Effect of Gaza war on the mental health of different generations in Egypt

TL;DR

The Gaza war has significantly impacted the mental health of Egyptian students and their parents, with frequent exposure to war news being a major contributing factor.

Contribution

This study highlights the mental health effects of war news on non-combatant populations across different generations in Egypt.

Findings

Students showed the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and stress, with 97% reporting symptoms of depression.

Frequent exposure to war news was a significant predictor of severe mental health symptoms across all groups.

Young age and female sex were significant predictors of depression, while urban residence was linked to severe anxiety.

Abstract

Exposure to unfavorable environmental circumstances including conflicts and wars increases people’s risk of experiencing mental health disturbances. Prevalence rates of anxiety, depression and stress disorders were two- to three-fold higher between people exposed to war or those interested in war news.

To explore prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Tanta University students and their parents representing different Egyptian generations, and to identify associated and predicting factors of severity and their effect on study or work performance.

A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data from undergraduate medical students at Tanta University and their parents by using random cluster sampling technique. The study included 100 medical students and 200 parents. A self-administrated questionnaire was used, which included sociodemographic data, DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale) to measure levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Also, the questionnaire included a part to assess the effect of war on studying /or work performance. Multiple logistic regression was used to detect predictors of severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress. The value of p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 21.0.

Females constituted 79.0% of the student sample. All students and most fathers and mothers reported regularly following war news, with social media being the most frequently used source, especially among students. Symptoms of depression were reported by 97.0% of students, 77.0% of mothers, and 65.0% of fathers. Anxiety and stress were reported by approximately two-thirds of students, 51.0% of mothers, and 45.0% of fathers. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified frequent exposure to war news as a shared significant predictor of severe and extremely severe levels of depression (p = 0.004), anxiety, and stress (p < 0.001). Additionally, young age (p < 0.001) and female sex (p = 0.023) were significant predictors of depression, while urban residence was significantly associated with severe anxiety (p = 0.007). Students’ motivation to study and study hours were affected to some degree but among most parents, work performance was not affected (p < 0.001).

The mental health of people in a country outside of war can also be significantly affected by war and its news. The students representing the younger generation were following war news frequently and were the worst affected generation. Thus, these findings highlight the importance of mental health screening and early intervention in populations not directly exposed to war but affected through media consumption, particularly across different generations.

Figures