Dissociative experiences among Lebanese university students: Association with mental health issues, the economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Beirut port explosion
Mariam Mhanna, Christian-Joseph El Zouki, Abdallah Chahine, Sahar Obeid, Souheil Hallit
PLoS One November 18, 2022 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0277883 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 419 |
| Population | Active university students aged 18-35 from across Lebanon |
| Measures | Dissociative Experience Scale (DES-II), PTSD Checklist Specific Version (PCL-S), Financial Wellbeing Scale, Beirut Distress Scale, Lebanese Anxiety Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire |
| Key findings | Higher stress and more PTSD symptoms tied to the Beirut blast and the economic crisis were associated with greater dissociative absorption, while a personal history of depression, higher stress, and more PTSD symptoms from the Beirut blast and the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with greater amnesia/depersonalization. The authors argue these findings point to serious mental and psychosocial strain in the Lebanese national identity. |
Abstract
Background: Dissociative experiences are psychological manifestations characterized by a loss of connection and continuity between thoughts, emotions, environment, behavior, and identity. Lebanon has been facing indescribable events in the last few years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut explosion, a crushing economic crisis with the highest inflation rate the country has known in over three decades. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between dissociative experiences and post-traumatic stress symptoms from the economic crisis, the Beirut blast, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other mental health issues in a sample of Lebanese university students.
Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 419 active university students (18–35 years) from all over Lebanon (May and August 2021). The respondents received the online soft copy of a survey by a snowball sampling technique through social media and messaging apps. The questionnaire included sociodemographic data, the Dissociative Experience Scale (DES-II), the PTSD Checklist Specific Version (PCL-S), the Financial Wellbeing Scale, the Beirut Distress Scale, the Lebanese Anxiety Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire.
Results: The two-factor model of the DES fitted best according to CFI, RMSEA and χ2/df values, but modestly according to TLI. The two factors were absorption and amnesia/depersonalization. Higher stress (Beta = 0.95) and more PTSD from the Beirut blast (Beta = 0.29) and from the economic crisis (Beta = 0.23) were significantly associated with more absorption. A personal history of depression (Beta = 6.03), higher stress (Beta = 0.36) and more PTSD from the Beirut blast (Beta = 0.27) and from the COVID-19 pandemic (Beta = 0.16) were significantly associated with more amnesia/depersonalization.
Conclusion: Significant rates of dissociative experiences and their sub-manifestations (amnesia/depersonalization and absorption) were found among Lebanese university students, with remarkable co-occurrence of a traumatic/stressful pattern, whether on an individual (history of PTSD) or a collective level (Post-traumatic manifestations from Beirut blast, COVID-19 pandemic and/or economic crisis), or whether correlated to an acute single event or to certain chronic stressors, or even to a personal history of depression. Such findings must raise the attention to serious mental and psychosocial alteration in the Lebanese national identity.