Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Symptoms in a Population Sample in The Initial Stage of The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Outbreak

Abstract

Context: Changes in everyday life have been rapid and drastic, with the virus surge outbreaks, the death rate escalating, and stringent steps to control the disease spread increasing across regions of the world. While significant attention has been paid to efforts to diagnose people with the coronavirus infection, recognizing the mental health needs of people affected by this pandemic has been ignored relatively. The psychological impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and lockdown measures on the Egyptian population are unknown.

Aim: This study assesses levels of stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms in a population sample in the initial stage of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) outbreak and explores its related potential risk factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional design used to conduct the study on a convenience sample of 1010 subjects residing at Benha City, Qalyubiyah Governorate, Egypt. The tool utilized in this study consists of two parts:  Self-administered questionnaire, which was designed to assess people's socio-demographic and family data, and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS) that measure the symptoms of the emotional state of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Results: The result reveals a mean of total stress scale as 15.44±3.62, mean of total anxiety scale as 13.56±3.74, and mean of total depression scale as 12.41±3.86. There was a high statistically significant positive correlation between anxiety, stress, and depression at p-value <0.01.

Conclusion: This study concluded that more than two-thirds of the studied population suffered from a moderate level of stress, less than two-thirds of the studied population suffered from moderate anxiety, while around one-tenth of them were normal, and more than one-third of the studied population suffered from a moderate level of depression, while one-fifth of them were normal. The current result revealed that age (year), marital status, having children, educational level, income, and occupation were predictors of stress, anxiety, and depression. The study suggested the need for additional research on predictive factors affecting people's stress in the era of COVID-19 outbreak and carried out psychological intervention activities through various mediums to help people become more resilient during the COVID-19 epidemic.