Table 3.
Comparison of demographic variables and rating scales scores among subjects grouped based on the responses to the question of “now, is COVID-19 more stressful than an explosion to you?” (N = 406).
| Variables | More stressful to COVID-19 (N = 216) | Neutral (N = 95) | More stressful to explosion (N = 95) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex (female) | 177 (81.9%) | 73 (76.8%) | 83 (87.4%) | 0.168 |
| Age | 29.3 ± 11.7 | 29.9 ± 14.6 | 28.5 ± 11.9 | 0.739 |
| Marital status (single) | 123 (51.3%) | 59 (64.1%) | 58 (63.7%) | 0.657 |
| Questions on COVID-19 and the Beirut explosion | ||||
| Did you experience being quarantined due to infection with COVID-19? (Yes) | 123 (56.9%) | 38 (40.0%) | 57 (60.0%) | 0.008** |
| Did you experience being infected with COVID-19? (Yes) | 83 (38.4%) | 26 (27.4%) | 40 (42.1%) | 0.081 |
| Did you experience being physically damaged by the Beirut explosion? (Yes) | 1 (0.5%) | 1 (1.1%) | 3 (3.2%) | – |
| Psychiatric history | ||||
| Have you had experience of or were you treated for depression, anxiety, or insomnia? (Yes) | 65 (30.1%) | 24 (25.3%) | 36 (37.9%) | 0.160 |
| At the moment, do you think you are depressed or anxious, or do you need help for your mood state? (Yes) | 127 (58.8%) | 42 (44.2%) | 56 (58.9%) | 0.043** |
| Risk perception | ||||
| Do you think that you are at higher risk of infection than others? (Agree*) | 49 (22.7%) | 19 (20.0%) | 14 (14.7%) | 0.224 |
| Do you think that you are at higher risk of being physically injured by another explosion than others? (Agree*) | 35 (16.2%) | 8 (8.4%) | 13 (13.7%) | 0.186 |
| Are you worried that Lebanon will witness another terrorist attack or war in the near future? (Yes) | 187 (86.6%) | 72 (75.8%) | 80 (84.2%) | 0.060 |
| Rating scales | ||||
| Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items | 11.3 ± 5.9 | 9.3 ± 5.4 | 10.4 ± 5.9 | 0.015 † *** |
| PHQ-9 ≥ 10 | 130 (60.2%) | 39 (41.1%) | 47 (49.5%) | 0.006*** |
| Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 items | 12.6 ± 4.4 | 10.7 ± 4.5 | 10.6 ± 4.1 | <0.001**** |
| WHO-5 well-being index | 41.9 ± 24.5 | 49.1 ± 24.6 | 44.9 ± 24.5 | 0.061 |
| Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 2 items | 4.7 ± 1.7 | 5.2 ± 1.5 | 5.1 ± 2.1 | 0.025***** |
| Single item—quality of sleep | 5.2 ± 2.8 | 5.2 ± 2.7 | 4.7 ± 2.7 | 0.319 |
| General Self-Efficacy | 27.1 ± 6.3 | 27.2 ± 6.6 | 27.3 ± 6.2 | 0.975 |
†
Kruskal-Wallis test was done.
*
“Agree” is the responses of “agree” and “strongly agree”.
**
COVID-19 = Beirut explosion > neutral.
***
COVID-19 > neutral.
****
COVID-19 > neutral = Beirut explosion.
*****
COVID-19 < neutral.
Bold value indicates significant level.