COVID-19: Factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across 17 countries

Rahman, Muhammad Aziz; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful; Tungpunkom, Patraporn; Sultana, Farhana; Alif, Sheikh M.; Banik, Biswajit; Salehin, Masudus; Joseph, Bindu; Lam, Louisa; Watts, Mimmie Claudine; Khan, Sabria Jihan; Ghozy, Sherief; Chair, Sek Ying; Chien, Wai Tong; Schönfeldt-Lecuona, Carlos; El-Khazragy, Nashwa; Mahmud, Ilias; Al Mawali, Adhra Hilal; Al Maskari, Turkiya Saleh; Alharbi, Rayan Jafnan; Hamza, Amr; Keblawi, Mohamad Ali; Hammoud, Majeda; Elaidy, Asmaa M.; Susanto, Agus Dwi; Bahar Moni, Ahmed Suparno; AlQurashi, Alaa Ashraf; Ali, Almajdoub; Wazib, Amit; Sanluang, Cattaliya Siripattarakul; Elsori, Deena H.; Yasmin, Farhana; Taufik, Feni Fitrani; Al Kloub, Manal; Ruiz, Mara Gerbabe; Elsayed, Mohamed; Eltewacy, Nael Kamel; Al Laham, Nahed; Oli, Natalia; Abdelnaby, Ramy; Dweik, Rania; Thongyu, Ratree; Almustanyir, Sami; Rahman, Shaila; Nitayawan, Sirirat; Al-Madhoun, Sondos; Inthong, Suwit; Alharbi, Talal Ali; Bahar, Tamanna; Ginting, Tribowo Tuahta; Cross, Wendy M.

doi:10.1186/s12992-021-00768-3

Globalization and Health

Table 4 Predictors for coping among the study participants (based on the BRCS score)

From: COVID-19: Factors associated with psychological distress, fear, and coping strategies among community members across 17 countries

Characteristics	Low (score 4-13)		Medium to High (score 14-20)		Unadjusted analyses			Adjusted analyses
Characteristics	n	%	n	%	p	ORs	95% CIs	p	AORs	95% CIs
Age groups	3247	42.8	4344	57.2
18-29 years	1581	43.3	2074	56.7	Ref			Ref
30-59 years	1543	42.8	2060	57.2	0.711	1.02	0.93-1.12	0.329	1.08	0.92-1.28
≥60 years	123	36.9	210	63.1	0.026	1.30	1.03-1.64	0.011	1.66	1.12-2.44
Gender	3640	43.2	4792	56.8
Male	1323	44.1	1675	55.9	Ref			Ref
Female	2317	42.6	3117	57.4	0.186	1.07	0.97-1.17	0.235	0.91	0.79-1.06
Born in the same country of residence	3635	43.2	4783	56.8
No	649	50.4	639	49.6	Ref			Ref
Yes	2986	41.8	4144	58.1	<0.001	1.41	1.25-1.59	0.124	0.85	0.69-1.05
Living status	3614	43	4784	56.9
Live without family members	812	42.7	1087	57.2	Ref			Ref
Live with family members	2802	43.1	3697	56.9	0.780	0.99	0.89-1.1	0.106	0.85	0.7-1.04
Highest educational/vocational qualification	3622	43.1	4783	56.9
Primary/Grade 1 to 6	30	50.8	29	49.2	Ref			Ref
Secondary/Higher Secondary/Grade 7 to 12	673	43.7	868	56.3	0.277	1.33	0.8-2.24	0.537	1.35	0.52-3.48
Certificate/Diploma/Trade qualifications	409	47.2	458	57.7	0.585	1.16	0.69-1.96	0.871	1.08	0.42-2.81
Bachelor/Masters/PhD	2510	42.3	3428	57.7	0.187	1.41	0.85-2.36	0.583	1.30	0.51-3.32
Current employment condition	3523	43.2	4639	56.8
Unemployed/Housewife/Home maker/Home duties (No source of income)	260	40.4	383	59.5	Ref			Ref
Jobs affected by COVID-19 (lost job/working hours reduced/afraid of job loss)	1734	42.1	2391	57.9	0.444	0.94	0.797-1.11	No estimate due to small number
Have an income source (employed/Government benefits)	1529	45.1	1865	54.9	0.031	0.84	0.69-0.99	0.354	0.93	0.8-1.09
Perceived distress due to change of employment status	3095	40.6	4522	59.4
A little to none	1815	38.6	2889	61.4	Ref			Ref
Moderate to a great deal	1280	43.9	1633	56.1	<0.001	0.80	0.73-0.88	0.030	0.82	0.68-0.98
Improved working situation due to change of employment status	2291	39.4	3528	60.6
A little to none	1753	39.2	2717	60.8	Ref			Ref
Moderate to a great deal	538	39.8	811	60.1	0.662	0.98	0.86-1.1	0.342	1.09	0.92-1.28
Self-identification as a frontline or essential service worker	3646	43.2	4798	56.8
No	2155	42.9	2869	57.1	Ref			Ref
Yes	1491	43.6	1929	56.4	0.522	0.97	0.87-1.06	0.525	0.94	0.8-1.13
Self-identification as a healthcare worker	2482	39.5	3801	60.5
No	1578	41.1	2259	58.9	Ref			Ref
Yes, doctor	331	37.4	555	62.6	0.040	1.17	1.01-1.36	0.417	0.90	0.70-1.16
Yes, nurse	371	35.9	661	64.1	0.003	1.24	1.08-1.44	0.029	1.30	1.03-1.65
Yes, other healthcare worker	202	38.3	326	61.7	0.209	1.13	0.94-1.36	0.280	1.15	0.90-1.48
COVID-19 impacted financial situation	3663	43.2	4815	56.8
No impact	1613	42.8	2160	57.3	Ref			Ref
Yes, impacted positively	413	40.7	603	59.4	0.229	1.10	0.95-1.26	0.851	0.98	0.80-1.23
Yes, impacted negatively	1637	44.4	2052	55.6	0.157	0.94	0.85-1.03	<0.001	1.37	1.16-1.62
Affected by the change in financial situation	2403	39.3	3712	60.7
Not at all	523	37.4	874	62.6	Ref			Ref
Unsure	385	42.4	523	57.6	0.017	0.81	0.69-0.96	0.004	0.74	0.60-0.90
Somewhat	1051	37.9	1716	62	0.732	0.98	0.86-1.12	0.398	0.92	0.78-1.14
A great extent	444	42.6	599	57.4	0.010	0.81	0.69-0.95	0.151	0.83	0.66-1.07
Co-morbidities	3630	43.4	4741	56.6
No	2458	41.4	3488	58.7	Ref			Ref
Psychiatric/Mental health problem	223	62.5	134	37.5	<0.001	0.42	0.33-0.52	0.431	0.85	0.57-1.27
Other co-morbidities*	949	45.9	1119	54.1	<0.001	0.82	0.73-0.91	0.324	1.15	0.88-1.50
Co-morbidities	3321	41.7	4642	58.3
No	2458	41.3	3488	58.7	Ref			Ref
Single co-morbidity	674	43.6	873	56.4	0.113	0.91	0.81-1.02	0.149	0.82	0.62-1.09
Multiple co-morbidities	189	40.2	281	59.8	0.633	1.05	0.87-1.27	No estimate due to small number
Perceived status of own mental health	2482	39.5	3801	60.5
Poor to Fair	913	52.1	839	47.8	Ref			Ref
Good to Excellent	1569	34.6	2962	65.4	<0.001	2.05	1.83-2.3	<0.001	1.97	1.70-2.30
Smoking	3665	43.2	4814	56.8
Never smoker	2912	42.2	3982	57.8	Ref			Ref
Ever smoker (Daily/Non-daily/Ex)	753	47.5	832	52.5	<0.001	0.81	0.72-0.90	0.533	1.06	0.88-1.28
Increased smoking over the last 6 months	447	44.2	565	55.8
No	234	43.7	301	56.3	Ref			Ref
Yes	213	44.6	264	55.4	0.770	0.96	0.75-1.23	Not included in multivariate model
Current alcohol drinking (last 4 weeks)	3595	43.1	4743	56.8
No	3089	41.6	4328	58.4	Ref			Ref
Yes	506	54.9	415	45.1	<0.001	0.59	0.50-0.66	0.532	0.93	0.74-1.17
Increased alcohol drinking over the last 6 months	499	54.7	413	45.3
No	310	48.4	330	51.7	Ref			Not included in multivariate model
Yes	189	69.5	83	30.5	<0.001	0.40	0.31-0.56	Not included in multivariate model
Contact with known/suspected case of COVID-19	3578	43	4739	56.9
No	2223	45.5	2662	54.5	Ref			Ref
Unsure	333	46.9	376	53	0.470	0.94	0.81-1.1	0.297	0.90	0.73-1.1
Yes, had indirect contact	353	37.3	594	62.7	<0.001	1.41	1.21-1.63	0.004	1.33	1.10-1.62
Yes, provided direct care	669	37.7	1107	62.3	<0.001	1.37	1.22-1.53	<0.001	1.45	1.19-1.77
Experience related to COVID-19 pandemic	3497	42.9	4652	57.1
No known exposure to COVID-19	2739	43.4	3580	56.6	Ref			Ref
Tested positive for COVID-19	184	37.3	310	62.7	0.008	1.29	1.07-1.56	0.259	0.86	0.65-1.12
Tested negative for COVID-19 by self-isolated	480	42.4	651	57.6	0.571	1.03	0.91-1.18	0.012	0.78	0.64-0.95
Had recent overseas travel history and was in quarantine	94	45.8	111	54.2	0.476	0.90	0.68-1.2	0.312	0.80	0.51-1.24
Self-identification as a patient (visited a healthcare provider in the last 6 months)	3564	42.9	4734	57.1
No	2466	44.4	3089	55.6	Ref			Ref
Yes	1098	40.1	1645	59.9	0.001	1.20	1.09-1.31	0.012	1.20	1.04-1.28
Healthcare service use in the last 6 months	1089	40	1633	59.9
In-person visit to a healthcare provider	730	38.5	1165	61.5	Ref			Ref
Telehealth consultation/Use of national helpline	277	43.5	359	56.5	0.025	0.82	0.67-0.97	Not included in multivariate model
Used both services	82	42.9	109	57.1	0.234	0.83	0.62-1.13	Not included in multivariate model
Level of psychological distress (K10 categories)	3659	43.2	4814	56.8
Low (score 10-15)	1011	38.4	1622	61.6	Ref			Ref
Moderate to Very High (score 16-50)	2648	45.4	3192	54.6	<0.001	0.74	0.67-0.81	0.498	0.95	0.81-1.11
Level of fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S categories)	3665	43.2	4814	56.7
Low (score 7-21)	2647	41.2	3771	58.8	Ref			Ref
High (score 22-35)	1018	49.4	1043	50.6	<0.001	0.71	0.64-0.78	<0.001	0.72	0.61-0.85
Healthcare service use to overcome COVID-19 related stress in the last 6 months	3546	42.9	4718	57.1
No	3049	42.4	4134	57.6	Ref			Ref
Yes	497	45.9	584	54	0.030	0.87	0.76-0.99	0.375	0.91	0.75-1.12

Adjusted for: age, gender, smoking, alcohol intake, living status, place of birth, country, education, employment status, employment stress, healthcare worker, financial impact, contact with COVID-19 case, experience due to COVID-19 and self-identification as a patient

Back to article page

ISSN: 1744-8603

Contact us

Submission enquiries: carissa.rustia@springernature.com
General enquiries: info@biomedcentral.com