Original Research Article
Year: 2021 | Month: June | Volume: 11 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 274-289
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20210641
Predictors of Psychosomatic Health during the first COVID-19 Outbreak in Greece. A Multiple Linear Regression Analysis in an Epidemiological Sample of 1,156 Individuals.
Georgios Pilafas1, Alexandra Prouzou1, Nefeli Paraskevi Strongylaki2, Despina Menti3, Georgios Lyrakos4
1MSc, Research Associate, CityU Research Center, Psychology Laboratory, City Unity College, Athens, Greece
2MSc, MBPsS, Research Associate, CityU Research Center, Psychology Laboratory, City Unity College, Athens, Greece
3PgDip, MSc, PhD, CPsychol, EuroPsy, Psychology Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan University at City Unity College, Athens, Greece
4MSc, MPH, PhD, PostDoc, ‘MSc Health Psychology’ Program Director, Department of Psychology, Cardiff Metropolitan University at City Unity College, Athens, Greece; and ‘Clinical Health Psychologist’, Psychiatric Department, General Hospital of Nikaia ‘Ayios Panteleimon’, Athens, Greece
Corresponding Author: Georgios Pilafas
ABSTRACT
Background: Between March 23 and May 4, 2020, the Greek government established an economic and social ‘lockdown’ to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It was hypothesized that the unsafe environment activated the stress response of the Greeks during that time, while existing literature supports the development of psychosomatic disorders.
Aim: The research question is whether six biopsychosocial variables predict psychosomatic symptoms of the Greek general population during the ‘lockdown’.
Methods & Materials: A convenient sample of 1,158 -of whom 2 were excluded from the final analysis- Greeks participated electronically during the ‘lockdown’. Pearson’s r and a linear-multiple regression analyses were chosen to test the hypothesis. The participants answered a series of demographic questions, while the rest variables were measured through the following self-reported psychometric tools: ‘psychosomatics’ [PSSQ-29], ‘acute stress’ [ASDS], ‘psychological resilience’ [NMRQ], and ‘satisfaction with life’ [SWLS].
Results: Between the significant predictors, the first to appear is ‘acute stress’ (β= .66, p< .001), while ‘psychological resilience’ (β= .21, p< .001), ‘satisfaction with life’ (β= .06, p= .001) and ‘age’ (β= .04, p= .025) follow hierarchically.
Discussion: The findings are consistent to the background literature and previous relevant COVID-19 studies, with the exception of the findings regarding ‘gender’ -which was not found significant in the weightings-.
Conclusion: The model predicts the criterion with a large effect. The study is overall confirmatory to previous COVID-19 research regarding domestic general population, while the need for European studies that would include positive components on psychosomatic health is highlighted.
Key words: Psychosomatic Health; COVID-19; Greece; Acute Stress Disorder; Psychological Resilience