**5. Conclusions**

We have been able to verify that in Chile, a country with theoretically high levels of protection against the COVID-19 pandemic, including a high percentage of vaccination, higher than those of neighboring countries, the percentage of people with psychological distress is very high in the population studied.

It has been possible to identify variables associated with PD such as being a woman, being under 29 years of age, and with a low level of education, vulnerable groups already described in other countries. Furthermore, the influence of family support becomes visible by observing that living without a partner or not having children act as variables associated with PD. The type of housing is another factor to consider when it comes to urban planning, and to establish the importance of having a house with exterior exit (balcony/terrace/yard) to reduce the PD generated in pandemics that force diverse degrees of lockdown of the population.

Something seemingly contradictory has been detected; non-health professionals showed a higher level of PD than health professionals, a group that is the subject of most studies regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This can help visualize the group of workers of essential activities, who have had to continue to develop their work during the pandemic and, therefore, have also been exposed to contact with contaminated people or objects, but with a lower level of prioritization when it comes to vaccination.

For these reasons, the need to prioritize the establishment of programs that safeguard the mental health of Chileans before these negative effects evolve into irremediable situations or become difficult to address is evident. In this study, vulnerable groups with whom intervention would be efficient and effective, have been identified.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Data curation, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Formal analysis, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Investigation, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.- M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Methodology, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Project administration, C.R.-F. and J.G.-S.; Resources, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Software, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Supervision, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Validation, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Visualization, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.- B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Writing—original draft, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S.; Writing—review & editing, C.R.-F., D.D.-G., M.O.-M., D.D.-B., D.E.-G., J.J.G.-I. and J.G.-S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** The study was conducted according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki and has been authorized by the Ethics Committee of the University of Aconcagua in Chile (Santiago, UAC-22 April 2020) and in Spain by the Research Ethics Committee of Huelva, belonging to the Regional Ministry of Health of Andalusia (PI 036/20).

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** All data are available within this article.

**Acknowledgments:** In memory of Guillermo Solar Oyanedel.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
