Psychological distress and coping in the pandemic scenario of covid-19 in Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed at analyzing the psychological distress and coping strategies in the pandemic scenario of COVID-19. Participants were 1.576 Brazilian, aged between 18 and 80 yeas, residents of the five regions of the country, who answered the adapted and validated version of the Ways of Coping Scale, The Psychological Distress Questionnaire and a Socio-Demographic Questionnaire. Almost half of the participants presented psychological distress to some degree. There were differences in variables such as age group, gender, income, employment in relation to mental health and coping strategies. The groups that presented the greatest vulnerability were females, younger, unemployed or reduced pay after pandemic, students and low-income population. The problem-focused coping strategy presented a negative correlation concerning psychological distress and the emotion-focused coping strategy showed a positive correlation. These indicators show the need for policies to prevent and cope with psychological distress.