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Analysis of institutional authors

Cardona, FCorresponding Author

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Review

Relationship between COVID-19 Pandemic Confinement and Worsening or Onset of Depressive Disorders

Publicated to:Brain Sciences. 13 (6): 899- - 2023-06-01 13(6), DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13060899

Authors: Camargo, Daniela; Navarro-Tapia, Elisabet; Perez-Tur, Jordi; Cardona, Fernando

Affiliations

Inst Salud Carlos III, Ctr Invest Biomed Red Enfermedades Neurodegenerat, CIBERNED, CIBER - Author
Valencian Int Univ VIU, Fac Hlth Sci - Author

Abstract

Several studies indicate that the pandemic and associated confinement measures may have had an impact on mental health, producing the onset or persistence of symptoms such as stress, anxiety, depression, and fear. This systematic review aims to identify the factors influencing the onset or worsening of depressive symptoms during COVID-19-related confinement. Our systematic search produced 451 articles from selected databases, 398 of which were excluded based on established criteria, while 53 were selected for review. Most studies have reported an increase in the prevalence of depressive symptoms in the general population during the first weeks of confinement. The predominant risk factors associated with the appearance of depressive symptoms included female sex, low educational level, young age, economic difficulties, comorbidities, and a history of previous depressive episodes. People with a pre-existing diagnosis of depressive disorder generally experienced a worsening of their symptoms during confinement in most of the reviewed studies. Moreover, symptomatology persisted at higher levels post-confinement, without significant improvement despite relief in confinement measures. Therefore, ongoing evaluations of post-pandemic depressive symptoms are necessary to advance the knowledge of the relationship between pandemics and depression, allowing accurate conclusions and associations to be made.

Keywords

AnxietyCognitionComorbidityCoronavirus disease 2019CovidDepressionDepressive disorderEating disorderHumanImpactLockdownMajor depressionMental healthMental-healthMeta analysisPandemicPhysiological stressPrevalencePsychotropic agentReviewRisk factorSleep disorderSocial statusSubstance useSymptomsSystematic review

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Brain Sciences due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Neuroscience (Miscellaneous). Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q3 for the agency WoS (JCR) in the category Neurosciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.47. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.46 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 7.45 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-21, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 7
  • Scopus: 7
  • Europe PMC: 3

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-21:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 39.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 39 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Cardona Serrate, Fernando).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Cardona Serrate, Fernando.