Pandemic affecting mental health of youth, says study

MUSCAT: With the Covid-19 pandemic still continuing across the world, there has been a prevalence of mental health disorders among the general population. Dr Omar al Omari from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), explored this topic with his research project themed “Depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness and satisfaction of life among youth at the time of coronavirus: A multi-country study” for the Covid-19 Research Programme of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. For his research project, principal investigator Dr Al Omari used a cross-sectional, descriptive design to explore the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among youth, as well as to identify to what extent certain variables related to Covid-19 could predict depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) among young people in six different countries. Participants were requested to complete an online survey including demographics and the DAS scale. A total of 1,057 participants completed the study. The main findings of the research were that the total prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 57 per cent, 40.5 per cent.