Depression at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: A CES-D survey before and during the lockdown

Sabrina Rizzo, Luciano Giromini, Claudia Pignolo

Accepted December 31, 2020

First published December 31, 2020

https://doi.org/10.26387/bpa.289.1

Abstract

On January 31, 2020, the first two cases of COVID-19 were detected in Italy; the extent and the rapidity of virus spread forced the Italian Government to take extraordinary measures to prevent contagion. In this study, we aimed to compare data collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on the depression symptomatology in a sample from the general population. We used archival data from a previous dataset we had access to, which included Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) data from non-clinical volunteers collected before (n = 151; Pre-COVID-19 group) and during (n = 352; COVID group) the pandemic. Statistical analyses compared CES-D scores yielded by the Pre-COVID-19 sample against those yielded by the COVID-19 sample. Additionally, the possible impact of demographic variables on CES-D scores before and during COVID-19 was tested. Moreover, in the COVID-19 group we found a statistically significant difference on the CES-D scores between men and women and a nearly significant relationship between age and CES-D scores. This study showed that the lockdown measures and the pandemic itself might have led to an increasing of the depressive symptoms in a non-clinical sample (and maybe in the Italian population), especially in women and youths.

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Rizzo Sabrina . Giromini Luciano. Pignolo Claudia. Depression at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: A CES-D survey before and during the lockdown. BPA Applied Psychology Bulletin. 2020;289(1):2-9. doi:10.26387/bpa.289.1.

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Author Surname Author Initial. Title. Publication Title. Year Published;Volume number(Issue number):Pages Used. doi:DOI Number.


Rizzo Sabrina . Giromini Luciano. Pignolo Claudia. Depression at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: A CES-D survey before and during the lockdown. BPA Applied Psychology Bulletin. 2020;289(1):2-9. doi:10.26387/bpa.289.1.