Page 119 - GHES-2-2

Global Health Econ Sustain

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
COVID-19: Sociodemographic determinants of

selected mental health problems among adults
in South-South Nigeria

Owoisinke Effiong Okon 1,2 , Margaret Inemesit Akpan 1 , and
3
Victor Bassey Archibong *
1 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar,
Cross River State, Nigeria
2 Department of Public Health, School of Applied and Health Sciences, Nexus International University,
Kampala, Uganda
3 Department of Human Anatomy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda,
Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract
During the outbreak of highly infectious COVID-19, the Nigerian Ministry of
Health primarily emphasized preventive strategies such as personal hygiene,
social distancing, and self-isolation. However, there was a notable lack of
Academic editor:
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE information addressing mental well-being and coping mechanisms from both
the Nigerian government and other relevant agencies. Notably, social distancing
*Corresponding author:
Victor Bassey Archibong and self-isolation are well-documented triggers for mental health problems.
(v.bassey@ur.ac.rw) Our study aimed to identify the socio-demographic correlates of mental health
problems among adults in South-South Nigeria during the COVID-19 lockdown
Citation: Okon, O.E., Akpan, M.I., &
Archibong, V.B. (2024). COVID-19: restrictions. This cross-sectional descriptive survey involved 1240 respondents
Sociodemographic determinants of from this region who completed online questionnaires designed using the Kobo
selected mental health problems Toolbox. The questionnaire covered sociodemographic information and included
among adults in South-South
Nigeria. Global Health Econ standardized assessments for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), anger disorder,
Sustain, 2(2): 2551. and depression disorder. Specifically, the GAD-7 assessed GAD, Spielberger’s
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2551 State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 assessed anger disorder, and the beck
Received: December 27, 2023 depression inventory assessed depression disorder. Our results revealed that
Accepted: March 1, 2024 37% of respondents experienced mild depression, 29% reported mild anxiety,
and 27% experienced minimal anger. Significant associations were found
Published Online: May 29, 2024 between depression and factors such as marital status, age, and education level
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). (p < 0.001). Similarly, anger expression was significantly associated with family
This is an Open-Access article size, monthly income, age, and marital status (p < 0.001). Anxiety also exhibited
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution significant associations with sociodemographic characteristics (p < 0.001) in the
License, permitting distribution, study. In conclusion, our study highlights that sex, educational level, income, and
and reproduction in any medium, marital status are important sociodemographic determinants of mental health
provided the original work is
properly cited. outcomes.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with Keywords: COVID-19; Anxiety; Depression; Anger; Economic impact; Sociodemographic;
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional South-South Nigeria
affiliations.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2551