Well-Being, Psychological Distress, Family Environment And Executive Functions During And After The First Wave Lockdown Of COVID-19 In Jordan: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Backgrounds: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and affected almost all countries, and it has a serious effect on mental health. Jordan has adhered to stringent national procedures to prevent the spread of the virus. Objectives: This longitudinal study aimed to examine well-being, psychological distress, family environment, and executive functions during and after the lockdown of the first wave of COVID19 in Jordan. The study lockdown phase was conducted in April 2020, and the after lockdown phase was conducted at the end of August and early September 2020. Methods: The sample consisted of (810) participants (410 during lockdown and 400 after lockdown). Four measures were used: the WHO-5 Well-being Index, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, Modified Short-form Family Environment Scale, and Executive Function Index. Results: The results showed that well-being was affected in both phases, but dropped more after lockdown. Psychological distress was higher after the lockdown, although it was also high during lockdown (64.6% during and 72.5% after). The results showed that the family environment subscales (conflict, intellectual-cultural orientation, and organisation) were higher during the lockdown. The executive function organisation domain was higher after the lockdown, whereas the strategic planning domain was higher during the lockdown. The correlation results showed a significant correlation between well-being, executive functions, cohesion, expression, intellectual-cultural orientation, and organisation, and negatively correlated with psychological distress. Psychological distress was negatively correlated with all other measures but positively correlated with conflict. Finally, executive functions correlated positively with all the subscales of the family environment scale, except for conflict.

Conclusion: These findings highlight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being, distress, family environment, and executive functions.