Journal
ANNALS OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE
Volume 55, Issue 2, Pages 93-102Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/abm/kaaa126
Keywords
COVID-19; Mental health; Sociodemographic disparities; Psychiatric epidemiology
Categories
Funding
- Social Security Administration
- National Institute on Aging [5U01AG054580]
- Center for Economic and Social Research at the University of Southern California
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [U54 HD079123]
- RAPID grant from the National Science Foundation [2028683]
- Capital Group COVID-19 Response Fund Grant
- National Institute of Health/National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Ruth Kirschstein Postdoctoral Research Fellowship [F32AA025816]
- National Institute of Mental Health Mental Health Services and Systems Training Program [5T32MH109436-03]
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
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This study tracked the trajectory of mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding a significant increase in mental distress between April and May, especially among females, with a subsequent decrease in distress levels by August.
Background Cross-sectional studies have found that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively affected population-level mental health. Longitudinal studies are necessary to examine trajectories of change in mental health over time and identify sociodemographic groups at risk for persistent distress. Purpose To examine the trajectories of mental distress between March 10 and August 4, 2020, a key period during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Participants included 6,901 adults from the nationally representative Understanding America Study, surveyed at baseline between March 10 and 31, 2020, with nine follow-up assessments between April 1 and August 4, 2020. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used to examine the association between date and self-reported mental distress (measured with the four-item Patient Health Questionnaire) among U.S. adults overall and among sociodemographic subgroups defined by sex, age, race/ethnicity, household structure, federal poverty line, and census region. Results Compared to March 11, the odds of mental distress among U.S. adults overall were 1.84 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.65-2.07) times higher on April 1 and 1.92 (95% CI = 1.62-2.28) times higher on May 1; by August 1, the odds of mental distress had returned to levels comparable to March 11 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.66-0.96). Females experienced a sharper increase in mental distress between March and May compared to males (females: OR = 2.29, 95% CI = 1.85-2.82; males: OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.15-2.02). Conclusions These findings highlight the trajectory of mental health symptoms during an unprecedented pandemic, including the identification of populations at risk for sustained mental distress.
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