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.
Highlights
IntroductionPotential excessive effects of the pandemic are often overlooked, especially when it comes to the psychological impact, which can be more pronounced and lasts longer than the purely somatic effects of the disease [1]
Counterparts who did not have a family member diagnosed with COVID-19 (OR = 7, confidence interval (CI) = 3.7–13.3)
The average score of the participants’ responses on the Impact of Event Scale—Revised (IES-R) questionnaire was 22.5, representing an upper–normal stressful impact. This constitutes an alarming sign, especially after the significant resurgence and spread of COVID-19 in September 2020, which may lead to an increase in psychological problems among Jordanians
Summary
Potential excessive effects of the pandemic are often overlooked, especially when it comes to the psychological impact, which can be more pronounced and lasts longer than the purely somatic effects of the disease [1] Are these psychological effects significant in their ability to trigger mental health disorders such as anxiety, mood disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but they play a role in Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic the adherence to public health measures, such as vaccination and social distancing, and can result in socially disruptive behaviors such as civil unrest [2]. It has been claimed that certain subsets of the population might be vulnerable to the mental health impact of COVID-19, including healthcare workers [6], refugees [7], and older adults [8]
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