COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health

Aymen Elsous; Amira Shaheen; Hedia Teraoui; Shahenaz Najjar; Suha Baloushah; Kahina Mekious; Mahmoud Radwan; Mohammad Abu Rayya

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health

Aymen Elsous, Amira Shaheen, Hedia Teraoui, Shahenaz Najjar, Suha Baloushah, Kahina Mekious, Mahmoud Radwan, Mohammad Abu Rayya

Published in International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 6)

Received: 18 November 2020 Accepted: 30 November 2020 Published: 11 December 2020

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Abstract

The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was recognized as pandemic and posed a risk on populations' mental health status. This study aimed to examine anxiety experience, attitudes and perceived mental health care needs of Arabs populations under COVID-19 pandemic. Online cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from Palestinians and Tunisians using a self-reported questionnaire and following non-probability snow ball sampling approach. Descriptive and univariate analyses were applied. Eight hundred fifteen subjects responded, of which 534 from Palestine and 281 from Tunisia and mean age (SD) was 34.07 (11.36) and 27.94 (9.30), respectively. Palestinians and Tunisians showed positive attitudes toward COVID-19 with mean (SD) 4.28 (.47) and 4.17 (.45), respectively. Mean (SD) anxiety score was 2.94 (.67) and 3.30 (.69) in participants from Palestine and Tunisia, respectively and severe anxiety was reported in 6.7% and 16% among Palestinians and Tunisians, respectively. Both Palestinians and Tunisians agreed on the importance of seeking and receiving aid from mental health professionals to combat COVID-19. Attitudes improved with increased education and females showed to have better attitudes and much anxiety than males. Addressing mental health issues is necessary for population under the pandemic of COVID-19 to minimize anxiety level and ensure better mental health status.

Published in	International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11
Page(s)	83-91
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Novel Coronavirus, Attitudes, Anxiety, Mental Health, Palestine, Tunisia

References

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APA Style

Aymen Elsous, Amira Shaheen, Hedia Teraoui, Shahenaz Najjar, Suha Baloushah, et al. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health. International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 5(6), 83-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

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ACS Style

Aymen Elsous; Amira Shaheen; Hedia Teraoui; Shahenaz Najjar; Suha Baloushah, et al. COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health. Int. J. Psychol. Brain Sci. 2020, 5(6), 83-91. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

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AMA Style

Aymen Elsous, Amira Shaheen, Hedia Teraoui, Shahenaz Najjar, Suha Baloushah, et al. COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health. Int J Psychol Brain Sci. 2020;5(6):83-91. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11,
  author = {Aymen Elsous and Amira Shaheen and Hedia Teraoui and Shahenaz Najjar and Suha Baloushah and Kahina Mekious and Mahmoud Radwan and Mohammad Abu Rayya},
  title = {COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health},
  journal = {International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {83-91},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijpbs.20200506.11},
  abstract = {The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was recognized as pandemic and posed a risk on populations' mental health status. This study aimed to examine anxiety experience, attitudes and perceived mental health care needs of Arabs populations under COVID-19 pandemic. Online cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from Palestinians and Tunisians using a self-reported questionnaire and following non-probability snow ball sampling approach. Descriptive and univariate analyses were applied. Eight hundred fifteen subjects responded, of which 534 from Palestine and 281 from Tunisia and mean age (SD) was 34.07 (11.36) and 27.94 (9.30), respectively. Palestinians and Tunisians showed positive attitudes toward COVID-19 with mean (SD) 4.28 (.47) and 4.17 (.45), respectively. Mean (SD) anxiety score was 2.94 (.67) and 3.30 (.69) in participants from Palestine and Tunisia, respectively and severe anxiety was reported in 6.7% and 16% among Palestinians and Tunisians, respectively. Both Palestinians and Tunisians agreed on the importance of seeking and receiving aid from mental health professionals to combat COVID-19. Attitudes improved with increased education and females showed to have better attitudes and much anxiety than males. Addressing mental health issues is necessary for population under the pandemic of COVID-19 to minimize anxiety level and ensure better mental health status.},
 year = {2020}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health
AU  - Aymen Elsous
AU  - Amira Shaheen
AU  - Hedia Teraoui
AU  - Shahenaz Najjar
AU  - Suha Baloushah
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AU  - Mahmoud Radwan
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11
T2  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
JF  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
JO  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
SP  - 83
EP  - 91
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1573
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11
AB  - The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was recognized as pandemic and posed a risk on populations' mental health status. This study aimed to examine anxiety experience, attitudes and perceived mental health care needs of Arabs populations under COVID-19 pandemic. Online cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from Palestinians and Tunisians using a self-reported questionnaire and following non-probability snow ball sampling approach. Descriptive and univariate analyses were applied. Eight hundred fifteen subjects responded, of which 534 from Palestine and 281 from Tunisia and mean age (SD) was 34.07 (11.36) and 27.94 (9.30), respectively. Palestinians and Tunisians showed positive attitudes toward COVID-19 with mean (SD) 4.28 (.47) and 4.17 (.45), respectively. Mean (SD) anxiety score was 2.94 (.67) and 3.30 (.69) in participants from Palestine and Tunisia, respectively and severe anxiety was reported in 6.7% and 16% among Palestinians and Tunisians, respectively. Both Palestinians and Tunisians agreed on the importance of seeking and receiving aid from mental health professionals to combat COVID-19. Attitudes improved with increased education and females showed to have better attitudes and much anxiety than males. Addressing mental health issues is necessary for population under the pandemic of COVID-19 to minimize anxiety level and ensure better mental health status.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Aymen Elsous

Faculty of Medical Sciences, Israa University, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Amira Shaheen

Public Health Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine
Hedia Teraoui

Research Laboratory of Risk Management and Research in Accounting and Finance, High Business School, University of Manouba, Manouba, Tunisia
Shahenaz Najjar

Faculty of Graduate Studies, Arab American University, Ramallah, Palestine
Suha Baloushah

Reproductive Health Department, Nursing and Midwifery School, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Kahina Mekious

Yazouren Said Secondary School, Azazga, Tizi Ouzou, Algeria
Mahmoud Radwan

International Cooperation Directorate, Ministry of Health, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Mohammad Abu Rayya

Expert Modernity Consulting and Community Development, Gaza Strip, Palestine

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APA Style

Aymen Elsous, Amira Shaheen, Hedia Teraoui, Shahenaz Najjar, Suha Baloushah, et al. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health. International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 5(6), 83-91. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

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ACS Style

Aymen Elsous; Amira Shaheen; Hedia Teraoui; Shahenaz Najjar; Suha Baloushah, et al. COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health. Int. J. Psychol. Brain Sci. 2020, 5(6), 83-91. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

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AMA Style

Aymen Elsous, Amira Shaheen, Hedia Teraoui, Shahenaz Najjar, Suha Baloushah, et al. COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health. Int J Psychol Brain Sci. 2020;5(6):83-91. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11,
  author = {Aymen Elsous and Amira Shaheen and Hedia Teraoui and Shahenaz Najjar and Suha Baloushah and Kahina Mekious and Mahmoud Radwan and Mohammad Abu Rayya},
  title = {COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health},
  journal = {International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {83-91},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijpbs.20200506.11},
  abstract = {The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was recognized as pandemic and posed a risk on populations' mental health status. This study aimed to examine anxiety experience, attitudes and perceived mental health care needs of Arabs populations under COVID-19 pandemic. Online cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from Palestinians and Tunisians using a self-reported questionnaire and following non-probability snow ball sampling approach. Descriptive and univariate analyses were applied. Eight hundred fifteen subjects responded, of which 534 from Palestine and 281 from Tunisia and mean age (SD) was 34.07 (11.36) and 27.94 (9.30), respectively. Palestinians and Tunisians showed positive attitudes toward COVID-19 with mean (SD) 4.28 (.47) and 4.17 (.45), respectively. Mean (SD) anxiety score was 2.94 (.67) and 3.30 (.69) in participants from Palestine and Tunisia, respectively and severe anxiety was reported in 6.7% and 16% among Palestinians and Tunisians, respectively. Both Palestinians and Tunisians agreed on the importance of seeking and receiving aid from mental health professionals to combat COVID-19. Attitudes improved with increased education and females showed to have better attitudes and much anxiety than males. Addressing mental health issues is necessary for population under the pandemic of COVID-19 to minimize anxiety level and ensure better mental health status.},
 year = {2020}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Population Mental Health
AU  - Aymen Elsous
AU  - Amira Shaheen
AU  - Hedia Teraoui
AU  - Shahenaz Najjar
AU  - Suha Baloushah
AU  - Kahina Mekious
AU  - Mahmoud Radwan
AU  - Mohammad Abu Rayya
Y1  - 2020/12/11
PY  - 2020
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11
T2  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
JF  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
JO  - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences
SP  - 83
EP  - 91
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2575-1573
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20200506.11
AB  - The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) was recognized as pandemic and posed a risk on populations' mental health status. This study aimed to examine anxiety experience, attitudes and perceived mental health care needs of Arabs populations under COVID-19 pandemic. Online cross-sectional study was employed to collect data from Palestinians and Tunisians using a self-reported questionnaire and following non-probability snow ball sampling approach. Descriptive and univariate analyses were applied. Eight hundred fifteen subjects responded, of which 534 from Palestine and 281 from Tunisia and mean age (SD) was 34.07 (11.36) and 27.94 (9.30), respectively. Palestinians and Tunisians showed positive attitudes toward COVID-19 with mean (SD) 4.28 (.47) and 4.17 (.45), respectively. Mean (SD) anxiety score was 2.94 (.67) and 3.30 (.69) in participants from Palestine and Tunisia, respectively and severe anxiety was reported in 6.7% and 16% among Palestinians and Tunisians, respectively. Both Palestinians and Tunisians agreed on the importance of seeking and receiving aid from mental health professionals to combat COVID-19. Attitudes improved with increased education and females showed to have better attitudes and much anxiety than males. Addressing mental health issues is necessary for population under the pandemic of COVID-19 to minimize anxiety level and ensure better mental health status.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

Copy | Download