Distress about Covid-19 in Panama: psychometric structure

Abstract

The psychological impact of the pandemic has established the urgent need to respond to the needs of the population in each culture, region and context. Thus, in the Republic of Panama, the efforts of numerous specialists have combined actions to attend to the crisis. This study aims to obtain the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SARS-CoV-2 distress scale, which, together with eight other questionnaires, make up the battery to measure the psychological and behavioral consequences of the health crisis, based on the COVID Stress global survey initiative. We employed a non-probabilistic sample of 765 Panamanian adults who responded entirely online during the lockdown stage in March. The instrument is composed of 24 items that proved to be valid and reliable for the Panamanian sample. The main findings show that distress is linked to uncertainty and the financial situation and not due to health or education. In addition, single men with less schooling have higher levels of uncertainty and distress in general.