The SARS-CoV-2 virus changed social reality worldwide, affecting people’s health and work life, particularly their anxiety levels. The purpose of this study is to verify the situation of women in terms of anxiety and social determinants in Spain during the pandemic. The sample consisted of 4686 people (3500 women and 1186 men). The tools used were the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and an ad hoc questionnaire to assess the work and mental situation of the participants. The results indicate a higher rate of anxiety among women than among men and reveal a relationship between higher levels of anxiety and more vulnerable work situations in terms of higher unemployment rates, contract changes, etc. Furthermore, there was a higher percentage of women than men in the sectors where the health crisis has had a greater impact and presence, with repercussions on the physical, mental, and social health of the entire population and especially on women. It is necessary to take into account the social determinants of health, not only at the structural level, in terms of the socio-economic and political contexts, to avoid and limit the axes of inequality such as gender.

In-work poverty reflects situations of income below the poverty threshold among employed people, involving a deterioration of wellbeing. The International Labour Organization prioritises this situation, which in countries such as Spain, Germany or Italy reaches rates of 11.8%, 10.6% and 11.8%, respectively. Within a context of flexibility, the occupational situation tends to be understood as an individual responsibility, which is why this study analyses the increase in self-criticism in these situations, and the role of social support in this relationship. The mediation of social support in the manifestation of self-criticism among people experiencing in-work poverty is analysed. The participants were 1430 employed people, grouped into those in a situation of poverty and those who are not. The results show that people in a situation of in-work poverty present a higher score in self-criticism and lower in social support. Social support is a mediating variable that prevents the manifestation of self-criticism. Lastly, a gender analysis shows that women experience this relationship more intensely. These findings enable a critical assessment of the activation policies that only take an individual approach. As an alternative, we propose strengthening interventions that foster social support, particularly among women.

Psychological variables, such as perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality, have an influence on sports success performance. This study aimed to examine the relationships among a set of psychological variables (perceived motivational climate, goal orientation, self-determined motivation, and personality) in male and female footballers. Participants were 167 footballers (106 male, 61 female), aged 12 to 26, competing with clubs in the Spanish Football League. They all took four questionnaires aimed at evaluating motivational climate, goal orientations, self-determined motivation, and personality. The analyses of correlation and regression showed statistically significant relations among the variables. Neuroticism and psychoticism negatively relate to mastery motivational climate, the best predictor of self-determined motivation. It was concluded that contextual variables carry more weight in predicting goal orientations and self-determined motivation among participant footballers.

En el rendimiento deportivo, influyen variables psicológicas como el clima motivacional, las orientaciones de meta, las necesidades psicológicas básicas del deporte y la cohesión del equipo. Este estudio plantea como objetivo examinar la relación entre este conjunto de variables psicológicas (clima motivacional, la orientación de meta, las necesidades psicológicas básicas del deporte y la cohesión) en varones y mujeres futbolistas. Participaron 175 futbolistas de entre 12 y 26 años (M = 15.59, DE = 2.8) que compiten en clubs de diferentes categorías de la Liga Española de Futbol. Todos ellos realizan cuatro cuestionarios dirigidos a valorar el clima motivacional (de maestría y ejecución), las orientaciones de meta (a la tarea o al yo), las necesidades psicológicas (de competencia, autonomía y relación) y la cohesión (de tarea-grupal o de grupo-social). Los análisis de correlación y regresión reflejan relaciones estadísticamente significativas, destacando la relación entre el clima de maestría, la orientación a la tarea y las tres necesidades psicológicas básicas del deporte. Además, la variable con mayor poder predictivo de la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas es el clima de maestría. La presencia de un clima motivacional de maestría se relaciona significativamente con otras variables psicológicas positivas para la práctica deportiva.

Suicidal ideation is a variable prior to suicidal behaviour and one of the main producers of risk of death by suicide. The sample consisted of a total of 1,288 people living in Spain who at the time of answering the questionnaire were in active employment. Contractual status is a significant variable for the prediction of suicidal ideation. Contractual temporality is a risk factor for suicidal ideation, whereas permanent employment is a protective factor. In suicidal ideation, job insecurity is a mediating risk factor and a key dimension of job precariousness because of the adverse effects on mental health it causes. Job insecurity interacts with objective causes of precariousness and is presented as a necessary variable for understanding the relationship between these material causes and suicidal thoughts.

The pandemic caused by Covid-19 has forced governments to implement restrictions on mobility and social interaction and, in some cases, even confine populations to their homes, affecting their daily habits. The sample of the present study comprised 3,500 female and 1,186 male participants, whose average age was 37.9 (M = 37.90, SD = 12.46 years). A State-Trait Anxiety Questionnaire and questions specifically designed for this study were applied in order to assess participants’ daily habits regarding exercise during the lockdown periods. This was an ex-post facto, cross-sectional and descriptive study. Although the results showed no evidence of the severity of the anxiety symptoms, they did indicate that anxiety was present. Confinement was seen to be a significant factor in anxiety levels, and it was seen that females were more vulnerable than males. It also became apparent that exercise and cultural activities reduce anxiety.