Event centrality of the COVID-19 outbreak and depressive symptoms in nurses and the general population: The mediating role of social connectedness

ABSTRACT

The restrictions imposed to control the COVID-19 pandemic had significant negative effects on the mental health of the general population, and particularly in nurses as frontline healthcare workers. The main goal of the present study was to analyze the direct and indirect effects, via social connectedness, of centrality of the COVID-19 outbreak on depressive symptoms. Furthermore, it is explored whether this association varied by group (nurses versus general population). The global sample included 326 individuals from the community and 316 nurses, who were administered self-reported questionnaires. Results revealed that event centrality of COVID-19 outbreak was linked to depressive symptoms, both directly and through the deterioration of social connectedness; moreover, this indirect effect was significant for both subsamples. Interventions aimed at preventing the deterioration of social connectedness may facilitate the decrease of depressive symptoms in the aftermath of the pandemic, particularly for nurses.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• event centrality
• depressive symptoms
• social connectedness
• nurses
• general population

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the participants in this study for their contribution, and are especially grateful to the Portuguese Order of Nurses and to the Nursing Schools of Coimbra and Lisbon, for their assistance in the collection of the sample of nurses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authorship

Catarina Vitorino and Carlos Carona: conceptualization and drafting of the article, data collection and data analysis; Maria Cristina Canavarro: formulation of research goals and aims, critical review of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request. We have no known conflict of interest to disclosure.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [DFA/BD/7981/2020]; Universidade de Coimbra [UIDB/PSI/00730/2020].