The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about drastic measures that have significantly altered the norms of daily living. These measures have affected human behaviors in disparate ways. This study seeks to understand the impact of the pandemic on physical activity and dietary behavior among adults living in Kuwait. A cross-sectional survey was conducted between 18 June and 15 July 2020, using a questionnaire disseminated through social media, including WhatsApp and Facebook. The target population was individuals aged 21 years or older living in the State of Kuwait. The study included 679 respondents; 57.9% were females, and 67.7% were Kuwaiti nationals. Both genders reported an increased consumption of vegetables, fruits, and carbohydrates, and a decreased consumption of fish and sugary drinks. Compared to males, females reported eating more during the outbreak than their pre-pandemic eating behaviors (32.3% vs. 35.9%, p < 0.05). Approximately one-third of respondents (33.1%) reported performing less than 30 min of physical activity or exercise in a week, and 36.4% of respondents rated their quality of sleep as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. The rate of smoking cigarettes among males was significantly higher than in females (40.6% vs. 5.3%, p < 0.001). Physical activity was positively correlated with vegetable consumption and quality of sleep. Quality of sleep was negatively correlated with the consumption of sweets and snacks, just as the consumption of vegetables was negatively correlated with the consumption of sugary drinks. The overall negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait necessitates the development of health promotion interventions to support positive physical activity and dietary behaviors using alternative coping strategies among the residents of Kuwait.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Kuwait led to a nationwide curfew between 22 March and August 2020. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 curfew during the pandemic on Kuwaiti citizens and residents. A cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from Kuwaiti residents over the age of 21 through an online questionnaire shared via social media, including WhatsApp and Facebook. Data collection occurred between 18 June and 15 July 2020. Data from 679 respondents (57.9% females and 42.1% males; 67.7% Kuwaiti nationals and 32.3% non-Kuwaiti nationals) were analyzed. Symptoms of depression were reported among 59.8% of females and 51.0% of males, and extremely severe depression among 20.4% of females and 13.6% of males. Approximately 42.0% of females and 37.8% of males were under psychological distress, with 15.1% of females and 9.1% of males experiencing severe or extremely severe psychological distress. Over a third of females (34.9%) reported experiencing tensions or violent behaviors from family members, and 22.1% reported verbal or physical abuse. Among males, 26.4% reported experiencing tensions or violent behaviors, and 12.2% reported verbal or physical abuse. Extremely severe depression was associated with being female (2.00 times), aged 21–29 (4.56 times), experiencing tensions or violent behaviors from family members (4.56 times), being physically inactive (1.64 times), smoking cigarettes (3.02 times), and having poor or very poor quality of sleep (1.75 times). Severe or extremely severe psychological distress was associated with being female (3.09 times), aged 21–49 (3.68 times), having ill-health conditions or diseases (1.83 times), experiencing tension or violent behaviors from family members (3.56 times), smoking cigarettes (3.06 times), and having poor or very poor quality of sleep (2.20 times). Findings indicate that people living in Kuwait experienced negative psychological impacts, such as depression and psychological distress, attributable to the pandemic-related restrictions. Unpartnered females aged 21–49 are more mentally vulnerable than partnered males over the age of 50. Findings support an urgent need for targeted interventions to improve health behaviors and social support, including coping mechanisms specific to COVID-19 related stress, family counseling systems, and the provision of accessible and acceptable services using telehealth.

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers to determine the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and well-being, and to identify the factors associated with adverse psychological effects. This study was conducted 5 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. We used an online questionnaire to collect data from 378 healthcare workers. To examine the psychological impact, three standardized questionnaires were utilized. This includes the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7), and the WHO Well-Being Scale (WHO-5) to measure depression, anxiety, and quality of life, respectively. More than half of the participants (52.9%) exhibited moderate or high levels of depression, and 40.5% reported moderate or high levels of anxiety. Unmarried HCWs reported more severe levels of depression; moderately severe depression (24.0% vs. 16.1%) and severe depression (12.4% vs. 6.8%). Unmarried HCWs also reported more severity of anxiety as well as lower overall wellbeing. Understanding how personal factors such as marital status can influence the degree of psychological distress can allow us to make better investments in supporting the mental health needs of HCWs in Kuwait. Governments and organizations must establish protective measures, such as continually assessing the mental health status of HCWs throughout the pandemic and providing support services for HCWs in need to minimize adverse consequences and ensure optimal health system operation.

Background: Perceived social support is consistently associated with lower psychological distress among university students, but the strength of this association may vary. We examined whether help-seeking self-stigma modifies it. Methods: In a cross-sectional online survey, 507 Kuwait University students completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale (SSOSH). Hierarchical linear regression tested the perceived support × self-stigma interaction, adjusting for age, sex, nationality and year of study; SSOSH structure was examined by confirmatory factor analysis. Results: Of 507 eligible students (80.9% female; mean age = 21.4 years, SD = 4.4), 458 had complete PHQ-4 data. The inverse association between perceived support and distress weakened as self-stigma increased (B = 0.003, 95% CI 0.001–0.005, p = 0.007; p = 0.040 with heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors; ΔR² = 0.015) and was not detectable at high self-stigma. The Arabic SSOSH was not unidimensional: positively and reverse-worded items formed uncorrelated factors (r = −0.01), and the interaction was carried by the reverse-worded items. Conclusions: Help-seeking self-stigma may index variation in this association, but the finding is exploratory and constrained by the measurement properties of the SSOSH in this population.

Background/Objectives: Despite the availability of free national mammography services, participation in breast cancer screening remains suboptimal in Kuwait. This study aimed to assess breast cancer screening beliefs and barriers among women in Kuwait using the Breast Cancer Screening Beliefs Questionnaire (BCSBQ) and to examine their associations with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional dataset collected among 458 women aged ≥20 years across all six governorates of Kuwait. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire including the BCSBQ, breast cancer knowledge measures, and a general help-seeking barrier scale. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, and exploratory factor analysis was performed to evaluate construct validity. Group differences were examined using t-tests and one-way analysis of variance with post hoc correction, while adjusted associations were assessed using general linear models and linear regression. Results: The BCSBQ demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.808) and a clear three-factor structure (Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin = 0.790; Bartlett’s test p < 0.001), explaining 50.26% of the total variance. Nearly half of participants (48.7%) reported positive attitudes toward screening, while 16.4% exhibited firmer fatalistic beliefs and 18.8% reported elevated mammography-related barriers. A substantial proportion believed that screening is only necessary when symptoms are present (57.2%). Lower education and younger age were significantly associated with higher barriers and less favorable screening beliefs (p < 0.05). In regression analysis, higher mammography-related barriers were associated with greater general help-seeking barriers, whereas more positive attitudes were associated with lower barriers, explaining 11.5% of the variance (R² = 0.115, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Breast cancer screening beliefs among women in Kuwait are shaped by sociodemographic factors, particularly education level and age, with persistent misconceptions and perceived barriers influencing screening perceptions. Targeted, culturally appropriate interventions are needed to address these gaps and promote participation in Kuwait’s free-access screening program.

Background and Objectives: Sleep is a potentially modifiable correlate of student mental health, but associations may be inflated by content overlap between sleep and mental health measures. We examined four self-reported sleep characteristics in relation to depressive symptoms and well-being, with sensitivity analyses reducing item overlap. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, questionnaire data were collected from 389 Kuwait University students recruited by convenience from students who were concurrently participating in a campus-based physical-assessment study. Depressive symptoms used a nine-item PHQ-9-based measure (items 3, 9 modified); well-being used five WHO-5 items with modified frequency anchors. Associations used multivariable linear regression with sequential covariate adjustment. Results: For PHQ-9-based scores, independent associations were found for better sleep quality (B = −1.22, 95% CI −1.84 to −0.60; β = −0.20), more frequent disturbance (1.11, 0.49 to 1.73; β = 0.18), longer sleep duration (−0.48, −0.74 to −0.21; β = −0.17), and longer latency (0.54, 0.08 to 0.99; β = 0.11). Quality (4.01, 1.72 to 6.30; β = 0.19) and duration (1.35, 0.37 to 2.33; β = 0.14) were associated with well-being. No statistically significant sleep-by-sex interactions were detected; latency was not robust to item-3 removal. Conclusions: These findings support considering sleep health within university mental health initiatives; longitudinal studies are needed to establish directionality and intervention effects.