Psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Malaysian families: a cross-sectional study

Authors : Zarina Thasneem Zainudeen, Intan Juliana Abd Hamid, Muhd Nur Akmal Azizuddin, Firdaus Farhani Abu Bakar, Salina Sany, Izzal Asnira Zolkepli, Ernest Mangantig

Title of Publication : Psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Malaysian families: a cross-sectional study

Journal Name : BMJ OPen

Quartile : Q2

Impact Factor : 2.692

Link : https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/11/8/e050523.full.pdf

Description : A total of 409 Malaysian families have responded (409 parents and 348 children), 154 respondents (38%) reported high psychological impact (score 14) for psychological construct and 189 respondents (46%) reported high psychological impact (score 6) for behavioural construct. A significantly higher proportion of respondents with not permanent employment status of the family lead reported high psychological impact. The prevalence of anxiety reported from family respondents was 23%. Forty-five children answered the DASS-21 questionnaire; 28.5% reported anxiety, 31.4% reported depression and 13.3% reported stress. The job security status of the family lead was found to be the predictive factor for the mean total IES-R score (psychological construct) and ethnicity for mean total CRIES-8 and CRIES-13. As a conclusion, rates of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic were high. Findings suggest that urgent measures to ensure job security among Malaysian families are important to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial and mental health outcomes.