Psychotherapy in times of the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina: Factors associated with the use of telepsychology during social isolation
Main Article Content
Abstract
In Argentina, social isolation to reduce the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has had an impact on the practice of psychotherapy. Objective: To describe factors associated with the use of communication technologies in psychotherapy during social isolation. Procedure: An online survey was conducted among professionals, totaling a sample of 978 cases. Results: 77.7% of the participants started using online psychotherapy for the first time at the beginning of social isolation; 62.6% of the participants treated half or more of their patients online. Significant relationships were detected between online psychotherapy and various factors that characterize psychotherapeutic practice, but these are weak effects. The use of online psychotherapy is associated with treatment interruption and modifications in the level of income. Conclusions: Drastic changes in psychotherapeutic practice during social isolation need to be studied in depth.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
La RACC aplicará la licencia internacional de atribuciones comunes creativas (Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Bajo esta licencia, se permite cualquier explotación de la obra, incluyendo la explotación con fines comerciales y la creación de obras derivadas, la distribución de las cuales también está permitida sin ninguna restricción. Esta licencia es una licencia libre según la Freedom Defined. La única condición es que siempre y en todos los casos se cite a los autores y a la fuente original de publicación (i.e., RACC). Esta licencia fue desarrollada para facilitar el acceso abierto, gratuito y libre a trabajos originales científicos y artísticos.
References
American Psychological Association (2015). APA Dictionary of Psychology (2a ed.). Washington, Estados Unidos de América: APA.
Bäuerle, A., Teufel, M., Musche, V., Weismüller, B., Kohler, H., Hetkamp, M., Dörrie, N., Schweda, A., & Skoda, E. M. (2020). Increased generalized anxiety, depression and distress during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Germany. Journal of Public Health, 42(4), 672-678. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa106
Békés, V., & Aafjes-van Doorn, K. (2020). Psychotherapists’ attitudes toward online therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 30(2), 238-247. doi: 10.1037/int0000214
Boldrini, T., Schiano Lomoriello, A., Del Corno, F., Lingiardi, V., & Salcuni, S. (2020). Psychotherapy During COVID-19: How the Clinical Practice of Italian Psychotherapists Changed During the Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 591170. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591170
Bommersbach, T., Dube, L., & Li, L. (2021). Mental Health Staff Perceptions of Improvement Opportunities around COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Analysis. The Psychiatric quarterly, 92(3), 1079–1092. doi: 10.1007/s11126-021-09890-2
Campbell, L. F., Millán, F. A., & Martin, J. N. (Eds.). (2018). A telepsychology casebook: Using technology ethically and effectively in your professional practice. Washington, Estados Unidos de América: APA. doi: 10.1037/0000046-000
Casari, L. M., Fontao, M. I., Piorno, N., & Taborda, A. (2022). Psicoterapia en tiempos de pandemia: Perspectivas sobre la atención psicológica. En C. Fernández, M. Flores, H. García, C. Gómez, E. González, M. A. Piñeda, B. Piola, L. Velázquez (Eds.). Universidad, comunidad y desarrollo científico en psicología. Debates en prospectiva (pp 111-116). San Luis, Argentina: Nueva Editorial Universitaria.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2a ed.). Hillsdale, Estados Unidos de América: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Connolly, S. L., Miller, C. J., Lindsay, J. A., & Bauer, M. S. (2020). A systematic review of providers’ attitudes toward telemental health via videoconferencing. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice, 27(2), e12311. doi: 10.1111/cpsp.12311
Ellis, P. D. (2010). The essential guide to effect sizes: Statistical power, meta-analysis, and the interpretation of research results. Cambridge, Reino Unido: Cambridge University Press.
Etchevers, M. J., Garay, C. J., Putrino, N., Grasso, J., Natalí, V., & Helmich, N. (2020). Salud Mental en Cuarentena. Relevamiento del impacto psicológico a los 7-11, 50-55 y 115- 124 días de cuarentena en población argentina. Recuperado el 28 de junio 2022 de http://www.psi.uba.ar/opsa/informes/opsa_salud_mental_informe.pdf
Fancourt, D., Bu, F., Mak, H.W., & Steptoe, A. (2020): Covid-19 Social Study. Results Release 5. Recuperado el 28 de junio de 2022 de https://www.covidsocialstudy.org/_files/ugd/3d9db5_b1cc531ee989492ca5b27bca7181866d.pdf
Fu, Z., Burger, H., Arjadi, R., & Bockting, C. L. H. (2020). Effectiveness of digital psychological interventions for mental health problems in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(10), 851-864. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30256-X
Gemelli, N. (2020). Management of COVID-19 Outbreak in Argentina: The Beginning. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 14(6), 815-817. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.116
Huang, Y., & Zhao, N. (2020). Generalized anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak in China: a web-based cross-sectional survey. Psychiatry Research, 288, 112954. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112954
IBM Corp. (2019). IBM SPSS Statistics for Mac (Version 26.0). Armonk, New York: IBM Corp.
Lam, K., Lu, A. D., Shi, Y., & Covinsky, K. E. (2020). Assessing Telemedicine Unreadiness Among Older Adults in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(10), 1389-1391. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2671
Liu, C. H., Zhang, E., Wong, G., Hyun, S., & Hahm, H. C. (2020). Factors associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic: Clinical implications for U.S. young adult mental health. Psychiatry Research, 290, 113172. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113172
MacMullin, K., Jerry, P., & Cook, K. (2020). Psychotherapist experiences with telepsychotherapy: Pre COVID-19 lessons for a post COVID-19 world. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 30(2), 248-264. doi: 10.1037/int0000213
Ministerio de Salud y Desarrollo Social (2019). Primera recomendación para el uso de la telemedicina. Recuperado el 22 de octubre de 2020 de https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/anexo_1_recomendacion_uso_de_telemedicina_-_grupo_asesor_1.pdf
Picco, J. M., González Dávila, E., Wolff, S., Gómez, V., & Wolff, D. (2020). Psychosocial Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Mendoza Population. Revista Argentina de Cardiología, 88(3), 203-206. doi: 10.7775/rac.v88.i3.17925
Poletti, B., Tagini, S., Brugnera, A., Parolin, L., Pievani, L., Ferrucci, R., Compare, A., & Silani, V. (2021) Telepsychotherapy: a leaflet for psychotherapists in the age of COVID-19. A review of the evidence. Counselling Psychology Quarterly 34(3-4), 352-367. doi: 10.1080/09515070.2020.1769557
Presidencia de la Nación Argentina. (2020). Decreto 297/2020 Aislamiento Social Preventivo y Obligatorio. Recuperado el 19 de marzo de 2021 de https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/detalleAviso/primera/227042/20200320
Probst, T., Stippl, P., & Pieh, C. (2020). Changes in Provision of Psychotherapy in the Early Weeks of the COVID-19 Lockdown in Austria. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 3815. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17113815
Rodríguez-Rey, R., Garrido-Hernansaiz, H., & Collado, S. (2020). Psychological impact of COVID-19 in Spain: Early data report. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 550-552. doi: 10.1037/tra0000943
Simpson, S., Richardson, L., & Reid, C. (2019). Telemental Health in Rural and Remote Contexts. En T. Carey & J. Gullifer (Eds.). Handbook of Rural, Remote, and very Remote Mental Health (pp. 1-20). Singapur: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-5012-1_37-1
Torrente, F., Yoris, A., Low, D. M., Lopez, P., Bekinschtein, P., Manes, F., & Cetkovich, M. (2021). Sooner than you think: A very early affective reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine in Argentina. Journal of Affective Disorders, 282, 495–503. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.124
Vostanis, P, & Bell, C. A. (2020). Counselling and psychotherapy post‐COVID‐19. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 20(3), 389– 393. doi: 10.1002/capr.12325