Author:
Antonelli-Ponti Mayra,De Picoli Ricardo Marinho de Mello,Mármora Cláudia Helena Cerqueira,Rossini Joaquim Carlos,Cardoso Francisco dos Santos,Campos Luis Antonio Monteiro,Guerreiro Carlos Antônio Rodrigues,Dos Santos Rosemary Conceição,Da Silva José Aparecido
Abstract
Examining psychological suffering can come from clinical diagnosis, blood tests, genetic analysis, or self-reporting. Behavioral shifts and mental illnesses were registered with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study regarding depression, generalized anxiety, psychological distress, and sadness undertaken in different countries demonstrated that these constructs are strongly correlated. The investigation regarding the existence of a general factor for psychopathological disorders is considered to come from the same concept used by Spearman when illustrating, using factor analysis, the g factor of intelligence. This study aimed to investigate the existence of a general factor for psychological suffering experienced by the Brazilian population during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fitness of three factorial solutions was tested based on four measured scales (overall health, anxiety, stress, and non-somatic pain). The best factorial solution was a model with a second-order factor (“suffering” factor) taking in the first-order factors from each questionnaire. A “suffering” factor arises from the relation present among all the mental health aspects investigated and lies above them, regardless of the responding group profile.
Publisher
South Florida Publishing LLC