Quality of life and psychopathology in different COVID-19 pandemic periods: A longitudinal study.

Abstract

Τhe aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and quality of life (QoL) of the general population in the region of Attica, Greece, during the third year of the pandemic (2022), and tο compare the findings with those of a survey conducted in the first year (2020). Our sample consisted of 130 participants and the study was conducted through phone interviews. The instruments used were: the World Health Organisation QoL instrument, the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale, the Body Vigilance Scale, the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, as well as socio-demographic data and questions on stressors related to COVID-19. The findings of the study were the following: (1) Regarding the comparison of the variables between the first and the third year of the pandemic in the total sample: a) In comparison to the first year, in the third year we observed a significant decrease in negative feelings caused by the pandemic; b) obsessive compulsive (OC) and hypochondriacal symptomatology were significantly reduced, and the fact that participants felt safe following vaccination had a statistically significant effect on this decrease; c) job insecurity was aggravated; d) QoL remained low and even deteriorated in the Environment domain; f) no changes were found in Depression-Stress. (2) Regarding participants who were contaminated, there was a significant increase in negative feelings during the third year of the pandemic. Moreover, QoL decreased in the Physical, Psychological health, Environment domains, as well as in OC symptomatology. (3) Depression-Stress, hypochondriacal symptomatology, and the case of contamination were the predominant factors negatively associated with the dependent variables of QoL. (4) Vaccination was found to contribute to high levels of the QoL Environment domain score. (5) Anxiety, hypochondriacal symptomatology, fear of contamination, and negative feelings seemed to predict OC symptomatology. (6) The most vulnerable groups, in terms of QoL and mental health, were men, older and lower-educated people. Overall, it was found that the negative psychosocial impact of the pandemic persisted, especially on people who had fallen ill during the third year of the pandemic. Therefore, targeted psychotherapeutic interventions should be implemented, especially for those who got infected.