Does living close to petrochemical complex increase the adverse psychological effects of COVID-19 lockdown?

The petrochemical industry has made possible the economic development of many local communities, increasing the employment opportunities and generating a complex network of secondary industries closely related to those. However, it is known that petrochemical industries emit air pollutants, which are related to different negative effects on mental health. In addition, many people around the world are being exposed to highly stressful situations derived from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown adopted by the national and regional governments. The present study was aimed at analysing the possible differential effects on different psychological outcomes (stress, anxiety, depression and emotional regulation strategies) derived from the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown in individuals living near an important petrochemical complex and subjects living in other areas, non-exposed to the characteristic environmental pollutants emitted by this kind of complexes. The sample was composed by 1607 subjects which respond a questionnaire developed ad hoc about the confinement conditions, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) and the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). The results indicated that people living closer to petrochemical complexes reported greater risk perception. However, no significant relationships between psychological variables and proximity to the focus were detected when compared people living near to or far away from a chemical/petrochemical complex. Regarding the adverse psychological effects of the first lockdown due to COVID-19 on the general population in Catalonia, we can conclude that the lockdown conditions included in this survey were mainly related to changes in the impulsivity levels of participants. However, we can also suggest that the economic effects are going to be harder than those initially detected in this study. More studies are necessary to corroborate our results.