Thomas Justin, Barbato Mariapaola, Verlinden Marina, Gaspar Carl, Moussa Mona, Ghorayeb Jihane, Menon Aaina, Figueiras Maria J, Arora Teresa, Bentall Richard P
Department of Psychology, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Department of Psychology, College of Natural and Health Sciences, Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Front Psychiatry. 2020 Nov 10;11:564172. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.564172. eCollection 2020.
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 ( = 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.
新冠疫情对心理健康的影响可能很大。在疫情期间确定弱势群体对于提供心理支持以及为应对第二波疫情或未来疫情做准备至关重要。弱势群体在不同社会中可能有所不同；因此，需要在国家和国际层面开展研究。这项在线调查于2020年4月8日至4月22日期间，对阿联酋一个社区样本中的1039名成年人的广泛性焦虑和抑郁症状进行了探究。受访者完成了抑郁症状测量（PHQ8）和广泛性焦虑症状测量（GAD7），以及可能潜在影响此类症状的社会心理和人口统计学变量的测量。对主要研究变量进行了双变量和多变量关联计算。焦虑和抑郁水平明显高于之前（疫情前）全国性研究报告的水平。相似的变量在统计学上与抑郁和焦虑均显著相关，最显著的是年龄较小、女性、有心理健康问题史、自己或亲人新冠病毒检测呈阳性，以及有高水平的新冠相关焦虑和经济威胁。在疫情初期，阿联酋部分人群经历了相对较高水平的抑郁和焦虑症状。几个与新冠相关的和社会心理变量与症状加重有关。确定此类弱势群体有助于为当前及未来疫情的公共心理健康应对提供信息。
