Effect of Gaza War on Mental Health of Different Egyptian Generations

Background : 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. Objectives : to explore prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among Tanta university students and their parent representing different Egyptian generations, identify associated factors and their effect on study/or work performance Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data from undergraduate medical students at Tanta University and their parent by using random cluster sampling technique. The study included 100 medical students and 200 parent. A self-administrated questionnaire was used which included sociodemographic data, DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety Stress Scale) to measure levels of depression, anxiety and stress and the impact of war on studying /or work performance. Results : Females were constituting 79.0% of students. All students and vast majority of fathers and mothers reported that they follow war news. Social media networks were the most frequently used source of information especially among students. Depression symptoms were expressed by 97.0% of students, 77.0% of mothers and 65.0% of fathers. Anxiety and stress were reported by about two thirds of students and 51% of mothers and 45.0% of fathers. Multivariant logistic regression analysis showed that the shared predictor that pointed to severe and extremely severe level of depression (p .004), Anxiety and stress (p<0.001) was frequently checkup of war news. On the other hand, young age (p<0.001) and female sex (p=0.023) were significant predictors for depression and urban residence was a significant predictor for severe and extremely severe level of anxiety. Students’ desire to study and study hours were affected to some degree but among most parent, work performance was not affected. Conclusion : Mental health problems were more prevalent among students followed by mothers and finally fathers. The students representing the younger generation were following war news frequently and were the worst affected generation. This study pointed that in countries outside wars, screening for different mental health problems, their determinants and predictors among different generations is crucial for identification of people whose condition requires specialized interventions