Síntomas psicopatológicos durante la cuarentena por COVID-19 en población general española: Un análisis preliminar en función de variables sociodemográficas y ambientales-ocupacionales

Background: Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic disease forced different countries to adopt quarantine measures. These actions could have an impact on mental health in the general population. The objective of this study was to analyze the differences in psychopathological symptoms shown by Spanish general population during the COVID-19 quarantine based on sociodemographic, occupational and environmental- contextual variables. Methods: A cross-sectional pilot study was performed in a sample of 151 participants aged between 18-76 years old. The Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire via online was used to measure the severity of psychopathology symptoms. Socio-demographic, environmental and occupational variables were collected with an ad hoc questionnaire. The data were gathered from the 3rd to the 6th of April, 2020. A descriptive and comparative analysis was carried out using parametric contrasts (t test and ANOVA). Results: The younger participants (18-35 years) showed higher levels of hostility (t=2.24; p=0.02), depression (t=2.56; p=0.01), anxiety (t=2.78; p=0.006) and interpersonal sensitivity (t=2.08; p=0.04) than older participants (36-76 years). The active or employed people presented lower values of depressive symptoms (t=2.10; p=0.04) than unemployed people. The participants who dedicate less than 30 minutes on getting informed about COVID-19 showed higher scores for hostility (t=2.36; p=0.02) and interpersonal sensitivity (t=1.98; p=0.04) than participants who indicated dedicating at least 30 minutes. People who played sport daily reported a lower level of somatization symptoms (t=-2.11; p=0.03) than persons that did not play sport. Those who had relatives, acquaintances, etc. with COVID-19 reported higher levels of anxiety (t=2.09; p=0.04) than those who did not have close people infected. Lastly, participants who lived alone showed a higher level of psychoticism (F=3.93; p=0.02) compared to those who lived with more than two people. Conclusions: The findings of this study show that during quarantine can be identified groups with higher psychological vulnerability based on sociodemographic and occupational- contextual factors. Fundamentos: La enfermedad pandémica por coronavirus (COVID-19) ha hecho necesaria la adopción de medidas de cuarentena en diferentes países. Estas medidas podrían tener un impacto sobre la salud mental de la población general en confinamiento. El objetivo del trabajo fue analizar las diferencias en la sintomatología psicopatoló