Abstract This study aimed to assess the mental health of a University community in South Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted between July-August 2020 through a self-administered questionnaire. All University staff and students were eligible. Depression was measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and anxiety by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7. To evaluate the effect of social distancing and mental health factors on outcomes, Poisson regression models with robust variance were performed, estimating Prevalence Ratios (PR) and 95% Confidence Intervals (95%CI). 2,785 individuals participated in the study. Prevalence of depression and anxiety were 39.2% (95%CI 37.3-41.1) and 52.5% (95% CI 50.6-54.4), respectively. Undergraduate students showed a higher prevalence of the outcomes. Not leaving the house routinely, mental health care, and previous diagnosis of mental illness were associated with both outcomes. Those with a previous medical diagnosis of depression had a 58% (PR 1.58; 95%CI 1.44; 1.74) and anxiety a 72% (PR 1.72; 95%CI 1.56; 1.91) greater prevalence of depression than their peers. An alarming prevalence of psychopathologies was observed. Despite the well-known benefits of social distancing to public health, it requires a surveillance on the population’s mental health, especially students and those with previous mental illness diagnosis.

Objective: Memory impairment is an important contributor to the reduction in quality of life experienced by older adults, and genetic risk factors seem to contribute to variance in age-related cognitive decline. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important nerve growth factor linked with development and neural plasticity. The Val66Met polymorphism in the BDNF gene has been associated with impaired episodic memory in adults, but whether this functional variant plays a role in cognitive aging remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism on memory performance in a sample of elderly adults. Methods: Eighty-seven subjects aged > 55 years were recruited using a community-based convenience sampling strategy in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The logical memory subset of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised was used to assess immediate verbal recall (IVR), delayed verbal recall (DVR), and memory retention rate. Results: BDNF Met allele carriers had lower DVR scores (p = 0.004) and a decline in memory retention (p = 0.017) when compared to Val/Val homozygotes. However, we found no significant differences in IVR between the two groups (p = 0.088). Conclusion: These results support the hypothesis of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism as a risk factor associated with cognitive impairment, corroborating previous findings in young and older adults.

Introdução: A recorrência da exposição ao abuso sexual na infância (ASI) parece ser maior entre vítimas de abuso sexual. Nesse sentido, experiências relacionadas à violência sexual podem perpetuar-se dentro do próprio contexto familiar por diversas maneiras. Aqui, investigamos a associação entre ser exposto a ASI e ter um filho vítima de abuso sexual.Método: Usamos uma amostra com 123 mães, que foram divididas em 2 grupos: um composto por 41 mães de filhos abusados sexualmente e outro composto por 82 mães de filhos não abusados. O histórico da exposição à ASI foi avaliado por meio do Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ) e usamos um modelo de regressão logística para estimar os valores preditivos em relação a ter ou não um filho exposto a violência sexual.Resultados:Mães de crianças vítimas de abuso sexual obtiveram maiores escores no CTQ, especialmente na subescala de abuso sexual (SA). Segundo nosso modelo de regressão logística, escores maiores no CTQ foram capazes de predizer significativamente a categoria de ser ou não mãe de uma criança vítima de violência sexual em nossa amostra (Wald = 7,074; p = 0,008; Exp(B) = 1,681). O número de anos de escolaridade reduziu a chance de ter um filho vítima de violência sexual (Wald = 18,994; p = 0,001; Exp(B) = 0,497).Conclusão: Nossos achados ressaltam a importância de um possível efeito intergeracional do abuso sexual. Intervenções familiares e preventivas contra maus-tratos na infância deveriam levar em consideração essa problemática.

Introduction: Recurrent exposure to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) seems to be higher among victims of sexual abuse. In this sense, experiences related to sexual violence can perpetuate within the family context itself in various ways. Here, we investigate the association between being exposed to CSA and having a child victim of sexual abuse.Method: We used a sample with 123 mothers, who were divided into 2 groups: one consisting of 41 mothers of sexually abused children and another consisting of 82 mothers of non-sexually abused children. History of exposure to CSA was evaluated by means of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire - Short Form (CTQ) and we used a logistic regression model to estimate the prediction values regarding having or not a child exposed to sexual violence.Results: Mothers of sexually abused children had significantly higher scores on CTQ, especially on the sexual abuse subscale (SA). According to our logistic regression model, higher scores on the CTQ significantly predicted the status of being a mother of children exposed to sexual violence in our sample (Wald = 7.074; p = 0.008; Exp(B) = 1.681). Years of formal education reduced the likelihood of having a child victim of sexual violence (Wald = 18.994; p = 0.001; Exp(B) = 0.497).Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of a possible intergenerational effect of sexual abuse. Family intervention and prevention against childhood maltreatment should take this issue in account.