Background Promoting mental health and wellness is crucial for healthy communities. This study aims to assess the vulnerability of experiencing psychological reactions such as depression, anxiety, and stress within the general population in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 754 participants recruited from thirteen regions of Saudi Arabia. The information on background variables was obtained by using a set of close-ended questions. The DASS-21, a screening tool was used to assess the risk of depression, anxiety, and stress. Pie-chart displayed the levels of risk to experience psychological reactions. The Chi-square test and Adjusted Odd Ratios (AOR) reported the risk factors associated with experiencing psychological reactions in the study population. Results The vulnerability to mild to extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety and depression were (36.5%), (34.9%), and (43.5%), respectively. Findings demonstrated that females were at higher risk to experience anxiety (AOR = 1.56; 95% CI 1.11–2.18) and stress (AOR = 1.48; 95% CI 1.10–2.10) as compared to males. Unmarried individuals had higher vulnerability for anxiety (AOR = 1.60; 95% CI 1.04–2.44) and depression (AOR = 1.55; 95% CI 1.02–2.37) as compared to married individuals. Those who lost their job during the pandemic had a higher risk to experience anxiety (AOR = 2.02; 95% CI 1.10–3.74) and depression (AOR = 2.01: 95% CI 1.09–3.87) as compared to those who remain employed. Diagnosis with COVID-19 was associated with anxiety (AOR = 2.40; 95% CI 1.27–4.52) and stress (AOR = 2. 0; 95% CI 1.10–3.69). Participants with chronic medical conditions were almost twice at risk to experience stress (AOR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.38–2.87) depression (AOR = 2.14; 95% CI 1.53–2.99) and anxiety (AOR = 2.59; 95% CI 1.78–3.78) as compared to those without such conditions. Conclusions Findings imply the allocation of adequate psychological resources to prevent long-term psychological repercussions in at-risk populations such as females, unmarried individuals, those who lost their jobs, diagnosed with COVID-19 and those with chronic medical conditions.

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress and anxiety were pervasive among the masses due to high morbidity and mortality. Besides the fear of coronavirus was also particularly driven by social media. Many people started to look for faith and spiritual connections to gain comfort. The role of spiritual ties and religious beliefs in relation to coping with pandemic stress has acquired the attention of researchers in some parts of the world. This cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the intensity of stress and anxiety symptoms experienced by people and how much they were alleviated by employing spiritual connections. The study sample comprises 795 respondents with 52% males and 48% females living in Saudi Arabia. The brief online study questionnaire collected data about background variables, anxiety and stress scale from DASS-21, and items from the WHOQOL (SRBP) instrument assessed the use of spiritual beliefs to cope. Multiple regression models were tested to determine the role of spiritual connections after adjusting demographic variables. Results illustrated that after adjusting for gender and age, participants’ anxiety symptoms decreased by (β = −0.27; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in the use of spiritual connections, and participants’ stress symptoms reduce by (β = −0.36; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in coping with spirituality. Additionally, females’ risk to experience anxiety and stress symptoms was more than males [(β = 0.88; p = 0.01) and (β = 0.92; p = 0.000)], respectively. An increase in age decreases the likelihood of experiencing anxiety symptoms and stress symptoms by (β = −0.75; p = 0.02) and (β = −0.11; p = 0.000) units, respectively. Findings support the protective role of spiritual connections despite small beta coefficients. The social and cultural context in Saudi Arabia favors deep-rooted connections with spirituality and faith. Our findings support the fact that the reliance on spiritual connections helped older people to deal with exaggerated fear during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduces the risk of experiencing anxiety and stress symptoms. Females and younger participants were relatively vulnerable to developing these symptoms. We discussed these findings considering some recent studies that reported similar relationships and made recommendations for future research.