Document Type
Article
Source of Publication
Frontiers in Psychiatry
Publication Date
11-10-2020
Abstract
© Copyright © 2020 Thomas, Barbato, Verlinden, Gaspar, Moussa, Ghorayeb, Menon, Figueiras, Arora and Bentall. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health is likely to be significant. Identifying vulnerable groups during the pandemic is essential for targeting psychological support, and in preparation for any second wave or future pandemic. Vulnerable groups are likely to vary across different societies; therefore, research needs to be conducted at a national and international level. This online survey explored generalized anxiety and depression symptoms in a community sample of adults (N = 1,039) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between April 8th and April 22nd, 2020. Respondents completed symptom measures of depression (PHQ8) and generalized anxiety (GAD7), along with psychosocial and demographic variables that might potentially influence such symptoms. Bivariate and multivariate associations were calculated for the main study variables. Levels of anxiety and depression were notably higher than those reported in previous (pre-pandemic) national studies. Similar variables were statistically significantly associated with both depression and anxiety, most notably younger age, being female, having a history of mental health problems, self or loved ones testing positive for COVID-19, and having high levels of COVID-related anxiety and economic threat. Sections of the UAE population experienced relatively high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms during the early stages of the pandemic. Several COVID-related and psychosocial variables were associated with heightened symptomatology. Identifying such vulnerable groups can help inform the public mental health response to the current and future pandemics.
DOI Link
ISSN
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Volume
11
First Page
564172
Last Page
564172
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Keywords
anxiety, Arab, COVID-19, depression, pandemic, UAE
Scopus ID
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Justin; Barbato, Mariapaola; Verlinden, Marina; Gaspar, Carl; Moussa, Mona; Ghorayeb, Jihane; Menon, Aaina; Figueiras, Maria J.; Arora, Teresa; and Bentall, Richard P., "Psychosocial Correlates of Depression and Anxiety in the United Arab Emirates During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2020). All Works. 2844.
https://zuscholars.zu.ac.ae/works/2844
Indexed in Scopus
yes
Open Access
yes
Open Access Type
Gold: This publication is openly available in an open access journal/series