The Argentine Social Debt Observatory of the Argentine Catholic University (ODSA-UA) presented on Wednesday a report that reflects the evolution of psychological discomfort in urban Argentina between 2010 and 2024, and the factors that affect the symptoms of anxiety and depression in the adult population.
The study is titled “Psychological discomfort: Historical evolution in Urban Argentina (2010-2024) and determinants in the recent context (2022-2024). Factors that affect anxious and depressive symptomatology in the adult population” And it was presented on August 20 in the streaming program Let’s make messof the UCA, for its authors and specialists in areas such as psychiatry, psychotherapy, mental health, clinical neuropsychology, which integrated a discussion table.
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The authors of the investigation are Solange Rodríguez Espínola, Eduardo Leonardelli, María Agustina Paternó Manavella and Milagros Dolabjian, and were invited to the presentation Fernando Torrente, director of Psychotherapy at the INECO Group; Analía Zanatta, psychiatrist and associate director of Mental Health at the Alejandro Korn Hospital (PBA); and Florencia Chiofalo, psychologist and teacher specialized in clinical neuropsychology.
The report arises from the statistical document: “Retrieves in subjective well-being and citizen integration (2010-2024): Resilience against adversity and constant postponement towards full human development in the Argentine population”prepared by the Argentine Social Debt Barometer with the support of Red Conicet on socio -economic dimensions of sustainable development, R&D Agency, La Nación and Banco Galicia Foundation.
The study results
Among the most significant results, it was known that between 2010 and 2024 there was a sustained increase in the determinants of psychological discomfort, which went from 18.4% of affected in 2010 to 28.1% in 2024 among adults, affecting in the last year studied 3 out of 10 people.
Psychological discomfort, the authors explain, consists of “a state of emotional and psychological suffering characterized by symptoms of depression and anxiety.” In turn, the origin of mental health “is multidimensional and oscillating according to the contextual and vital events through which the person travels.”
In that context, the report explores the changes in the self -perception of discomfort in mental health, and at the same time addresses the indicators that most influence these changes.
One of the techniques used was the panel case analysis, which allows to study the same people at different times, used in this case in three different years, in order to evaluate their trajectories, which people are most affected, and what characteristics increase the chances of suffering from this symptomatology.
Also, through a longitudinal analysis (between 2022 and 2024), it was observed that 58% of the population remained stable without psychological discomfort, 5% suffered persistent symptomatology during the three years, 12% traveled an intermittent pattern, and 18% worsened their mental health in the year 2024.
These results indicate that, in a very short period, in 2 out of 10 adults mental health deteriorated.
He studied also revealed that being a woman, having chronic or serious diseases, being unemployed or underemployment, or poverty, are characteristics that determine greater psychological discomfort.
Julieta Villar
I am a journalist, a graduate in Communication from the National University of La Matanza in Argentina. I have work experience in non -governmental organizations. Since 2016 I dedicate myself to Catholic journalism, first in the Argentine Catholic Information Agency (AICA) and, since 2022, as a correspondent for ACI Press for Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Bolivia.