Previously submitted to: JMIR Formative Research (no longer under consideration since Sep 03, 2020)
Date Submitted: Sep 2, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The impact of confinement and other stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic on depression and anxiety in the Lebanese context: an online cross-sectional survey
ABSTRACT
Background:
Confinement measures were taken since February 2020 in Lebanon, a country already going through a socio-economic crisis, to fight the new coronavirus pandemic.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychological impact of the confinement in this country.
Methods:
A cross-sectional, online survey, was conducted during the confinement period in order to assess depression and anxiety symptoms as well as eating and substance use disorders using self-rating scales (the DASS-21, SCOFF and CAGE-AID respectively), while identifying factors that might affect those outcomes.
Results:
Overall, 1133 participants completed the questionnaire. The DASS-21 score was positively correlated with the impact of confinement on participants’ lifestyle and confinement duration (Spearman’s rho= 0.424; p<0.001). A highest effect on DASS-21 score was related to the intensity of other stressful life events that have happened during the last 3 months (Spearman’s rho= 0.506; p<0.001). Linear regression analysis also showed that age, monthly income, professional status, the SCOFF and CAGE-AID scores, the intensity of the confinement’s impact on lifestyle and having been through other stressful life events unrelated to the confinement per se, were risk factors affecting significantly the DASS-21 score.
Conclusions:
Confinement in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lebanon, as well as other stressful life event that have happened during the last 3 months, were associated with higher depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Clinical Trial: LBCTR2020043459
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