Socio-Psychological Determinant Changes from the Gender Perspective during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 health crisis brought changes to peoplés lives that affected them both physically and psychologically. The aim of this paper is to identify the key socio-psychological factors involved in the main changes to the mental health of the Spanish population, and to determine whether they had the same impact across genders. The survey data from the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research entitled "CIS Survey 3324 Effects and Consequences of Coronavirus IV" (specifically, question 14) were used to this end. Question variables were recoded into dummy variables for analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). The study found five key factors that have changed the mental health of the Spanish population: "being more empathic", "enjoying leisure more", "discovering new leisure activities", "being more religious or spiritual" and "being more interested in the future". All of these affected women more than men.