COVID-19 Quarantine-Related Mental Health Symptoms and their Correlates among Mothers: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background One of the strictest quarantines worldwide to limit the spread of coronavirus was enforced in Jordan during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives This study investigated reported mental health and changes in lifestyle practices among Jordanian mothers during COVID-19 quarantine. The specific objectives included studying the level of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms and their potential statistical associations with demographic and lifestyle variables. Furthermore, the study aimed to investigate differences in mental health between different demographic and socio-economic groups and to examine the major lifestyle changes that occurred on mothers during the quarantine. Methods An online survey was developed and administered to 2103 mothers. Participants were asked to complete a sociodemographic data form, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and a lifestyle section comparing the life of mothers before and during the quarantine. Reported scores of depression, anxiety, and stress were calculated and compared across different levels of demographics including income, education level, employment status, and city of residence. Results This study found that mothers with lower income, lower education, not employed, or living in cities outside the capital of Jordan reported having more depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms ( p < .005). Changes in their lifestyle practices included weight gain, increased time allocated for teaching children at home, increased familial violence at home, and increased time allocated for caring for their family members (average increase of 5 hours daily). Conclusions for Practice The unprecedented times of quarantine have put mothers in unprecedented reported mental health problems. Providing psychological support to this group might be a priority.

Systematic review of the effects of pandemic confinements on body weight and their determinants

“…There was a higher weight gain among participants who self-reported stress (26,45,55,56,58,61,62) , anxiety and depression (23,52,58,61,62) . Weight loss was observed in 11.1%-32.0% of participants (21,25,33,35,37,40,51,52,55,60,65,68) .…”

“…We excluded 10 studies based on a quality assessment of the results, and 27 studies were excluded based on reasons presented in the PRISMA flow diagram (Figure 1). The range of observations covered dietary choices (14,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(33)(34)(35)(36)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47) , lifestyle changes in children (24,36,(48)(49)(50)(51) , physical activity levels (33)(34)(35)37,38,(38)(39)(40)(41)43,46,47,49,52,53,(53)(54)(55)(56)(57)(58)(59)(60) , psychosocial factors (22,23,26,38,44,<...>…”

“…Two studies were from preprints and were included after assessing their qualities individually (22,52) . The included studies had the following countries of origin: Brazil (59) , China (40,57) , Croatia (51,64) , France (47,52,56) , Jordan (58) , India (48,55) , Iraq (61) , Italy (21,23,24,35,36,45,45,53) , Korea (50) , Lithuania (39) , Netherlands (60) , Poland (25,42,51) , Spain (44,46,63) , Turkey (43,49,65,66) , United Arab Emirates (33) , United Kingdom (54) and the United States of America (26,38,41,67) . Furthermore, multi-regional studies conducted intercontinentally (22) , among eighteen countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (34) , and Paraguay and Italian based multinational research (62) are included in our analysis.…”

“…In our study, 7.2%-72.4% of all participants including both adults and children , experienced an increase in body weight during the confinement periods (21,23,25,26,33,(35)(36)(37)(39)(40)(41)43,44,(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(49)(50)(51)(52)55,57,(57)(58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(64)(65)(66)(67)(68) ( Figure 2). The mean weight gain ranged from 0.6 (±1.3) to 3.0 (±2.4) kg.…”

“…Appetite was modified either negatively or positively and was associated with employment change ,suspension or working from home (21,52,53,58) , or due to suspension of school attendance (24,(48)(49)(50) .…”