الأعراض النفسية لدى ذوي الإعاقة الذهنية وعلاقتها ببعض المتغيرات خلال جائحة كورونا
The research aims to reveal the differences in the common psychological symptoms of anxiety and depression before and during the Corona pandemic, as well as the differences between them according to gender, severity of disability and age, among people with intellectual disability. The research sample consisted of (172) persons with mild and moderate intellectual disability enrolled in schools, institutes and special education centers in the State of Kuwait and Kingdom of Bahrain, ages ranged between (6-30) years. The research tools consisted of a scale of anxiety symptoms and a scale of depression symptoms for people with intellectual disability, prepared by the researcher. The results of the research indicated that people with intellectual disability suffer from a moderate level of symptoms of anxiety and depression, and that the most prevalent symptoms of anxiety among people with intellectual disability during the Corona period were, in order, “disturbed when he is away from his family”; “get bored of sitting in the chair in class for a long time or at home through the Zoom program”; then “feel comfortable when he closes the house doors”, while the most prevalent symptoms of depression during that period, respectively, were “getting tired of doing the tasks that are entrusted to him”; “he appears to be in a moody mood”; and "complains about his parents' lack of talk to him". The results also showed a higher level of anxiety and depression symptoms among people with intellectual disability during the pandemic compared to before. The results also showed that the age group from 6 to less than 11 has symptoms of anxiety and depression higher than the stage from 20-30, while there were no statistically significant differences between the age 6 to less than 11 and from 12-19 or between the age from 12-19 or from 20-30 on any of the symptoms of anxiety or symptoms of depression. Finally, the results showed that there were no differences in the symptoms of anxiety attribute to the gender of the disabled person or the severity of the disability, while there were differences in the symptoms of depression between people with mild and moderate disability in the favor of those with moderate disability .The research recommended a number of recommendations, including: Organizing an awareness sessions to increase families’ knowledge of the negative impact on their children with intellectual disability resulting from the Corona pandemic, and training families of people with intellectual disability to deal with their children during the Corona pandemic. (Published abstract)