Abstract

CARREIRAS, Diogo Rafael V.; FREITAS, Paula Cristina de O. de C.  and  CUNHA, Marina Isabel V. A. da. Portuguese adolescents' perception of the Covid-19 pandemic: gender differences and relation with psychopathological symptoms. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2022, vol.24, n.1, pp. 1-13. ISSN 1516-3687.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/1980-6906/ePTPCP14125.en.

The Covid-19 pandemic is having a great impact on people's mental health all over the world. Adolescents have been facing several potential stressors. The aim of this study was to explore how Portuguese adolescents were perceiving the Covid-19 outbreak and the relationship between the perceived impact of the pandemic and mental health. Participants were 130 adolescents (97 girls) who completed online questionnaires about the Covid-19 pandemic and the DASS-21. Around 73% of the adolescents agreed that the Covid-19 pandemic affected their lives and 45% felt emotionally affected. Feeling uncomfortable around family during quarantine was correlated with depression (r = .39), anxiety (r = .44), and stress symptoms (r = .37), and feeling capable to deal with the pandemic was negatively correlated with psychopathological symptoms. Girls seemed to be more emotionally affected. Results revealed the negative effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on Portuguese adolescents' mental health.

Keywords : Covid-19 pandemic; adolescents; anxiety; depression; stress.

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