The worldwide spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the absence of medical treatment and vaccination, the delayed onset of symptoms, and the rapid human-to-human transmission have led the vast majority of countries to impose strict social distancing procedures. Whereas it appears that social distancing is an effective strategy for mitigating spread, it may also result in a variety of unintended negative consequences to individuals’ psychological well-being and mental health. During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present study examined associations among some demographic variables (gender, age, marital and working statuses, and having a family member or a friend infected with COVID-19), acceptance of social distancing, mood changes, and quality of life (QoL) in Qatar, a high-income Middle Eastern Arabic-speaking country. Older, married, and working participants were more accepting of social distancing than younger, unmarried, and non-working participants, respectively. Participants indicated that, during this time, they became more distressed, upset, scared, irritable, nervous, and afraid, and less inspired and determined. In a stark contrast, more individuals indicated that they became more interested, alert, and attentive, whereas higher percentages of participants reported feeling less guilty, hostile, and ashamed. Social distancing correlated positively with negative affect, whereas social avoidances correlated positively with positive affect and with physical, psychological, social, and environmental QoL. Finally, positive affect correlated positively, and negative affect correlated negatively, with these four domains of QoL. These results highlight the need for public health and clinical providers to consider peoples’ psychological well-being and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 的全球传播、缺乏医疗和疫苗接种、症状出现延迟以及人与人之间的快速传播，导致绝大多数国家实施了严格的社会疏离程序。尽管保持社交距离似乎是减轻传播的有效策略，但它也可能对个人的心理健康和心理健康造成各种意想不到的负面后果。在 COVID-19 大流行高峰期，本研究检查了一些人口统计变量（性别、年龄、婚姻和工作状况，以及是否有家人或朋友感染了 COVID-19）、社交距离的接受程度、情绪之间的关联高收入的中东阿拉伯语国家卡塔尔的变化和生活质量 (QoL)。年纪大了，已婚和工作的参与者分别比年轻、未婚和非工作的参与者更能接受社交距离。参与者表示，在此期间，他们变得更加痛苦、沮丧、害怕、易怒、紧张和害怕，缺乏灵感和决心。与此形成鲜明对比的是，更多的人表示他们变得更感兴趣、更警觉和更专心，而更高比例的参与者表示他们感觉不那么内疚、敌意和羞耻。社交距离与消极情绪呈正相关，而社交回避与积极情绪以及身体、心理、社会和环境生活质量呈正相关。最后，积极情绪与这四个生活质量领域呈正相关，而消极情绪则呈负相关。