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was positively correlated to the development of anxiety symptoms (Huang and Zhao, 2020), but also with social responsibility values and compliance to social distancing recommendations among US adolescents (Oosterhoff et al., 2020). Contrarily, less engagement in risk prevention behaviors was observed in individuals who were apparently prone to “optimism bias,” the belief that they are less likely to acquire the disease than others. This principle is also seen in other diseases, including lung cancer (Soofi et al., 2020). Moreover, an Italian survey performed in April 2020 assessed the changes in eating and lifestyle habits of 3,533 individuals, aged between 12 and 86 years. It was observed that 34.4% of responders had increased appetite during this period, whereas 17.8% had less appetite. As a result, nearly half of the participants of the study perceived weight gain during the pandemic. Additionally, it was observed that although there were no differences in physical activity in the group of individuals who did not play any sports before the COVID-19 lockdown, the training frequency has increased amongst those who were physically active. Around 3% of smokers have quit smoking in this period, probably due to the fear concerning increased risk of respiratory distress and mortality from COVID-19 (Di Renzo et al., 2020). Individualized Response to Stress In times of psychological distress, emotional reactivity is deeply influenced by individual differences and stress-mediated contexts. A study with the Italian general population aimed to observe the gender and personality traits that more substantially associated with psychological impact during the COVID-19 pandemic (Moccia et al., 2020). The results showed that individuals with anxious, cyclothymic and/or depressive temperaments are predicted to suffer greater emotional impact secondary to the current scenario. Meanwhile, male gender, as well as secure and avoidant adult attachment style were protective for the risk of higher psychological burden (Moccia et al., 2020).Moreover, in a different line of research, a Chinese study proposed to understand the differential psychological distress among distinct populations affected by the pandemic. It was observed that individuals who had experienced SARS-CoV-2 infection had significantly increased prevalence of depressed mood, somatic symptoms and anxiety-like behavior (Zhang W.R. et al., 2020). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was found to affect 96.2% of hospitalized patients with COVID-19, whereas depression was also higher in COVID-19 patients (Vindegaard and Benros, 2020). Furthermore, having an infected friend or family member has been associated with higher anxiety levels (Duan L. et al., 2020) Psychological Disorders Secondary to the COVID-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic may intensify psychological disorders or precipitate others, for instance, anxiety, depression, PTSD, alcohol misuse, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, panic and paranoia (Dubey et al., 2020; Islam et al., 2020). A nationwide survey in China with over 52 thousand participants had almost 35% of the respondents experiencing psychological distress due to the SARS-CoV-2 (Qiu et al., 2020). In this study, women appeared to be more vulnerable to stress than men, although this result is not consistent in literature (Huang and Zhao, 2020). Therefore, some of the most cited psychological consequences of the pandemic will be further addressed. Anxiety and Depression
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