Page 105 - IJPS-10-3

International Journal of

Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Gender differences in mental health outcomes

amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a
collapsing economy: A Lebanese cross-sectional

study

Aline Hajj 1,2,3† , Carla Abou Selwan 1,4† , Danielle A. Badro 1,5,6 , Hala Sacre ,
1
Randa Aoun , Chadia Haddad 1,7,8,9 *, and Pascale Salameh 1,7,10,11
1
1 INSPECT-LB (National Institute of Public Health, Clinical Epidemiology, and Toxicology), Beirut,
Lebanon
2 Faculty of Pharmacy, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
3 Oncology Division, CHU de Québec- Université Laval Research Center, Quebec City, Quebec,
Canada
4 Science PRO, Medical Communication Company, Jal el Dib, Lebanon
5 Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Science and Technology, Beirut, Lebanon
6 College of Healthcare Technologies, American University of Iraq Baghdad (AUIB), Airport Road,
Baghdad, Iraq
7 School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon
8 Research Department, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Jal Eddib, Lebanon
† These authors contributed equally
to this work. 9 School of Health Sciences, Modern University for Business and Science, Beirut, Lebanon
10 Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University of Nicosia Medical School, 2417,
*Corresponding author:
Chadia Haddad Nicosia, Cyprus
(chadia.haddad@inspect-lb.org) 11 Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Hadat, Lebanon
Citation: Hajj, A., Abou Selwan, C.,
Badro, D.A., Sacre, H., Aoun, R.,
Haddad, C. et al. (2024). Gender
differences in mental health Abstract
outcomes amid the COVID-19
pandemic and a collapsing
economy: A Lebanese cross- Response plans to control the transmission of the severe acute respiratory
sectional study. International syndrome coronavirus 2 that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Journal of Population Studies, overlooked the repercussions of the combined economic and public health crisis
10(3): 99-113.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1985 among the most vulnerable populations, including women and people who
have experienced abuse. This paper primarily aimed to assess the effects of the
Received: October 9, 2023
COVID-19 pandemic and economy-related variables on Lebanese adults’ mental
Accepted: December 5, 2023 health, focusing on gender differences. A cross-sectional study was conducted in
Published Online: February 20, 2024 May 2020 using an online survey with validated scales created on Google Forms.
A total of 502 adults living in Lebanon with access to the internet were enrolled
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article in the study, irrespective of age, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, nationality,
distributed under the terms of the sex, gender identity, religion, location, education, and culture (n = 502). The
Creative Commons Attribution multivariate analysis, adjusted on sociodemographic characteristics, economic,
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, and coronavirus-related variables, showed that women exhibited higher distress,
provided the original work is anxiety, and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) levels than men. Moreover,
properly cited. violence at home was associated with more distress and insomnia, with borderline
Publisher’s Note: AccScience results for anxiety and well-being. No significant difference was found for PTSSs.
Publishing remains neutral with In the context of combined health and economic crises, mental health outcomes
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional are not equally felt across genders. Additional studies in a few months would help
affiliations. better understand the long-term impact, especially on PTSS and quality of life,

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 99 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1985