Exposure to COVID‐19 pandemic stress: Associations with depression and anxiety in emerging adults in the United States

Abstract

Background: Stressful events due to the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are likely to have profound effects on mental health, and validated methods for assessing these experiences and associations with psychopathology are needed. We developed the Pandemic Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and tested its psychometric properties, characterized experiences in emerging adults, and examined associations with internalizing symptoms. Methods: Emerging adults (N = 450) completed the PSQ and measures of internalizing symptoms and perceived stress through an online platform in May 2020. One month later, 288 participants completed a follow-up questionnaire to assess reliability of the PSQ and longitudinal associations between stress and internalizing symptoms. Results: Results supported the validity/reliability of PSQ total scores and indicated that stressful events were highly prevalent in May, particularly among younger, female, and Black emerging adults. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were high overall, but decreased at the follow-up assessment. Pandemic-related stress was moderately associated with both depression and anxiety at each assessment, but baseline stress did not predict change in symptoms when controlling for baseline symptoms. Conclusions: Results provide empirical evidence that emerging adults are at high risk for depression and anxiety related to the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight specific types of experiences associated with greatest risk. Further, this study provides support for a questionnaire measure of experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic that can be applied in future work to advance understanding of risk and resilience in response to stressful events.

Post-lockdown depression and anxiety in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic

“… 19 Concerning race and ethnicity, Hispanics and blacks have been shown to have higher anxiety-, depression- and COVID-19-related mortality rates since the beginning of the pandemic. 20 , 21 Families with children and lower incomes are susceptible to greater stress leading to depression and anxiety due to multiple social and economic stressors that have been accentuated by the pandemic. 18–22 Sociocultural factors from before the pandemic, along with the vulnerability to COVID-19, have rendered catastrophic consequences for several such groups (young, urban, minorities and families with low incomes).…”

The Persian Version of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (Persian-C19P-S) and the Differences in COVID-19-Related Phobic Reactions in Patients with Anxiety Disorders

“…It may increase the prevalence of anxiety disorders (Shanmugam et al, 2020), especially GAD and PD (Abba-Aji et al, 2020;Frohman, Melamed, et al, 2020;Islam et al, 2020;Javelot & Weiner, 2020;Kaba & Sari, 2020;Li et al, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic also increases stress reactions in patients with anxiety disorders (Khosravani, Asmundson, et al, 2021) leading them to experience more anxiety (Kujawa et al, 2020). A study has shown that patients with anxiety disorders, especially those with GAD and PD, are more likely to show distressing reactions to COVID-19 (Khosravani, Asmundson, et al, 2021).…”

Guillain-Barre Syndrome in a Patient With Asymptomatic Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection and Major Depressive Disorder

“…One underrecognized effect of the pandemic is the decline of mental health in our communities. Kujawa et al reported that pandemic-related stress was associated with increased depression and anxiety [1]. Similarly, in a study among 1,041 adults in Ireland, Hyland et al demonstrated that 28% of the people screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) or depression in the first week of the COVID-19 lockdown [2] compared to a baseline lifetime prevalence of 5.1-11.9% of GAD in the United States [3,4].…”