Abstract:

Background: Recent research studies conducted in UAE showed that coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has had a significant detrimental psychological impact on the UAE population. This study's aim is to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of coping mechanisms to relieve stress during COVID-19 among UAE residents.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February to April 2021in the United Arab Emirates. The survey composed of 18 questions divided to 6 categories, by using Google forms, data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.

Results: 71.9% of the participants in this study experienced varying levels of stress.

According to bivariate analysis, the increased of stress level was associated with younger age, female gender, being single, and higher income. The total score of coping mechanisms knowledge was (51.4%), According to bivariate analysis, good knowledge was associated with younger age, being single, and being a student. a more positive attitude was associated with female gender. The mean practices score for adaptive and maladaptive coping was 43.43/64 and 24.58/48, respectively.

According to bivariate analysis, practicing adaptive coping was associated with higher level of knowledge and positive attitude. According to bivariate analysis, practicing maladaptive coping was associated with female gender, being single, and experiencing higher level of stress.

Conclusion:

Findings highlighted a high level of stress, which might be due to the poor knowledge about coping mechanisms. Accordingly, awareness of coping practices needs to be raised among the UAE population.

Keywords: Coronavirus; COVID-19 pandemic; Knowledge; attitude; practices; coping mechanisms; UAE