During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, people in Qatar-similar to most countries globally-were instructed by health authorities to adopt protective behaviors to avoid infection. One of these behaviors is social distancing, which is influenced by diverse variables. Using data from an online survey with 405 responses, this study performed multiple regression analysis to explore effects of personality, risk perception, and personal hygiene practices on social distancing among residents of Qatar. The results showed that 87.3% of participants reported that they preferred to stay at home and not go outside unless necessary, 60.3% said that they maintain an adequate distance when communicating with others, 68.6% reported that they do not allow relatives and friends to visit them at home, 73.5% believed that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease, and 95.8% reported that they embrace personal hygiene practices and washing hands. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that conscientiousness, neuroticism, risk perception, and personal hygiene practices predicted social distancing, with moderate effect sizes. Gender differences were also found in social distancing practices, indicating that women reported higher engagement in social distancing practices than men. These results highlighted the importance of individual differences in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide important information about the predictors of social distancing practices.

During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the COVIDiSTRESS Consortium launched an open-access global survey to understand and improve individuals’ experiences related to the crisis. A year later, we extended this line of research by launching a new survey to address the dynamic landscape of the pandemic. This survey was released with the goal of addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion by working with over 150 researchers across the globe who collected data in 48 languages and dialects across 137 countries. The resulting cleaned dataset described here includes 15,740 of over 20,000 responses. The dataset allows cross-cultural study of psychological wellbeing and behaviours a year into the pandemic. It includes measures of stress, resilience, vaccine attitudes, trust in government and scientists, compliance, and information acquisition and misperceptions regarding COVID-19. Open-access raw and cleaned datasets with computed scores are available. Just as our initial COVIDiSTRESS dataset has facilitated government policy decisions regarding health crises, this dataset can be used by researchers and policy makers to inform research, decisions, and policy.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, people in Qatar—similar to most countries globally—were instructed by health authorities to adopt protective behaviors to avoid infection. One of these behaviors is social distancing, which is influenced by diverse variables. Using data from an online survey with 405 responses, this study performed multiple regression analysis to explore effects of personality, risk perception, and personal hygiene practices on social distancing among residents of Qatar. The results showed that 87.3% of participants reported that they preferred to stay at home and not go outside unless necessary, 60.3% said that they maintain an adequate distance when communicating with others, 68.6% reported that they do not allow relatives and friends to visit them at home, 73.5% believed that COVID-19 is a dangerous disease, and 95.8% reported that they embrace personal hygiene practices and washing hands. Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that conscientiousness, neuroticism, risk perception, and personal hygiene practices predicted social distancing, with moderate effect sizes. Gender differences were also found in social distancing practices, indicating that women reported higher engagement in social distancing practices than men. These results highlighted the importance of individual differences in reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide important information about the predictors of social distancing practices.

Background: Cognitive impairment should be accurately assessed in the elderly. The presence of a valid Arabic version of the SLUMS Examination would allow better diagnosis of cognitive impairment as it considers different educational levels prevalent in the Egyptian community. Aim: To assess the reliability and validity of the Arabic version of Saint-Louis-University-Mental-Status (SLUMS) Examination for cognitive impairment and to estimate the prevalence of cognitive impairment among community dwelling Egyptian older adults. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in two phases: phase I, during which reliability and validity of the Arabic version of SLUMS Examination was assessed; then phase II, where the prevalence of cognitive impairment among community dwelling Egyptian elders was estimated using the Arabic version of SLUMS Examination. Results: The phase I of the study was conducted on 90 elderly group for testing validity and reliability of the SLUMS tool. A statistically significant agreement was evident between SLUMS Examination and Mini Mental State Examination MMSE (Kappa 0. 826, P <0.001). Sensitivity of SLUMS Examination was 94% (31/33) while Specificity was 96% (55/57). SLUMS Examination was also found to be reliable by test-retest. (McNemar P>0.05, Kappa 0.806 P<0.001). The internal consistency of the Arabic version of SLUMS Examination on the main items of cognitive function showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.723 with a significant item-to-item and item-to-total correlation. The phase II of the study was conducted on 284 elderly. 51.4% of them demonstrated mild neuro-cognitive disorder and 5.6% were demented. Age showed a significant relationship with cognitive function level (P<0.001). Education level, employment and depression showed significant differences between elders with normal cognitive function and the demented (P<0.001, P=0.003 and P <0.001 respectively). Conclusion: The Arabic version of SLUMS-Examination was found to be a valid and reliable screening tool for cognitive impairment in elderly. Almost half of the community dwelling Egyptian elderly showed mild neurocognitive disorder and a minority were demented. Older age, less education, unemployment and evidence of depression were found to be significantly associated with cognitive impairment. The Arabic version of SLUMS-Examination should be included in the routine assessment of cognitive impairment in Egyptian elders.

This study investigated the effects of COVID-19-related social distancing practices on parents and children’s mental health and explored joint parent-child activities and coping strategies among Arab families in Qatar. The sample of 308 parents answered self-reported questionnaires regarding their mental health, coping strategies, activities with their children, social distancing practices, and their children’s mental health. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling were carried out. The results showed a significant positive correlation between social distancing and parents’ activities with their children and their coping strategies, as well as between parents’ mental health, activities with their children, children’s mental health, and parents’ coping strategies. Path analysis showed that social distancing practices influence both parents’ and children’s mental health through parents’ activities with children and their coping strategies. Our findings revealed how living under stressful conditions, such as COVID-19, could enhance the mental health of family members.