Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic Among the General Population in Jordan

Abstract

Objective: Pandemics are claimed to result in certain stressors. However, the potential psychological impact of a pandemic is often overlooked. The current study aimed to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Jordanians and to evaluate the influence of the socio-demographic variables on this impact.Method: The current study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design using the Impact of Event Scale—Revised (IES-R) via a web-based questionnaire. The researchers utilized convenience sampling which led to a total of 2,854 participants from the 12 governorates of Jordan.Results: The average score of the participants' responses on the IES-R questionnaire turned out to be 22.5 ± 11.7. Females were found to have more than double the odds of having an increased IES-R score [odds ratio (OR) = 2.2, confidence interval (CI) = 1.76–2.67] and participants who were older than 65 years had triple the odds of having the same risk compared to young adults aged 18–25 years (OR = 3.1, CI = 1.3–7.4). Significantly, having a family member diagnosed with COVID-19 placed individuals at a 7-fold higher risk of having an increased IRS-R score compared to their counterparts who did not have a family member diagnosed with COVID-19 (OR = 7, CI = 3.7–13.3).Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has imposed significant level of psychological burden on Jordanians, especially among females. Governments should collaborate with psychiatrists, mental health professionals and local institutions to offer high-quality, timely crisis-oriented psychological services to the affected individuals for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Experiences of Nurses and Physicians Caring for COVID-19 Patients: Findings from an Exploratory Phenomenological Study in a High Case-Load Country

“…Consequently, this led to the overwhelming of both the healthcare system and the health workforce. Besides, the pandemic existence in the country has imposed significant psychosocial and health impacts on HCWs and various components of the society as well [4,12,[21][22][23][24][25][26]. In addition, various changes have affected health services delivery in response to the repercussions of the pandemic and its mitigation measures in Jordan, and this may exhibit unprecedented effects on the HCWs [12,27,28].…”

Prevalence of Symptoms of Anxiety Among Residents of Kabul During Pandemic of COVID-19: A Report from Capital of Afghanistan

“…Likewise, a recently published study in China did not report any significant association between the prevalence of anxiety symptoms and different occupational groups. 22 However, a study conducted in Jordan reported higher anxiety scores in older age, 26 whereas, studies conducted in Iran 13 and China 22 reported that younger people tend to experience anxiety symptoms more than older participants.…”

Attitudes and Commitment Toward Precautionary Measures Against COVID-19 Amongst the Jordanian Population: A Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Survey

“…The reasons behind males' vulnerability for worse outcomes might include immune-suppressive effects of testosterone, higher smoking rates, and higher rates of respiratory tract infections among males ( 31 ). Nevertheless, psychological distress and anxiety were reported to be higher among Jordanian females during the pandemic crisis ( 17 , 32 ), and this may play a vital role in the vulnerability of females to contract COVID-19 infection, considering the proven link between psychological stressors and their negative impact on immune system's defense mechanisms against viral infections ( 33 ).…”

“…This social adjacency of Jordanians, along with the flattened epidemic curve, encouraged authorities to alleviate lockdown measures and encouraged people to adopt less strict preventive measures. As a result of this alleviation, Jordan changed from a role model in combating the pandemic to one of the most impacted countries with a severe physical and psychological burden (16)(17)(18). According to Jordan's MoH data, more than 803 351 cases were confirmed across the country as of 07 September 2021 (19).…”