Open AccessImpact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Psychological Status of Palestinian Adults in the West Bank, Palestine; A Cross-Sectional Study
Author(s) -
Imad Asmar,
Hani Naseef,
Ni’meh Al-Shami,
Maram K. Jaghama,
Abdallah Damin Abukhalil,
Areefa A. Karsh,
Fuad A. AlFayyah,
Ro'a M. Dagher
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the open psychology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.207
H-Index - 11
ISSN - 1874-3501
DOI - 10.2174/1874350102114010227
Subject(s) - anxiety , pandemic , boredom , psychology , depression (economics) , population , cross sectional study , observational study , psychological intervention , psychiatry , clinical psychology , demography , medicine , disease , covid-19 , environmental health , social psychology , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , macroeconomics , sociology
Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapid manifestation and spread have disrupted world norms and affected people's daily activities and life. Many ministries chose mass lockdown protocol as a way to control the virus spread. Though this protocol has shown to be effective in limiting the Virus transmission, it might have a negative impact on the population's psychological status, such as boredom, confusion, psychological stress, anxiety, depression, and physical effects. Objective: This study aimed to find the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Palestinian adults' psychological status by assessing the participant's practices, reports of anxiety and depression during the pandemics Methods: An observational descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among Palestinian adults in the West Bank, at the occupied Palestinian territories, between July and September 2020. The questionnaire was structured into two domains: the first domain includes nine questions about sociodemographic data. The second consisted of 33 (yes and no) questions evaluating the participant's psychological status. Results: 739 participants with a mean age of 31.76, filled the online questionnaire. Around one-third of respondents revealed having many signs of anxiety, and around 42% of respondents expressed having many signs of depression. Females were significantly more likely to have signs of depression, whereas front-line COVID-19 health care workers were significantly the least likely to have signs of depression and no signs of depression were found among participants with high incomes. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has a negative effect on mental status; most participants have signs of anxiety and depression.