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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.

Aims To examine changes in drinking behavior among United States (US) adults between March 10 and July 21, 2020, a critical period during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design Longitudinal, internet‐based panel survey. Setting The Understanding America Study (UAS), a nationally representative panel of US adults age 18 or older. Participants A total of 4298 US adults who reported alcohol use. Measurements Changes in number of reported drinking days from March 11, 2020 through July 21, 2020 in the overall sample and stratified by sex, age, race/ethnicity, household structure, poverty status, and census region. Findings Compared with March 11, the number of drinking days per week was significantly higher on April 1 by an average of 0.36 days (95% CI = 0.30, 0.43), on May 1 by an average of 0.55 days (95% CI = 0.47, 0.63), on June 1 by an average of 0.41 days (95% CI = 0.33, 0.49), and on July 1 by an average of 0.39 days (95% CI = 0.31, 0.48). Males, White participants, and older adults reported sustained increases in drinking days, whereas female participants and individuals living under the federal poverty line had attenuated drinking days in the latter part of the study period. Conclusions Between March and mid‐July 2020, adults in the United States reported increases in the number of drinking days, with sustained increases observed among males, White participants, and older adults.

The COVID‐19 pandemic may disproportionately impact parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Loss of services and supports, heightened fears about increased infection rates, and disruption of daily routines likely adversely affect the well‐being of children with ASD and their families. The goal of this study was to examine differences in psychological distress–as defined by symptoms of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and hyperarousal–between parents raising a child with ASD and parents in the US as a whole during the early stages of the pandemic (March–April 2020). Parents raising a child with ASD ( n = 3556) were recruited through SPARK, a national ASD research registry, whereas a representative sample of parents in the US ( n = 5506) were recruited from the Pew Research Center's American Trends Panel. All data were captured via online surveys. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regressions examined psychological distress at the item and summary score level. Parents of children with ASD reported higher levels of overall psychological distress (48% vs. 25%; aOR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.32, 1.84, p < 0.001). Hyperarousal, or feelings of panic when thinking about COVID‐19, was particularly prevalent among parents of children with ASD compared to parents in the US (25% vs. 9%; aOR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.83, 3.07, p < 0.001). Findings highlight the importance of considering the policies and practices that contribute to poor mental health in parents, particularly those raising a child with ASD, to ensure mental health services remain accessible. Lay Summary This study examined the mental health of parents raising a child with ASD during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Results demonstrated substantially higher levels of psychological distress, particularly those related to feelings of panic, among parents raising a child with ASD when compared to parents in the US as a whole. These data suggest the need for ensuring mental health services are accessible to parents, particularly those raising a child with ASD, during and after the pandemic.

The objectives of this study are to (1) characterize patterns of preventive behaviors 3 months after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national emergency in the USA and (2) identify how health beliefs (e.g., perceived risk of infection, perceived risk of death upon infection, and perceived effectiveness of CDC-recommended preventive behaviors) and sociodemographic characteristics are associated with preventive behaviors. Data were obtained from two waves of the Understanding America Study (UAS) conducted in March (wave 1) and May to June of 2020 (wave 2) (n = 4445); UAS is a nationally representative panel of US adults. We conducted a latent class analysis (LCA) using wave 2 data to identify our outcome, patterns of 10 COVID-preventive behaviors (e.g., wearing a facemask, handwashing, social distancing), and then used a three-step regression (R3STEP) to test associations between the likelihood of class membership with (1) health beliefs and sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment) in bivariate models and (2) health beliefs adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics in multivariate models. The LCA identified a three-class model of preventive behaviors characterized by high likelihood of engagement in the set of preventive behaviors ("high"), low likelihood of the preventive behaviors ("low"), or engagement in some behaviors ("mixed"). Respondents of older age (i.e., age 50 or older) and those with higher levels of educational attainment (i.e., a 4-year college degree or higher) were less likely to be in the low engagement versus the mixed engagement class compared to those who are younger (18-29) and have lower levels of educational attainment (i.e., high school), respectively. Women (compared to men) and respondents who were Black and/or Hispanic/ Latinx (compared to White) were more likely to be in the high (vs. mixed) engagement class. In separate models adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics, respondents with a high perceived risk of infection, high perceived risk of death, and high perceived effectiveness of COVID-preventive behaviors were statistically significantly less likely to be in the low engagement relative to the mixed engagement class. Engagement in COVID-preventive behaviors varies by sociodemographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, race/ethnicity and educational attainment) and health beliefs (i.e., perceived risk of infection, perceived risk of death, and perceived effectiveness of CDC-recommended behaviors). Our findings highlight the potential utility of using health beliefs to inform targeted prevention efforts to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and future pandemics.

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Polygenic propensity for educational attainment has been associated with higher education attendance, academic achievement and criminal offending in predominantly European samples; however, less is known about whether this polygenic propensity is associated with these outcomes among African Americans. Using an educational attainment polygenic score (EA PGS), the present study examined whether this score was associated with post‐secondary education, academic achievement and criminal offending in an urban, African American sample. Three cohorts of participants (N = 1050; 43.9% male) were initially recruited for an elementary school‐based universal prevention trial in a Mid‐Atlantic city and followed into young adulthood. Standardized tests of reading and math achievement were administered in first grade. At age 20, participants reported on their level of education attained, and records of incarceration were obtained from Maryland's Criminal Justice Information System. In young adulthood, DNA was collected and extracted from blood or buccal swabs and genotyped. An EA PGS was created using results from a large‐scale genome‐wide association study on educational attainment. A higher EA PGS was associated with a greater log odds of post‐secondary education. The EA PGS was not associated with reading achievement, although a significant relationship was found with math achievement in the third cohort. These findings contribute to the dearth of molecular genetics work conducted in African American samples and highlight that polygenic propensity for educational attainment is associated with higher education attendance.

Purpose: The objectives of the current study were to: (1) assess the impact of household structure (i.e. living alone compared to living with children, a partner, or both) and presence of children on mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic; and (2) determine whether these associations are moderated by income or sex.Results: A total of 2,524 adults aged 25-55 were included in the analytic sample. Multivariable linear regression models were used to examine associations between explanatory variables and mental distress, measured via the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-4. In adjusted models, each additional child under the age of 12 was associated a decrease in mental distress (β=-0.21, p=0.03). This finding was significant when adjusting for sociodemographic variables (age, sex, race, education, household income, living with a partner, and currently having a job) and historical depressive symptoms (CESD-8). Having children between the ages of 13 and 18 and household structure were not significantly associated with mental distress.Conclusion: This study supports prior literature that demonstrates the positive association of childrearing with psychological well-being, and suggests that these benefits may be present even under stay-at-home orders in the COVID-19 pandemic.