Table 5.
Association between beliefs and knowledge about COVID-19 and psychological distress during the pandemic (n = 4180).
| Variables | M (SD) | Psychological Distress | t | p | Effect Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No (N = 1171) |
Yes (N = 3009) |
|||||
| Beliefs about COVID-19 * | ||||||
| Likelihood of survival if infected | 8.08 (1.88) | 8.31 (1.84) | 7.99 (1.89) | 4.985 | <0.001 | 0.171 |
| Degree of confidence in the diagnostic ability: | ||||||
| Of health professionals | 8.34 (1.78) | 8.52 (1.79) | 8.27 (1.78) | 4.104 | <0.001 | 0.140 |
| Of the health system | 6.94 (2.27) | 7.25 (2.23) | 6.82 (2.27) | 5.599 | <0.001 | 0.252 |
| Risk of getting infected | 6.49 (2.71) | 5.66 (2.70) | 6.81 (2.65) | −12.559 | <0.001 | 0.432 |
| The infection would have serious consequences for the health | 6.09 (2.39) | 5.67 (2.45) | 6.26 (2.35) | −7.057 | <0.001 | 0.248 |
| The infection is hard to treat | 6.97 (2.02) | 6.70 (2.10) | 7.08 (1.98) | −5.316 | <0.001 | 0.189 |
| Effectiveness of preventive measures | 7.94 (1.77) | 8.10 (1.75) | 7.88 (1.77) | 3.646 | <0.001 | 0.125 |
| Need to offer psychological support to: | <0.001 | |||||
| Professionals and voluntary staff | 9.28 (1.48) | 8.96 (1.81) | 9.40 (1.30) | −7.532 | <0.001 | 0.301 |
| Persons and families affected by COVID-19 | 9.40 (1.26) | 9.11 (1.57) | 9.52 (1.10) | −8.049 | <0.001 | 0.328 |
| The general population | 8.53 (2.03) | 7.89 (2.40) | 8.78 (1.85) | −11.590 | <0.001 | 0.441 |
| Knowledge about COVID-19 | ||||||
| About the incubation period | ||||||
| Right | 3836 (91.80) | 91.20 | 92.0 | 0.691 | 0.406 | 0.013 |
| Wrong or do not know | 344 (8.20) | 8.80 | 8.00 | |||
| About the most common symptoms | ||||||
| Right | 274 (6.60) | 6.90 | 6.40 | 0.348 | 0.555 | 0.009 |
| Wrong or do not know | 3906 (93.40) | 93.10 | 93.60 | |||
| About isolation of infected people | ||||||
| Right | 4150 (99.30) | 99.30 | 99.30 | 0.027 | 0.869 | 0.003 |
| Wrong or do not know | 30 (0.70) | 0.70 | 0.70 | |||
| About transmission routes | ||||||
| Right | 4053 (97.00) | 97.30 | 96.80 | 0.516 | 0.473 | 0.011 |
| Wrong or do not know | 127 (3.00) | 2.70 | 3.20 | |||
| About the infective capacity of asymptomatic people | ||||||
| Right | 3479 (83.20) | 81.50 | 83.90 | 3.614 | 0.057 | 0.029 |
| Wrong or do not know | 701 (16.80) | 18.50 | 16.10 | |||
Note: * Likert-type scale from 1 to 10.