Mental Health and Social Support in the inhabitants of Copiapó, Chile, in the context of COVID-19 ; Salud Mental y Apoyo Social en habitantes de Copiapó, Chile, en el contexto de la COVID-19: Mental Health and Social Support in the inhabitants of Copiapó, Chile, in the context of COVID-19
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has come to abruptly change the ways of life of a large part ofthe world population. Knowing the presence of psychopathology in this context becomes relevant togenerate public politics to promote and prevent mental health. Objective: To establish the presence of psychopathology in the inhabitants of Copiapó, Chile, and determine its relationship with the variables sex, age, occupation and perceived social support. Method: The cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 523 people, inhabitants of the city of Copiapó, Chile. The General Health Scale, GHQ-12, the Perceived Social Support Scale, MSPSS, and a questionnaire of sociodemographic characterization were applied. Data analysis techniques were descriptive statistics of frequency, central tendency and variability, and non-parametric association statistic, chi-square, and Eta. T Student and Anova were also used for the scalar level data. Results: It is evident that 51,82% of those evaluated show suspicion or presence of psychopathology, associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety and/or social dysfunction. Significant differences were found according to sex, age, and occupation subjects' occupation. Along with this, there are statistically significant levels of social support among those who have absence and presence of psychopathology. Conclusions: The study achieve to describe the levels of psychopathology in the group studied at time of COVID-19, evidencing its relationship with variables of gender, age and occupation, which has implications for targeting interventions considering the most affected groups: women, youth and students. In addition, social support is highlighted as a protective factor of mental health. ; Introducción: La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha venido a cambiar de forma abrupta las formas de vida de buena parte de la población mundial. Conocer la presencia de psicopatología en este contexto se hace relevante para generar políticas públicas de promoción y prevención en salud mental. Objetivo: ...