Edited by: Tecnológico Superior
Corporativo Edwards Deming
January - March Vol. 6 - 1 - 2023
https://revista-edwardsdeming.com/index.php/es
e-ISSN: 2576-0971
Received: November 12, 2022
Approved: December 09, 2022
Page 83-91
Levels of anxiety and postcoital depression in early
childhood care in a Colombian municipality. A case
study
Niveles de ansiedad y depresión postcovid en cargo
asistencial de primera infancia en un municipio de
Colombia. Estudio de caso
Gilma Rocio Peña-Meneses
*
Alexi Liliana Salgado Contreras
*
ABSTRACT
The crisis caused by COVID - 19, brought with it serious
mental health problems, which represented in many
countries a public health problem, it is emphasized that
mental health is of great importance in different contexts,
both family and work, taking into account that it is essential
to generate social and productive links. The objective of
this article is to describe the levels of anxiety and
depression of an early childhood worker in a municipality
of Colombia, due to the return to the workplace and
contact with children, through a descriptive quantitative
approach methodology where the DASS- 21 Scale
(Depression, Anxiety, Stress -21) was applied, Anxiety
Stress -21) established with seven items in each level,
extremely high scores of anxiety and depression were
evidenced, for which reason, proposals for action were
designed individually and organizationally in order to help
reduce those levels currently presented in the worker.
Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Covid-19, mental health,
early childhood, psychosocial risk.
* Msc. Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios-Uniminuto,
Gilma.pena@uniminuto.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0179-3319
* Msc. Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios-Uniminuto
Alexi.salgado@uniminuto.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3095-5516
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RESUMEN
La crisis provocada por el COVID – 19, trajo consigo
serios problemas de salud mental, que representó en
mucho países un problema de salud pública, se destaca que
la salud mental es de gran importancia en los diferentes
contextos tanto familiares como laborales, teniendo en
cuenta que es fundamental para generar vínculos sociales y
productivos. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo
describir los niveles de ansiedad y depresión de una
trabajadora de la primera infancia en un municipio de
Colombia, debido al regreso presencial al lugar de trabajo
y al contacto con niños y niñas, a través de una metodología
con enfoque cuantitativo de tipo descriptivo en donde se
aplicó la Escala DASS- 21 (Depresión, Ansiedad Estrés -21)
establecida con siete ítems en cada nivel, se evidenciaron
puntajes extremadamente altos de ansiedad y depresión,
razón por la cual, se diseñaron propuestas de acción de
manera individual y organizacional con el fin de ayudar a
reducir aquellos niveles presentados actualmente en la
trabajadora.
Palabras clave: Depresión, Ansiedad, Covid-19, salud
mental, primera infancia, riesgo psicosocial.
INTRODUCTION
The SARS-COVID19 coronavirus disease outbreak was a worldwide emergency, due to
its rapid spread and high mortality rate, because it is transmitted from person to person
through various means such as coughing, respiratory secretions, and close contacts; that
is, it can be transmitted at a distance of two meters, in addition to this, the contagion
also occurs by contact with hands contaminated with secretions followed by contact
with mucous membranes, mouth, nose or eyes. (Palacios et al., 2021).
Sars-Covid19 , due to its rapid spread, triggered alarms throughout the Colombian
territory with social isolation and absence of social relations in different spaces such as
parks, shopping malls, education centers and companies. Pappa et al. (2020) indicated
that the isolation represented a public health problem, starting with the great magnitude
of contagions, which collapsed the health system of the country, likewise, Banerjee &
Rai (2020) indicated that the pandemic generated a wave of concern, fear, stress and
even frustration, because there was no knowledge of how to combat this new virus
worldwide.
Such is the concern for the mental health of the world's population, that there are
different authors who have investigated the consequences of isolation, confinement and
work dynamics during and after the pandemic. Thus, Ozamiz, Dosil, Picaza & Idoiaga
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(2020) conducted a study to identify the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in the
first phase of COVID 19 in northern Spain. They implemented an exploratory -
descriptive cross-sectional study through the DASS-21 Questionnaire (Depression,
Anxiety, Stress scale) composed of 21 items, which results in severe and extremely
severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression in the sample collected.
Likewise, Prieto, et. al, (2020) conducted a descriptive, non-experimental, cross-
sectional study on characteristics related to anxiety and depression symptomatology in
a population of adult residents of Metropolitan Lima, because this region had the highest
number of confirmed cases with a diagnosis of COVID-19 at the national level, the
Anxiety Scale (EAL-20) and the Depressive Psychopathology Scale (EPD-6) were
applied to 565 adults (382 women and 183 men), The most prevalent anxiety indicators
were found to be representative characteristics of agoraphobia, for example, discomfort
when being in a crowded place or even fear of leaving home. In another instance, the
most prevalent depression results were found to be related to problems falling asleep,
feelings of tiredness and sadness.
On the other hand, Chacón, et. al (2020) conducted a cross-sectional exploratory study
on anxiety in response to the Covid-19 virus, evaluating 328 Salvadorans by means of
the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD7), finding that the most prevalent
symptoms were nervousness, altered state, worry about different things and difficulty in
relaxing.
It is necessary to understand the concept of depression, understood as a mental illness
characterized by low mood and feelings of sadness, associated with behavioral
alterations, appearing more frequently in women under 45 years of age. It is a frequent
disease worldwide since it is estimated in 3.8% of the population including 5% in older
adults and 5.7% of adults under 60 years of age. Approximately 280 million people
worldwide suffer from depression due to various problems of daily life. People who
present a depressive episode experience considerable difficulties in their personal,
family, social, educational and other important areas (Vidal 2020).
On the other hand, anxiety is an emotion characterized by feelings of tension, anxious
thoughts and physical changes reflected in increased blood pressure. This generalized
state of mind can occur in the face of external stimuli perceived as threatening, but often
occurs without a stimulus to provoke it, in which case anxiety is more likely to occur in
women. The most common mental symptoms are usually constant worries, tiredness,
irritability, concentration and sleep problems, as well as physical symptoms such as
elevated pulse, excessive sweating, muscle tension, tremors, dizziness, etc. (Soto, 2021).
In general, there are different factors that can increase or decrease the risk of developing
symptoms of mental illness as a result of prolonged exposure to stressful stimuli. In
confinement, there was evidence of an increase in depression, which is described as
feeling bad, melancholic or simply frustrated because of not being able to enjoy daily
social life.
On the other hand, anxiety produces a reaction of rapid activations in the body making
it act with an intense effort and its primary symptom is fear, accompanied by negative
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thoughts that in the course of this isolation are not worked immediately, causing present
illnesses derived from these symptoms of anxiety and depression caused by confinement.
Therefore, Castillo, López, Velásquez, Dimate & Barbosa (2019) consider important the
creation of prevention strategies to reduce the symptomatology related to mental
health, both institutional and individual, giving relevance to the role played by
organizations in the prevention of psychosocial risk in companies, likewise, Cedeño,
Cuenca, Mojica, & Portillo, (2020) indicate the importance of learning to manage stress,
fear, anxiety and depression in a positive way to minimize the effects on mental health,
strengthen individuals, family and the community in general. Portillo, (2020) indicate the
importance of learning to manage stress, fear, anxiety and depression in a positive way
to minimize the effects on mental health, strengthen individuals, the family and the
community in general.
This case study focuses on knowing and understanding the problems derived from
COVID - 19 associated with depression and anxiety presented by a worker who
performs the position of assistance as health and nutrition support (early childhood) in
the social kindergarten of one of the municipalities of Cundinamarca Colombia, due to
the return to her work.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
It is carried out from a quantitative approach, because it seeks to measure the level of
anxiety and depression in a given situation, in this case the return to the presentiality of
the health and nutrition support worker to the social kindergarten (early childhood),
likewise, the analysis of the numerical measurements was obtained by statistical
methods, in this way a case study on the Psychosocial Risk in the worker with anxiety
and depression symptomatologies is carried out.
The variables selected for this case study are depression and anxiety evaluated by means
of the (DASS 21) scale (Depression, Anxiety Stress -21). It is a dimensional self-report
scale designed for the measurement of emotional states. Each of these 3 scales has seven
items, but the following will be selected for the case study: Depression (items 3, 5, 10,
13, 16, 17 and 21), Anxiety (items: 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19 and 20). It has a Likert-type response
format with four alternatives, which are ordered on a scale of 0 to 3 points (0: it has not
happened to me; 1: it has happened to me a little, or for part of the time; 2: it has
happened to me quite a lot, or for a good part of the time; and 3: it has happened to me
a lot, or most of the time). Roman (2014).
RESULTS
Taking into account the analysis of the results of the DASS 21 survey (Depression,
Anxiety, Stress -21), it gives information on the percentage of the sample studied, which
presents a degree of emotional affectation after isolation and infection with the COVID-
19 virus.
When observing the graph, it can be seen that the results for depression were 16 points
and for anxiety 16 points, which indicates that the health and nutrition support worker
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(early childhood) of the social kindergarten of one of the municipalities of Cundinamarca,
Colombia is in a scale of extremely severe.
Figure 1. Degree of emotional involvement
Extremely severe depression
According to the definition of Perez, (2016) major depression is a serious illness whose
symptoms include depressed mood, decreased energy level and interest in life, physical
discomfort, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, thoughts, movements whether slow
or agitated, in necessary to note that there are are psychological, biological and
environmental factors that trigger this disease.
Extremely severe anxiety
It is an uncontrollable, chronic and continuous excessive anxiety and worry (associated
with physical symptoms) people with this anxiety find it difficult to control this state of
constant worry and may persist even more after 6 months (Soto, 2021).
Mainly the level of depression and anxiety presented by the health and nutrition support
worker (early childhood) was detected, where the importance of designing action plans
is evident.
According to the results, there is a need to propose improvement actions from the
individual and from the organizational part, in order to mitigate the levels of Anxiety and
Depression of the early childhood assistant, described in table 1 and 2.
16 16
14
13
13,5
14
14,5
15
15,5
16
16,5
LEVE MODERADO SEVERA ESTREMADAMENTE
SEVERA
RESULT OF DASS 21 SURVEY
DEPRESSION ANXIETY STRESS
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Table 1 . Strategy implementation - Individual
Strategies
Activities
Healthy lifestyles
Get active early: Start the day with 15
minutes of stretching and muscle
strengthening exercises such as squats,
push-ups, etc.
Be sure to be friends with an active
person, as it is more enjoyable to be
physically active with a good companion.
Give importance to sleep by establishing a
schedule and leaving technological devices
away from the body.
Improved coping skills
Do not make dramatic in the current
situation you are in.
To trust in oneself and in one's
capabilities.
Focus on the positive and try to see the
good in every moment.
Strengthening resilience capacity
Seek to learn in every situation you live in,
no matter how difficult it may seem, make
every situation a daily learning experience.
Spend time building and cultivating good
personal relationships.
Table 2 . Strategy Implementation - Organization
Strategies
Activities
Strengthening of social support
networks.
Conduct workshops on the different
representative emotions in each
employee of the organization.
Elaboration of brochures for the
organization, evidencing the initial
symptoms of depression, anxiety and
stress.
Implement a space with bulletin boards
where each worker can express his or her
feelings or how he or she feels.
Development of activities to intervene
work stress
Create a space of distraction to
implement relaxation activities.
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Inhale and exhale 10 times whenever you
feel tension in your work.
Implement changes in the work
environment
Organizing the workstation
Dedicate yourself to one thing at a time
Decorate the workstation either with
family photos, friends or pets.
Plan the day and the things to be done.
Motivate the rest of your colleagues with
a detail.
Make celebrations of important dates that
make people feel good.
Taking into account the results obtained in the research, it is evident the impact that the
pandemic has had on people in general, the need to go out to work and have contact
with other people after more than 18 months of confinement shows high levels of
anxiety and depression that coincide with Ozamiz, Dosil, Picaza & Idoiaga (2020) who
found severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression at the beginning of the pandemic,
also with Prieto, et. al, (2020) who found anxiety levels when leaving home and having
contact with other people.
Likewise, the study participant suffered from Covid 19 during the pandemic, it is very
likely that for this reason his anxiety and depression levels showed a high level when he
returned to work, an aspect corroborated by the studies of Krüger-Malpartida, et al.
(2022) who found that people prone to develop symptoms of anxiety and severe
depression were those who had a medical condition during the pandemic.
Likewise, it is evident the need for companies to initiate preventive and corrective
actions for mental health problems, however, due to the lack of mental health
professionals in organizations, it is necessary that government agencies and health
entities have programs that mitigate the consequences of these pathologies in order to
improve productivity worldwide, likewise, social support is a useful strategy to improve
the mental health of people who survived the virus. (Xiao, et al. 2022).
DISCUSSION
It is relevant to highlight that the mental health of each person is of great importance in
the different contexts they face every day, since it is fundamental to generate both social
and productive links. Such is the case that emerged worldwide by the covid-19 pandemic,
evidencing the psychological and emotional deterioration during preventive social
isolation (Broche 2021). Throughout this study on depression and anxiety, it became
evident that, worldwide, there are shortcomings in terms of mental health, despite the
broad regulations that promote this state of balance, the truth is that during the
pandemic of covid-19 those people who suffered health affectations by infected or lost
a family member, did not have a relevant psychological support, which caused multiple
challenges that are still faced today.
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