Mental Health of Psychologists During a Period of Cumulative Crises in Lebanon: The Predictive Role of Self-Esteem.

Background/

Objectives

Since October 2019, Lebanon has faced continuous sociopolitical and economic instability. Clinical psychologists have played a central role in responding to rising mental health needs, yet little is known about their own psychological well-being.

Methods

This study examined mental health outcomes among 157 certified psychologists (clinical and educational psychologists) working in Lebanon. A cross-sectional study was conducted with psychologists aged 30-53 years across all Lebanese governorates, who were recruited through snowball and word-of-mouth sampling. Participants completed validated measures of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (LAS-10), perceived stress (PSS-10), subjective well-being (WHO-5), eating attitudes (EAT-26), and self-esteem (A-SISE).

Results

Results showed that 44% of participants reported at least mild depressive symptoms, 14% met criteria for anxiety, and 57% experienced moderate to high perceived stress, while most showed no risk for eating disorders. Bivariate and multivariate analyses identified self-esteem as a predictive factor, negatively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress, and positively associated with subjective well-being. Additional risk factors included younger age, being unmarried, not having children, prior psychological history, health problems, lower income, and working as an educational rather than clinical psychologist.

Conclusions

These findings highlight aspects of vulnerability among psychologists and underline the need for targeted interventions for at-risk groups. Strengthening self-esteem may contribute to enhancing clinicians' mental health. However, these conclusions should be interpreted in light of several limitations, including the small sample size, the non-probability and gender-skewed nature of the sample, partly due to the relatively limited number of practicing psychologists in Lebanon.