*2.2. Measures*

The survey consisted of three sections: the sociodemographic section, the author's questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). The sociodemographic questionnaire recorded data on general demographic characteristics such as age, sex, place of residence, marital status, education and profession. The author's questionnaire was based on questions related to exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection, the availability of protective measures, quarantine, change of working hours and the place of employment during the pandemic, as well as feelings associated with the state of the pandemic.

The GHQ-28 is a 28-item questionnaire used to identify minor psychiatric disorders in the general population, divided into four subscales. These are somatic symptoms (items 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, 14 and 16), anxiety and insomnia (items 2, 7, 9, 13, 15, 17 and 18), social dysfunction (items 5, 10, 11, 25, 26, 27 and 28) and severe depression (items 6, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24) [16]. The GHQ-28 items are based on the 4-point Likert scale (0—not at all, 1—no more than usual, 2—rather more than usual, and 3—much more than usual). The total score ranges between 0 and 84, where higher scores refer to higher levels of distress. The cut-off for clinical relevance was set at 24 points as described elsewhere [17].
