Study of the emotional state of residents of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region in connection with the forced self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The study is devoted to the study of the emotional state of people in the conditions of self-isolation during the pandemic of a new coronavirus infection. The online study involved 380 «conditionally healthy» respondents aged 18 to 60 years. A special questionnaire was developed; to assess the emotional state of the subjects, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Bass-Darkey aggressiveness level questionnaire were used. Only 45–54% of respondents tried to comply with the sanitary regime, men violated the established requirements more often than women. No clinical symptoms of anxiety or depression were found. The level of anxiety reached subclinical values in women. At the same time, there was an increased level of aggression (verbal and indirect) and irritation, an increase in the integral indicators of aggressiveness and hostility. These emotional manifestations characterize the well-known reactions of a person’s mental maladaptation in difficult life situations.