Fatores associados com depressão e ansiedade entre adolescentes durante a pandemia de COVID-19

Abstract

The health crisis installed worldwide, caused by coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), which caused COVID-19, affected the way of life of a large part of the population. Regarding, the restriction of conviviality among people led to increased anxiety and depressive symptoms and exacerbated exposure to screens by individuals. Thus, the vulnerability existing in the adolescents' experience, such as the influence of external factors, opinions and judgments predispose the occurrence of the symptoms addressed. Thus, the objective of this study was to analyze the association between anxiety, depression and/or stress with physical inactivity and body dissatisfaction among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a cross-sectional, school-based study, developed with adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age, of both sexes, duly enrolled in public schools in the municipality of Juiz de Fora - MG. Data collection began in June 2021. First, the contact with the participants of the project "Study of Lifestyle in Adolescence - Phase 1" that occurred in the years 2018 and 2019 was made through a messaging application (Whatsapp), which were then used as a sample for the performance of the present study, EVA - Phase 2. Those who were interested received online through the Google Forms platform, the Terms of Consent and Consent that should be marked by the participants and their guardians, as well as the questions proposed by the researchers, about the practice of physical activity, time spent on the screens, occurrence of stress, anxiety and depression (DASS- 21, short version, was the questionnaire used in this section) and body perception scale (through the Stundkart Scale. et al, 1983). The STATA® software was used to process descriptive, multivariate analyses of the variables of interest and the application of Komogorov – Smirnov, T-test independ and Pearson's Chi Square, assuming a confidence level of 5% (p-value < 0.05). The 198 adolescents had a mean age equal to 17 years (± 0.92), 56.3% female, 46.9% declared themselves non-white, 34.8% were in the middle economic class (B2) and 36.9% of the mothers had complete high school or incomplete higher education. The prevalence of physical activity during the pandemic was 62.1%, and 95% said they felt good when exercising. Regarding screen time, 46% of adolescents spent more than 8 hours/day to browse their social networks and consequently spent less time on physical activity (p = 0.008). Regarding the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, it was found that 71.1%, 66.2% and 78.3% of the individuals had altered symptoms of such symptoms, respectively. And in relation to the body dissatisfaction of the adolescents, 69% of them were dissatisfied and their majority, 23.2%, wished to have a different coporal image due to aesthetic issues that they did not like. Multivariate analyses indicated that being screened for altered depression and anxiety reduced the chance of the individual being physically active. Stress was the only emotional construct in which physical activity did not exert a risk reduction effect. Furthermore, being female increased the chances of altered stress and anxiety. The results obtained point to a new perspective regarding the consequences caused by the pandemic, that is, sedentary behavior, excessive screen time, altered screening of anxious, depressive and stressful profiles and body dissatisfaction were highlighted in the present study. In this way, the need for a comprehensive look at adolescents is reinforced, given that these individuals are in a period of intense biopsychosocial transformations that require attention, as damage to their current and future health can be caused, meaning great challenges for them. families, schools and health systems.