Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Aug 24;16(8):e0256597.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256597. eCollection 2021.

COVID-19 related psychological distress and fears among mothers and pregnant women in Saudi Arabia

Abdulkarim M Meraya  1   2 , Mamoon H Syed  1   2 , Ayesha Yasmeen  1   2 , Amal A Mubaraki  1   2 , Hadi Dhafer Kariry  3 , Wafaa Maabouj  2 , Dhaifallah Moraya  4 , Hafiz A Makeen  1   2
Affiliations

COVID-19 related psychological distress and fears among mothers and pregnant women in Saudi Arabia

Abdulkarim M Meraya et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study objectives were to investigate maternal psychological distress, mothers' fear of their children contracting COVID-19, mothers' perceptions of the information available regarding children and COVID-19, changes in children's behavior during lockdown, and concerns of pregnant women in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This cross-sectional study surveyed women aged 18 years and older who either had children under 10 years of age or were pregnant at the time of the survey. The outcomes included psychological distress, mothers' fear of their children contracting COVID-19, change in children's behaviors during COVID-19 lockdown and pregnant women's concerns. Multivariable ordinary least squares regression models were employed to examine the adjusted associations between sociodemographic factors and psychological distress, as well as fear of COVID-19.

Results: Of 628 women, 11.8% (n = 74) were pregnant at the time of survey. Most of the pregnant women (89.2%, n = 66) had some degree of concerns about their unborn babies getting infected during delivery in the hospital. Among mothers of children under 10 years of age (n = 564), half (n = 282) reported change in their children's behavior during the lockdown. Most mothers and pregnant women (94.9%, n = 569) had some degree of psychological distress. Mothers and pregnant women with a college degree had significantly lower psychological distress (β = -1.346; p = 0.014) than women with a high school education or less. Similarly, mothers and pregnant women with monthly family income ≥ US$ 1,333 had lower psychological distress than those with < US$ 1,333. Women with pre-existing chronic physical (β = 2.424; p < 0.001) or mental (β = 4.733; p < 0.001) conditions had higher psychological distress than those without these conditions. Having children in the house was a contributory factor for higher psychological distress. For example, mothers with one child (β = 2.602; p = 0.007) had significantly higher psychological distress compared to expectant mothers without children in the house.

Conclusions: Most mothers and expectant mothers in our study had moderate to high levels of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Saudi Arabia. Education, family income and chronic mental and physical conditions were associated with high psychological distress in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Study’s sample, subsamples, and measured variables.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Mothers’ (n = 564) perceptions of information regarding practices to protect children from COVID-19.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Perceived change in children’s behavior during COVID-19 lockdown (n = 564).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Concerns of pregnant women (N = 74) about the risk for their children contracting COVID-19 during delivery in the hospital.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. COVID-19 situation update worldwide, as of week 17, updated 6 May 2021: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; 2021 [Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases.
    1. World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.[Available from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019.
    1. Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Covid-19 Dashboard [Available from: https://covid19.moh.gov.sa/.
    1. Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, et al.. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet. 2020. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu JJ, Bao Y, Huang X, Shi J, Lu L. Mental health considerations for children quarantined because of COVID-19. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. 2020;4(5):347–9. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30096-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed