Personality traits and perceived cognitive function in lebanese healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: The healthcare field, a well-known field associated with variety of stressors, leaves healthcare professionals at an increased risk of both physical and mental problems. COVID-19 pandemic has recently been added to the stressful factors by endangering further the cognitive function of healthcare workers. On another hand, personality traits have been shown to have pervasive associations with functioning across various cognitive domains. Thus, this study aims to evaluate association between personality traits and perceived cognitive function among healthcare professionals in Lebanon during the collapsing period (following the severe economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2021 and January 2022 enrolled 406 Lebanese participants using the convenience sampling technique for data collection. Healthcare professionals from all specialties who received the online link to the survey were eligible to participate. The Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) and Fact Cog scale were used to assess personality traits and cognitive function. RESULTS: After adjustment over all variables (age, gender, household crowding index, physical activity index, marital status, profession and the other four personality traits), higher negative emotionality was significantly associated with a worse cognitive function, whereas more extroversion and conscientiousness were significantly associated with a better cognitive function. CONCLUSION: Our study adds to the narrow body of research revolving around the relationship between personality traits and perceived cognitive function in Lebanese healthcare professionals during these hard times in Lebanon. These results show that the choice of these cognitive processes is strongly affected by different personality traits, such as extroversion, conscientiousness, and negative emotionality. This study encourages the need to conduct further research that assess the changes in cognition in life stressors along with personality traits.

Correlates of Positivity Among a Sample of Lebanese University Students.

Background: People say it is hard to stay truly positive in Lebanon. Studies showed that 63% of Lebanese young adults are highly dissatisfied with their country. In fact, young adults are the most vulnerable population to stressors in Lebanon since their future is at stake and it is their time to shape their lives in a country that cripples them. This study aimed to assess factors (flourishing, religious coping, experiences in life, and the economic burden) associated with positivity among a sample of Lebanese university students despite the various stressors they are facing on top of the economic collapse and the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between November and December 2021. A total of 333 participants (219 females and 114 males; mean age = 22.95 ± 4.79 years) was recruited through convenience sampling and snowball technique through several areas in Lebanon's governorates. A linear regression taking the positivity score as the dependent variable was adopted and all variables that showed a correlation > │0.24│ in absolute value were entered in the final model as independent. Results: A linear regression taking the positivity score as the dependent variable showed that more positive experiences in life (Beta = 0.49; 95% CI 0.35-0.62), more flourishing (Beta = 0.10; 95% CI 0.05-0.14), living in rural area compared to urban (Beta = 3.06; 95% CI 2.02-4.11), and female gender (Beta = 1.56; 95% CI 0.50-2.61) were significantly associated with more positivity (Nagelkerke R 2 of the model = 45.8%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the youth's positivity is strongly affected by age, gender, residency, and the country they live in that will both directly and indirectly shape their life experiences and their ability to flourish and prosper. Along with all the efforts done to help during this collapse and alleviate the stress that young adults are enduring, follow-up studies are still needed to determine accurate coping techniques that pushes these young adults to think positively in a country where negativity reigns and all else fails.