COVID-19: Psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across the United Arab Emirates

PLOS ONE · 8 authors, 8 centres

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TL;DR

A cross-sectional online survey of UAE adults during the COVID-19 pandemic found that over half reported high psychological distress, with factors like fear of COVID-19 and increased smoking or drinking being associated with higher distress.

Full summary

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This cross-sectional online survey of 417 adults in the UAE was conducted in November 2020 using validated tools to measure psychological distress (K10), fear (FCV-19S), and coping (BRCS). Higher distress was significantly associated with being female, having a pre-existing mental health condition, increased smoking, increased alcohol drinking, and higher levels of fear of COVID-19. Limitations include potential selection bias from online and snowball sampling, reliance on self-report, and the cross-sectional design preventing causal inferences. The study highlights that females, individuals with mental illnesses, and those with certain behaviors were at higher risk for psychological distress during the pandemic, suggesting a need for targeted mental health support.

STUDY TYPE

cross-sectional

SPECIALTY

psychiatry

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ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10057807

COVID-19: Psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across the United Arab Emirates

PLOS ONE

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ABSTRACT

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the psychosocial well-being of the United Arab Emirates [UAE] population like other communities internationally. Objectives We aimed to identify the factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping amongst community members across the UAE. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional online survey across the UAE during November 2020. Adults aged ≥18 years, living in the UAE who were able to respond to an online questionnaire in English or Arabic were considered eligible to participate in the study. We used standard validated tools to measure psychological distress, fear and coping. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale [K10] was used to assess psychological distress, Fear of COVID-19 Scale [FCV-19S] was used to assess the level of fear, and Brief Resilient Coping Scale [BRCS] was used to assess the coping strategies. Results A total of 417 individuals participated in this study with a mean age of 29 [± 10.7] years. More than half of the participants experienced high to very high levels of psychological distress [55%] and a quarter experienced high levels of fear of COVID-19 [23.3%] with almost a third of them [36.2%] having low resilient coping. About 37.4% of the participants had work-related mental health impacts and 32.4% were perceived to have moderate to a great deal of distress due to a change of employment status during the pandemic. One in ten participants [9.4%] reported increased smoking. Increased smoking [AOR 8.66, 95% CIs 1.08–69.1,], increased alcohol drinking [AOR 2.39, 95% CIs 1.05–5.47] and higher levels of fear of COVID-19 [AOR 2.93, 95% CIs 1.83–4.67] were associated with moderate to very high levels of psychological distress. Being female [AOR 1.82, p = 0.030], having a pre-existing mental health condition [AOR 9.88, 95% p = 0.027], engaging in high-risk behaviors such as increased smoking [AOR 21.14, p = 0.003], increased alcohol drinking [AOR 1.48, p = 0.359] in the previous four weeks, and higher levels of fear of COVID-19 [AOR 4.18, p <0.001] were associated with moderate to very high levels of psychological distress. Also, being a smoker [AOR, 0.840, p = 0.011], and having a high level of fear [AOR 0.372, p = 0.001] were found to be associated with low resilient coping. Conclusion Community members in the UAE are at a higher risk of psychosocial distress and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, healthcare providers and policymakers would need to be more alert to provide specific mental health support strategies for their wellbeing.

CITATION EXPORT

Rania Al Dweik, Muhammad Aziz Rahman, Fathima Mohammed Ahamed et al.. COVID-19: Psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across the United Arab Emirates. PLOS ONE. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282479

AUTHORS

8 · 8 CENTRES

Rania Al Dweik, Muhammad Aziz Rahman, Fathima Mohammed Ahamed, Heba Ramada, Yousef Al Sheble, Sondos ElTaher, Wendy Cross, Deena Elsori

1College of Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Federation University Australia, Berwick, VIC, Australia
3Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia
4Al Ain Fertility Center, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
5School of Dentistry, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
6Epidemiology Department, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
7Faculty of Resilience, Rabdan Academy, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
8School of Health Binawan: Universitas Binawan, INDONESIA