Stress symptoms and positive coping during coronavirus disease 2019: The need to look at health from a gender perspective

• Published in: PloS one 2023-07, Vol.18 (7), p.e0287055-e0287055
• Main Authors: Romo-González, Tania, Barranca-Enríquez, Antonia, León-Díaz, Rosalba, Hurtado-Capetillo, José Manuel, Herrera-Meza, Socorro, Villegas, Juan de Dios, Carvajal, Alejandro Botero
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; Care and treatment; Coping; Coping (Psychology); Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diabetes; Disease transmission; Emergency medical care; Emergency medical services; Environmental health; Epidemics; Evaluation; Gender; Gender equality; Health services; Medical research; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental health; Mexico; Pandemics; Personal information; Physical Sciences; Psychological tests; Questionnaires; Reproductive health; Respiratory diseases; Severe acute respiratory syndrome; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sex crimes; Signs and symptoms; Social isolation; Social Sciences; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Stress management; Viral diseases; Women; Womens health
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287055

The emergency derived from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has taught us important lessons in public and environmental health, particularly in the alarming numbers of existing noncommunicable diseases. However, one aspect to which little attention has been paid during the pandemic is mental health and its relationship with the gender perspective, in spite of gender being a determinant associated with health. In contrast, regarding health, few schemes and theories consider health from a positive and comprehensive perspective. This study was designed to examine the symptoms of stress and positive coping from a gender perspective. For this, the Stress Symptomatology Inventory, the Positive Coping to Life Scale and a general data questionnaire were applied to 665 individuals underwent the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 test at the Center for Health Studies and Services of the Universidad Veracruzana from July 2020 to November 2021. We found that women presented more stress symptoms and less positive coping in the factor of positive self-regulation of adverse situations and the factors of self-determination and positive self-regulation of important situations. Moreover, significant differences in the associations of these variables were observed between men and women. Therefore, the needs of women must be considered in the approach to the emergency department due to COVID-19 and in general in the health-disease process; therefore, not considering a gender approach will continue to deepen inequalities between sexes.