Psychological effects of COVID-19 in general Italian population in function of age and gender

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was first recorded in late 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China. Italy was one of the hardest hit countries and on March 8th 2020 the Italian Government introduced a range of ‘lockdown’ restrictive measures, e.g., isolation and social distancing, intended to slow down the progression of the pandemic. Previous research conducted during this pandemic have demonstrated a wide range of negative psychological effects on both the individuals and the community, but the moderating factors are not yet well known. This study aimed to evaluate if the psychological, emotional and behavioral effects of COVID-19 and related restrictive measures are predicted by age and gender in a sample of Italian citizens. Methods: Following a snowball sampling technique, 300 individuals completed different online questionnaires aimed at measuring anxiety, PTSD and depression symptoms. Results: Results showed that gender predicted anxiety and PTSD symptoms, with women showing higher scores; age predicted PTSD and depressive symptoms with younger participants showing higher scores; gender*age effects predicted anxiety and depression scores. Conclusions: In order to plan preventive intervention in general population during pandemic, great caution must be given to vulnerable groups, such as female and young