Page 107 - IJPS-10-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Gender differences in mental health outcomes

the effects of COVID-19 and economy-related variables on (iv) Is there any form of any other type of violence in your
the mental health of Lebanese adults, focusing on gender home?
differences. The secondary objective was to evaluate the The second part of the questionnaire consisted of a set
role of domestic violence in that context. of 20 work-related questions intended for working people
2. Data and methods and those seeking employment. These questions explored
to what extent current jobs were affected by either the
2.1. Study design and sampling economic crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples of
questions: Do you have to go out to make a living despite
This cross-sectional study was conducted between May the sanitary lockdown? Are you able to apply social
10 and 20, 2020, using an online questionnaire created
on Google Forms. Due to the government-mandated distancing while working (1.5 – 2 m safety distance)?
lockdown, participants were recruited by snowball Did your company change the working hours because
of the economic crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic?
sampling. The survey was shared on Facebook, Instagram, Has your salary/income been affected by the economic
and WhatsApp groups. All adults with internet access and crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you worried
living in Lebanon were eligible to participate, regardless of about the long-term impact of the economic crisis or
their age, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, nationality,
sex, gender identity, religion, location, education, and the COVID-19 pandemic on your business/job? Did the
culture. A total of 502 respondents completed the 20-min economic crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic result in a
decrease in the salaries of employees? Did the economic
questionnaire.
crisis or the COVID-19 pandemic cause the dismissal of
2.2. Sample size calculation some employees? What were the criteria used to lay off
employees? The fear of poverty was assessed using a one-
The minimum sample size was calculated using the item scale rated from 0 (I have no fear of my own poverty)
G-Power software, version 3.0.10. The calculated effect to 10 (I have a great fear of my own poverty) (Kacmarova
size was 0.0526, expecting a squared multiple correlation & Babincak, 2019).
of 0.05 (R deviation from 0) related to the omnibus test of
2
multiple regression. The minimum necessary sample was Finally, the third part of the questionnaire included
n = 454, considering an alpha error of 5%, a power of 80%, several validated scales:
and allowing for 25 predictors to be included in the model.
2.3.1. The fear of COVID-19 scale
2.3. Questionnaire This seven-item tool measures the extent of fear of
The online questionnaire was available in Arabic, the COVID-19 in adults (Ahorsu et al., 2020). The total score,
native language of Lebanon. It consisted of three parts. ranging from 1 to 35, is calculated by summing the answers
The first part assessed the sociodemographic features to all questions graded from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5
of the participants, such as age, gender, marital status, (strongly agree) on a 5-point Likert scale. Higher scores
educational level, employment status, region, and current indicate a greater fear of COVID-19 (α Cronbach =0.893).
household monthly income, divided into five levels, 2.3.2. The Beirut Distress Scale-22 (BDS-22)
according to the official exchange rate (1 USD = 1500
LBP): No income, low <675,000 LBP (450 USD, the official The BDS-22, validated in Lebanon (Barbour et al., 2012),
lowest wage in Lebanon), moderate 675,000 – 1,500,000 evaluates the level of distress in the general Lebanese
LBP (450 – 1,000 USD), high 1,500,000 – 3,000,000 LBP adult population. It consists of 22 questions exploring six
(1,000 – 2,000 USD), and very high income >3,000,000 different domains: depressive symptoms, demotivation,
LBP (2,000 USD). It also included questions about medical psychosomatic symptoms, mood deterioration,
coverage, smoking, alcohol consumption, self-perception intellectual inhibition, and anxiety. Responses are rated on
of the financial situation, having been infected or in contact a 4-point Likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (all of the
with people contaminated with coronavirus, and physical times), with higher scores indicating higher distress levels
activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. (α Cronbach =0.965).
Violence was self-evaluated based on the answer to the
following questions with four possible answers (1-Yes; 2.3.3. The Lebanese Anxiety Scale-10 (LAS-10)
2-No; 3-No answer; and 4-Does not apply): The LAS-10 is a 10-item scale validated in Lebanon (Hallit
(i) Is there any form of verbal violence in your home? et al., 2020), used to screen for anxiety in the general
(ii) Is there any form of physical violence in your home? Lebanese adult population. Questions 1 to 7 are scored
(iii) Is there any form of sexual violence in your home? on a 5-point Likert scale from 0 (not present) to 4 (very

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 101 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.1985