COVID‐19, economic problems, and family relationships in eight Middle East and North African countries

• Published date: 01 July 2022
• Author: Maha El Tantawi,Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan,Nourhan M. Aly,Brandon Brown,Oliver C. Ezechi,Benjamin Uzochukwu,Yousef Khader,Ola B. Al‐Batayneh,Nuraldeen Maher Al‐Khanati,Dina Y. Attia,Passent Ellakany,Maher Rashwan,Anas Shamala,Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga,Annie L. Nguyen
• Date: 01 July 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12691

RESEARCH

COVID-19, economic problems, and family

relationships in eight Middle East and

North African countries

Maha El Tantawi

1

|Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan

2

|NourhanM.Aly

1

|

Brandon Brown

3

|Oliver C. Ezechi

4

|Benjamin Uzochukwu

5

|

Yousef Khader

6

|Ola B. Al-Batayneh

7

|Nuraldeen Maher Al-Khanati

8

|

Dina Y. Attia

1

|Passent Ellakany

9

|Maher Rashwan

1,10

|

Anas Shamala

11

|Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga

12

|AnnieL.Nguyen

13

1

Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University,

Alexandria, Egypt

2

Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo

University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

3

Department of Social Medicine, Population

and Public Health, University of California–

Riverside, Riverside, California, United States

4

Centre for Reproductive and Population

Health Studies, Department of Clinical

Sciences, Nigerian Institute of Medical

Research, Lagos, Nigeria

5

College of Medicine, University of Nigeria,

Enugu campus, Enugu, Nigeria

6

Department of Public Health, Faculty of

Medicine, Jordan University of Science and

Technology, Irbid, Jordan

7

Department of Preventive Dentistry, Faculty

of Dentistry, Jordan University of Science and

Technology, Irbid, Jordan

8

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial

Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Syrian Private

University, Damascus, Syria

9

Department of Substitutive Dental Science,

College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin

Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia

10

Center for Oral Bioengineering, Barts and

the London School of Medicine and Dentistry,

Queen Mary University of London,

London, UK

Abstract

Objective: The aim was to assess the reported family

relationships during the COVID-19 pandemic and the

association between these relationships and individual,

interpersonal, and country-level income in eight Middle

East and North Africa (MENA) countries.

Background: COVID-19 causes fear of infection, loss of

loved ones, and economic problems that may affect family

relationships.

Methods: Data were collected from eight MENA countries

using an online survey (July–August 2020). The dependent

variable was change in family relationship during COVID-19,

and the independent variables were individual, interpersonal,

and country-level factors represented by sociodemographic

factors, COVID-19 status, financial impact (whether partici-

pants lost or had reduced wages) and country income. Multi-

level logistic regression analysis was conducted.

Results: There were 1854 responses, mean (SD) age of 30.6

(9.9) years, 65.8% were female, 3.4% tested COVID-19

positive, and 20.8% reported lost/reduced wages. Family

relationships were more likely to improve or remain

unchanged (84.3%) for participants who had a history of

COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =3.54, 95% confi-

dence interval [CI]: [1.25, 10.01]). However, family rela-

tionships were more likely to not improve for those who

knew someone who died of COVID-19 (AOR =0.76, 95%

CI [0.58, 0.99]) and those with lost/reduced wages

(AOR =0.69, 95% CI [0.52, 0.94]).

Received: 17 December 2020Revised: 5 February 2022Accepted: 20 February 2022

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12691

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:865–875. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 865