyzing discrepancies of sexual orientation in a Portuguese-speaking sample. 1590 individuals participated, of which 63% were women, and 88% self-identified as straight. Participants responded to the depression sub-scale of the Beck Symptoms Iventory-18, the fear of COVID-19 scale and the COVID-19 negative impact scale. Depressive symptoms observed were higher than expected, and several significant differences were obtained: women and self-identified bisexual participants had higher levels of depressive symptoms compared to male and straight and gay or lesbian participants. Depressive symptoms negatively correlated with age and positively correlated with COVID-19 aggravated responses, fear of COVID-19, and negative impact of COVID-19. Hierarchical linear regression analysis showed that age, gender and sexual orientation explained 6% of the variance of depressive symptoms, and when fear and the negative impact of COVID-19 was added, the model explained 23% of results. This study provides an important contribution to the understanding of factors arising from the pandemic that may have an impact on the mental health of sexual minorities.

Letalidade e mortalidade da covid-19 em importante pólo industrial da américa latina, região do grande abc, são paulo

Introdução: a doença do novo coronavírus (COVID-19) vem ocasionando impactos econômicos e nos sistemas de saúde mundiais, desencadeando crises humanitárias em regiões vulneráveis, marcadas por elevadas taxas de mortalidade da doença. O Brasil vem sofrendo por um aumento no número de casos, característicos da formação de uma segunda onda, com grandes diferenças epidemiológicas observadas nas mais diversas regiões do país. Muitos estudos ilustram o comportamento da COVID-19 no estado de São Paulo, mas há lacunas na literatura científica sobre a epidemiologia da COVID-19 em municípios da região metropolitana de São Paulo que constituem importante polo industrial da América latina, como por exemplo a região do Grande ABC. Objetivo: avaliar as tendências de mortalidade e letalidade da COVID-19 durante o período de março de 2020 a julho de 2021, em municípios do Grande ABC, região metropolitana de São Paulo, Brasil, dividindo em dois períodos (março a novembro de 2020 a dezembro a julho de 2021). Método: foi realizado um estudo ecológico de series temporais com dados populacionais oriundo do Ministério da Saúde do Brasil. Foram coletados o número de casos e óbitos confirmados para COVID-19 nos municípios que compõe a região do Grande ABC (Diadema, Mauá, Rio Grande da Serra, Ribeirão Pires, Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo e São Caetano do Sul) no período de março de 2020 a julho de 2021. Foi realizado a regressão linear de Prais-Winsten, e calculado o percentual de mudança diária. Foram consideradas diferenças significativas, quando p<0,05. Resultados: na região do Grande ABC, no período analisado, foram registrados 217.264 casos e 10.004 óbitos de COVID-19. Apesar da taxa de mortalidade ter se mantido estacionária durante a primeira onda (março a novembro de 2020) e a segunda onda (dezembro de 2020 a julho de 2021);a letalidade transitou de decrescente durante a primeira onda para crescente durante a segunda onda, com índices variando segundo o município. Conclusão: as análises de tendência nas taxas de incidência, mortalidade e letalidade auxiliam na compreensão do comportamento da Pandemia da COVID-19 na região conhecida como Grande ABC. Esforços devem ser mantidos em toda à região para o controle da Pandemia.Alternate abstract: Introduction: the new coronavirus (COVID-19) disease has been causing economic and health system impacts worldwide, triggering humanitarian crises in vulnerable regions, marked by high mortality rates of the disease. Brazil has been suffering an increase in the number of cases, characteristic of the formation of a second wave, with great epidemiological differences observed in the most diverse regions of the country. Many studies illustrate the behaviour of COVID-19 in the state of São Paulo, but there are gaps in the scientific literature on the epidemiology of COVID-19 in municipalities of the São Paulo metropolitan region that constitute an important industrial pole in Latin America, such as the region of Grande ABC. Objective: to evaluate mortality and lethality trends of COVID-19 during the period March 2020 to July 2021, in municipalities on region of Grande ABC, metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil, divided into two periods (March to November 2020 and December to July 2021). Methods: we conducted an ecological time series study with population data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health. We collected the number of cases and deaths confirmed for COVID-19 in the municipalities that make up the region of Grande ABC (Diadema, Mauá, Rio Grande da Serra, Ribeirão Pires, Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo, and São Caetano do Sul) from March 2020 to July 2021. Prais-Winsten linear regression was performed, and the percentage of daily change was calculated. Differences were considered significant when p<0.05. Results: in region of Grande ABC, in the period analysed, 217,264 cases and 10,004 deaths of COVID-19 were recorded. Although the mortality rate remained stationary during the first wave (March to November 2020 and the second wave (December 2020 to July 2021);lethality transitioned from decreasing during the first wave to increasing during the second wave, with rates varying according to municipality. Conclusion: trend analyses in incidence, mortality, and lethality rates assist in understanding the behaviour of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the region known as Grande ABC. Efforts must be maintained throughout the region to control the Pandemic.