University students’ experience of the Beirut port explosion: associations with subjective well-being and subjective symptoms of mental strain

Publikation: Beiträge in ZeitschriftenZeitschriftenaufsätzeForschungbegutachtet

Authors

  • Carmel Bouclaous
  • Najat Fadlallah
  • Mohamad Othman El Helou
  • Kevin Dadaczynski

Background: On 4 August 2020, an explosion shook Beirut, killing more than 200 people and leaving thousands injured or homeless. Aims: This study examined mental health of university students through a cross-sectional online survey between December 2020 and January 2021. Methods: The questionnaire consisted of the WHO-5, sense of coherence (SoC), future anxiety, self-developed subjective symptoms of mental strain (SSMS), and items assessing proximity to explosion, extent of injury and house damage. Gender, study level and social status were used as sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Of 1042 participants, 30.8% were at 0–7 km from explosion; 38.1% reported physical injuries; and 12.4% saw their home damaged. Two third (60.3%) reported ≥3 SSMS, and 73.4% reported low well-being. Students with low well-being were more often female and master students (p < 0.001). Females were more often affected by ≥3 SSMS (p < 0.001). Regression analysis with low well-being as dependent variable revealed significant associations with study level (OR: 2.30–2.94), future anxiety (OR: 2.72–4.34) and SoC (OR: 1.81–5.61). For ≥3 SSMS, females (OR: 3.09), moderate/very close distance (OR: 2.13–4.98), injury/death of family member or friend (OR: 2.07–2.06), house damage (OR: 1.72) future anxiety (OR: 1.97–3.11) and SoC (1.79–2.88) were significant predictors. Discussion: Preventive mental health strategies that strengthen SoC and outlook on future could protect against SSMS and low well-being following major trauma.

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ZeitschriftJournal of Mental Health
Jahrgang32
Ausgabenummer3
Seiten (von - bis)602-611
Anzahl der Seiten10
ISSN0963-8237
DOIs
PublikationsstatusErschienen - 2023

Bibliographische Notiz

Funding Information:
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. Special thanks to the Lebanese American University’s Department of Institutional Research and Assessment for hosting our survey and sending the invitation to students.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

DOI

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  1. Niklas Werthschulte

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