BACKGROUND: Latin American countries have been profoundly affected by COVID-19. Due to the alarming incidence of identified cases, we intended to explore which psycho-social elements may be influencing the poor adherence toward the mandatory control measures among the population. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and vulnerability perception of Peruvians during the coronavirus outbreak.METHOD: Using a web-based cross-sectional survey, we collected data from 225 self-selected participants, evaluating demographic information. The overall respondents were between 18 and 29 years old (56.8%), being female (n = 134), belonging to educated groups, and graduated professionals (69.3%), the majority of them. RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that knowledge is highly correlated with education (p=0.031), occupation (p=0.002), and age (p= 0.016). Our study identified that, although people reported adequate knowledge by identifying expected symptoms and virus transmission ways in COVID-19 disease. There is a significant perceived susceptibility to contract the mentioning virus, displaying stigmatized behavior (59.1%) and fear of contracting the virus from others (70.2%). Additionally, it is reported to lack people's confidence to health national authorities on the sanitary responses (62.7%), preparedness for the disease (76.9%) and the lack of adequate measures to deal with it (51.1%). CONCLUSION: We suggest that public policies consider guidelines on knowledge translation and risk communication strategies for both containing psychological responses in a timely manner and ensuring compliance with public control measures by the population.

Background: The Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted health systems across the world and led to major shifts in individual behavior by forcing people into isolation in home settings. Its rapid spread has overwhelmed populations in all corners of Latin-American countries resulting in individual psychological reactions that may aggravate the health crisis. This study reports on demographics, self-reported psychological disturbances and associated coping styles during the COVID-19 pandemic for the Peruvian population. Methods: This cross-sectional study uses an online survey with snowball sampling that was conducted after the state of emergency was declared in Perú (on April 2nd). The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used to identify somatic symptoms, incidence of anxiety/ insomnia, social dysfunction and depression and the Coping Strategy Questionnaire (COPE-28) mapped personal strategies to address recent stress. Results: 434 self-selected participants ranging in age from 18 to 68 years old (Mean age = 33.87) completed the survey. The majority of participants were women (61.30%), aged between 18 and 28 (41.70%), well-educated (> = 85.00%), Peruvian (94.20%), employed (57.40%) and single (71.20%). 40.8% reported psychological distress, expressing fear of coronavirus infection (71.43%). Regression analysis shows that men had lower somatic-related symptom (β = − 1.87, 95%, CI: − 2.75 to −.99) and anxiety/insomnia symptom (β = − 1.91, 95% CI: − 2.98 to 0.84) compared to women. The risk for depression and social dysfunction are less likely with increasing age. Educational status was protective against developing psychological conditions (p < 0.05). While active responses (acceptance and social support) are scarcely used by individuals with psychological distress; passive strategies (such as denial, self-distraction, self-blame, disconnection, and venting) are more commonly reported. Conclusion: This study provides a better understanding of the psychological health impact occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Peruvian population. About half of the respondents reported psychological distress and poor coping responses. This evidence informs the need for broader promotional health policies focused on strengthening individual’s active strategies aiming at improving emotional health and preventing psychiatric conditions, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ante la creciente necesidad de establecer prácticas sostenibles de gestión de recursos humanos, resulta crítico explorar modalidades que mitiguen indicadores de escasez de talento, rotación e insatifaccion laboral. El estudio de propuestas de valor que generen compromiso en colaboradores de alto potencial constituye un recurso estratégico en la diferenciación de la empresa ante el competitivo mercado laboral. Objetivo: Este estudio explora, la influencia de factores de captación, retención de personal y el nivel de compromiso organizacional, a traves del análisis de cuestionarios aplicados en dos etapas en operarios de una planta de procesamiento de mineral, sector minero (n=50). La primera etapa, previo a la postulación a un puesto laboral y posterior a un periodo de 6 meses de contrato laboral. Diseño y metodología: Un diseño cuantitativo, descriptivo, observacional prospectivo, aplicando cuestionarios formato entrevista permitió identificar factores de atracción, retención y compromiso organizacional (Cuestionario de Meyer y Allen). Resultados: Mayor puntaje en intención de permanencia en la organización es hallada en individuos que puntúan alto en el componente de compromiso de continuidad laboral, seis meses después de ingresar a la institución. Se obtuvo un índice de confiabilidad adecuado para la encuesta de retención de talento (0.76) y compromiso organizacional (0.80). Conclusiones: Los resultados tienen implicancias en las prácticas laborales conducivas a la gestión de personas y monitoreo de indicadores alineados a la atracción, retención y el fortalecimiento de actitudes de compromiso organizacional.

Background: Latin American countries have been profoundly affected by COVID-19. Due to the alarming incidence of identified cases, we intended to explore which psychosocial elements may influence poor adherence to the mandatory control measures among the population. Objective: We aimed to assess Peruvians’ knowledge, attitudes, and vulnerability perception during the coronavirus outbreak. Method: We collected data from 225 self-selected participants using a web-based cross-sectional survey. Results: The overall respondents were between 18 and 29 years old (56.8%), female (59.5%), belonged to educated groups, and graduated professionals (69.3%), most of them. Logistic regression showed that Knowledge is highly associated with education (p = 0.031), occupation (p = 0.002), and age (p = 0.016). Our study identified that, although people reported adequate Knowledge by identifying expected symptoms and virus transmission ways in COVID-19 disease. There is a significant perceived susceptibility to contracting the mentioned virus, displaying stigmatized behavior (59.1%) and fear of contracting the virus from others (70.2%). Additionally, it is reported to lack people’s confidence in national health authorities regarding sanitary responses (62.7%), preparedness for the disease (76.9%), and the lack of adequate measures to deal with it (51.1%). Conclusion: We found that age, education, and occupation modulate Knowledge. At the same time, only age affected Perception and Attitude. Public policies should consider specific guidelines on knowledge translation and risk communication strategies for both containing psychological responses promptly and ensuring compliance with general control measures by the population.

In order to facilitate the understanding of tools that monitor general health, we developed a systematic review of the Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) to determine the risk factors that explain the psychological problems that were identified in the general population. Previously, a bibliometric approach was carried out to identify research trends on the scientific literature of the GHQ-28. We use Web of Science and Scopus as information sources to retrieve scientific production on GHQ-28, from 2016 and 2021 in English and Spanish. We retrieved 45 studies obtained by search equations, including only 33 systematic review studies after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A massive increase in post-covid-19 pandemic mental health problems was identified, being reported using the GHQ-28 instrument. Common risk factors are identified that inform mental health deterioration. The instrument is useful for the early identification of symptoms and the formulation of prevention and intervention programs in favor of the mental health of the human population.

Large-scale epidemics are known to significantly disrupt the mental health and perceived well-being of most populations. In spite of the wide range of screening tools, there are not many reliable and widespread tools for the identification of psychological symptoms in non-clinical populations during a health crisis. Objective The aim of this study was to conduct a psychometric analysis of the Goldberg’s GHQ-28 (1) through a sample of Peruvian adults using confirmatory factor analysis. Materials and methods 434 individuals have been examined, studying the goodness and structure of the Goldberg GHQ-28 questionnaire. Result We found high reliability indicating optimal values (α by Cronbach = .829), also there are four correlated factors that show strict invariance among the 28 items. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to examine the structure of the subscales. There are high levels of anxiety (X=1.01) and social dysfunction (X=1.21) in the assessed sampling. Conclusion The factorial structure obtained in this study is similar to that originally described by the researchers involved in the original questionnaire. It is concluded that GHQ-28 is suitable to explore prevalence of psychopathologies in emergency contexts and social isolation for general non-psychiatric population.