Abstract
Background: One of psychological disorders caused by catastrophic life events or severe medical problems is the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among people. Different sociodemographic factors have been associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such research is lacking with COVID-19 especially in the Saudi context.
 Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with PTSD during the outbreak of COVID-19.
 Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenience sample of 92 Saudi citizens, living in Saudi Arabia, and had at least one relative who had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Data were collected using the impact of event scale (IES-R). SPSS was used to run a multiple linear regression analysis.
 Results: The results revealed that participants suffered from a partial PTSD. The regression analysis showed a significant relationship between participants’ characteristics and PTSD. The model explained 13.9% of the variance of PTSD (F [5, 77] = 2.49, R2 =.139, p< .05). Two predictors of gender (p<.01) and level of education (p<.05) were statistically significant to the prediction. Male participants had higher PTSD scores than female participants (beta = -9.19, t = -2.73, p< .01). Also, those caregivers with low level of education had higher PTSD levels (beta = 3.279, t = 2.30, p <.05).
 Conclusion: The current study demonstrated a strong association between participants’ demographic characteristics (namely gender and level of education) and PTSD. A lack of information and the evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak may be important factors in increasing people’s levels of PTSD. Therefore, future research aiming to find appropriate solutions to such issues is recommended.
Highlights
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is increasingly recognized as a serious, worldwide public health concern influencing aspects of daily life [1]
The current study demonstrated a strong association between participants’ demographic characteristics and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Saudi citizens living in one of the 13 regions of Saudi Arabia and lived with at least one relative who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 were eligible to participate in this study
Summary
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is increasingly recognized as a serious, worldwide public health concern influencing aspects of daily life [1]. More than half a million people in the country have been diagnosed with COVID19, according to the daily reports by the Ministry of Health. To confront the unprecedented risk of the spread of COVID-19 and decrease unexpected challenges especially in the economy and health aspects, the Saudi government has suspended or limited the presence of many operations in both public and private agencies. One of psychological disorders caused by catastrophic life events or severe medical problems is the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder among people. Different sociodemographic factors have been associated with the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with PTSD during the outbreak of COVID-19. The regression analysis showed a significant relationship between participants’ characteristics and PTSD. Two predictors of gender (p
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