Prevalence and risk factors of psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the ELSA-Brasil COVID-19 mental health cohort

Brunoni, André R.; Suen, Paulo; Bacchi, Pedro Starzynski; Razza, Laís B.; Klein, Izio; Santos, Leonardo Afonso dos; Santos, Itamar de Souza; Valiengo, Leandro; Neto, José Gallucci; Moreno, María Alejandra; Pinto, Bianca Silva; Félix, Larissa de Cássia Silva; Sousa, Juliana Pereira de; Viana, María Carmen; Forte, Pamela Marques; Cardoso, Marcia Cristina de Altisent Oliveira; Bittencourt, Márcio Sommer; Pelosof, Rebeca; Siqueira, Luciana Lima de; Fatori, Daniel; Bellini, Helena; Bueno, Priscila V.; Passos, Ives Cavalcante; Nunes, Maria Angélica; Salum, Giovanni Abrahão; Bauermeister, Sarah; Smoller, Jordan W.; Lotufo, Paulo A

doi:10.1017/s0033291721001719

Cited by 46 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 52 publications

(75 reference statements)

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“…With the large sample size of the current study, almost any mean difference is statistically significant, despite their small effect sizes. These findings add to the growing evidence or smaller negative effects on mental health than previously expected [15][16][17][18] . Our results are also in line with reports that suggest that population levels symptoms of mental health increase immediately after lockdown, but then decreased again as the pandemic continues 14,16,66 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…Although several studies have reported that the pandemic negatively affects mental health, the extent of these effects remains an open question because most reports focused on statistically significant average differences rather than effect size. When reported, the effect sizes are typically small to medium 14 , and some studies find little change in mental health following the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown [15][16][17][18] . Some reports suggest that population levels of anxiety and depression were elevated immediately after lockdown, but then decreased again as the pandemic continued 14,16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The consequences of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic for the mental health of young adult twins in England and Wales

Rimfeld

Malanchini

Arathimos

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all our lives, not only through the infection itself, but also through the measures taken to control the virus spread (e.g., lockdown). Here we investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented lockdown affected the mental health of young adults in England and Wales. We compared the mental health symptoms of up to 4,000 twins in their mid-twenties in 2018 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (T1) to those in a four-wave longitudinal data collection during the pandemic in April, July, and October 2020, and in March 2021 (T2-T5). The average changes in mental health were small-to-medium and mainly occurred from 2018 (T1) to March 2020 (T2, one month following the start of lockdown; average Cohen d=0.14). Despite the expectation of catastrophic effects on the pandemic on the mental health of our young adults, we did not observe trends in worsening mental health during the pandemic (T3-T5). Young people with pre-existing mental health problems were adversely affected at the beginning of the pandemic, but their increased problems largely subsided as the pandemic persisted. Twin analyses indicated that the aetiology of individual differences did not change during the lockdown. The average heritability of mental health symptoms was 33% across 5 waves of assessment, and the average genetic correlation between T1 and T2-T5 was .95, indicating that genetic effects before the pandemic (T1) are substantially correlated with genetic effects up to a year later (T2-T5). We conclude that on average the mental health of young adults in England and Wales has been remarkably resilient to the effects of the pandemic and associated lockdown.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The consequences of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic for the mental health of young adult twins in England and Wales

Rimfeld

Malanchini

Arathimos

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite the rise in inquiries for anxiety, this study found no impact on depression [33]. Another study in Brazil did not find evidence of increases in rates of common mental disorders and depression when comparing two prepandemic assessments (2008-2010 and 2016-2018) and the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic (May-July 2020) [34]. An important aspect of the longitudinal nature of our study is that we could assess the change at the individual level.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Changes in Depressive Symptoms, Stress and Social Support in Mexican Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rivera

McGuinn

Osorio-Valencia

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The aim of this study was to examine changes in depression, stress and social support levels before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in women living in Mexico City. We studied 466 women enrolled in the Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment and Social Stressors (PROGRESS) study who completed the Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) questionnaire prior (2018–2019) and during the lockdown period of the pandemic (May–November 2020). Psychosocial stress and social support for both time periods were ascertained using the Crisis in Family Systems (CRISYS) questionnaire and the Social Support Network (SSN) Scale, respectively. Associations between stress, social support and change in EDS score/depression were analyzed using generalized linear models adjusting for covariates. Higher stress (>median) during the pandemic was associated with an increase in EDS score (β: 2.13; 95% CI (1.06, 3.19), p < 0.001), and higher odds of depression (OR: 3.75; 95% CI (2.17, 6.50), p < 0.001), while social support was associated with lower odds of depression (OR: 0.56, 95% CI (0.32, 0.97), p = 0.037). Higher levels of stress during the pandemic were associated with depression. Social support may act as a buffer for the effects of psychosocial stress. Future studies should examine the long-term effects of stress associated with the pandemic on mental and overall health.

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“…Longitudinal studies of the general populations of the United Kingdom and the United States that tracked changes in mental health from before the pandemic and through the first year found that early increases in anxiety and depression disappeared within several months (Daly and Robinson, 2021a;Daly and Robinson, 2021b). Moreover, a longitudinal study from Brazil found no changes in depression from before and during the pandemic, and a significant decrease in anxiety (Brunoni et al, 2021). Thus, to date, disruption to population mental health caused by COVID-19 does not seem to have been as severe as was initially predicted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectories of change in internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal population-based study

Vallières¹,

Daly²,

Butter³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: Longitudinal data indicates that the mental health of the general population may not have been as badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as some had feared. Most studies examining change in mental health during the pandemic have assumed population homogeneity which may conceal evidence of worsening mental health for some. In this study, we applied a heterogeneous perspective to determine if there were distinct groups in the population characterised by different patterns of change in internalizing symptoms during the pandemic. Methods: Self-report data were collected from a nationally representative sample of Irish adults (N = 1,041) at four time-points between April and December 2020. Results: In the entire sample, mean levels of internalizing symptoms significantly declined from March to December 2020. However, we identified four distinct groups with different patterns of change. The most common response was ‘Resilience’ (66.7%), followed by ‘Improving’ (17.9%), ‘Worsening’ (11.3%), and ‘Sustained’ (4.1%). Belonging to the ‘Worsening’ class was associated with younger age, city dwelling, current and past treatment for a mental health problem, higher levels of empathy, and higher levels of loneliness. Limitations: Sample attrition was relatively high and although this was managed using robust statistical methods, bias associated with non-responses cannot be entirely ruled out. Conclusion: The majority of adults experienced no change, or an improvement in internalizing symptoms during the pandemic, and a relatively small proportion of adults experienced a worsening of internalizing symptoms. Limited public mental health resources should be targeted toward helping these at-risk individuals.

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Prevalence and risk factors of psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the ELSA-Brasil COVID-19 mental health cohort

Cited by 46 publications

References 52 publications

The consequences of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic for the mental health of young adult twins in England and Wales

The consequences of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic for the mental health of young adult twins in England and Wales

Changes in Depressive Symptoms, Stress and Social Support in Mexican Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Trajectories of change in internalizing symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal population-based study

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