Young Adult Mental Health Beyond the COVID-19 Era: Can Enlightened Policy Promote Long-Term Change?

Gruber, June; Hinshaw, Stephen P.; Clark, Lee Anna; Rottenberg, Jonathan; Prinstein, Mitchell J.

doi:10.1177/23727322221150199

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This study adds nuance to evidence surrounding mental health deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that not all young adults experienced the pandemic equally. Findings can inform prevention and early intervention targets for both ongoing COVID-19 recovery and future-proofing ahead of other major crises, particularly among vulnerable groups ( Gruber et al, 2023 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What set some young adults apart during the COVID-19 pandemic? Mental health trajectories, risk and protective factors in an Australian longitudinal study

Donohoe-Bales,

O’Dean,

Smout

et al. 2024

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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Objective: Evidence suggests that young adults (aged 18–34) were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but little is known about their longer-term mental health changes beyond the early pandemic period. This article investigates heterogeneous trajectories of mental health among Australian young adults across 2 years of the pandemic and identifies a broad range of associated risk and protective factors. Method: Young adults ( N = 653, Mage = 27.8 years) from the longitudinal Alone Together Study were surveyed biannually between July 2020 and June 2022. Measures assessed anxiety (7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale) and depression (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire) symptoms at Waves 1–4, as well as demographic, psychological, adversity and COVID-19 factors at baseline. Results: Four and three distinct trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively, were identified through growth mixture modelling. The proportion of participants in each anxiety trajectory were Asymptomatic (45.9%), Mild Stable (17.9%), Moderate–Severe Stable (31.1%) and Initially Severe/Recovering (5.1%). For depression, Mild Stable (58.3%), Moderate–Severe Stable (30.5%) and Reactive/Recovering (11.2%). Baseline factors associated with severe symptom trajectories included a lifetime mental health disorder, pre-pandemic stressful events, identifying as LGBTQIA+ and/or female, and experiencing one or more infection-control measures. Higher household income was protective. Conclusion: Most young adults demonstrated stable trajectories of low or high symptoms during the pandemic, with smaller groups showing initially severe or reactive symptoms followed by marked improvements over time. Vulnerable subgroups (gender- or sexuality-diverse, those with prior adversity or pre-existing mental ill-health) may face ongoing impacts and require targeted psychosocial supports to assist their mental health recovery post-COVID-19 and in the event of future crises.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry,58(5) both ongoing COVID-19 recovery and future-proofing ahead of other major crises, particularly among vulnerable groups (Gruber et al, 2023).…”

Section: Declaration Of Conflicting Interestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What set some young adults apart during the COVID-19 pandemic? Mental health trajectories, risk and protective factors in an Australian longitudinal study

Donohoe-Bales,

O’Dean,

Smout

et al. 2024

Aust N Z J Psychiatry

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“…Results appear consistent with the stress sensitization model, which suggests that those with a history of negative life events (such as cisgender girls and TGD individuals) are more vulnerable to future stressors (Post, 1992). During the ongoing adolescent mental health crisis, mental healthcare needs to emphasize prevention-focused programs (Gruber et al, 2023) to aim to minimize stress-sensitization effects. The results of the present study may inform intervention practice, suggesting that social support and other interventions should be allocated to vulnerable groups during the current mental health crisis, as well as in all stages of future widespread disasters in order to mitigate impacts on mental health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Moderating Effect of Gender on Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms Throughout the First Wave of COVID-19

Curran,

Hilt

2023

Youth & Society

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In 2020, COVID-19 began to affect adolescents’ mental health, particularly cisgender girls and transgender/gender diverse (TGD) adolescents, who previously experienced a greater risk for depression and anxiety disorders than their peers. The present study investigated the moderating effect of gender on internalizing symptoms among three community samples of adolescents ( N = 5,487; Mage= 14.7, SD = 1.4) throughout the first wave of COVID-19 (pre-pandemic, mid-first wave, and post-first wave). Rates of internalizing symptoms were highest for TGD adolescents at all timepoints, followed by cisgender girls, who were significantly higher than cisgender boys. Gender moderated the effect of time on internalizing symptoms. Specifically, internalizing symptoms increased only for cisgender girls. These results suggest that during widescale disasters, intervention should focus on those with previous vulnerabilities to mental health symptoms such as cisgender girls and TGD adolescents.

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“…Different studies claim that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of young people, worsening their emotional well-being [12]. Young adults and adolescents have been particularly vulnerable to the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown [13,14]. A meta-analysis [15], including 13,247 nursing students, identified a prevalence of depression of 52% and anxiety of 32%, in addition to other health problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Salivary Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Cortisol Associated with Psychological Alterations in University Students

Ballestar-Tarín,

Ibáñez-del Valle,

Mafla-España

et al. 2024

Diagnostics

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Introduction: Recent evidence reported mental health issues in university students such as anxiety and depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality. Decreased plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels have been proposed as a biomarker of depressive symptoms, whereas cortisol levels are an index of energy mobilization and stress and have been linked to sleep quality. Given that salivary biomarkers represent an interesting new field of research, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate salivary BDNF and cortisol levels in university students to assess whether they have associations with psychological disturbances such as anxiety and depressive symptoms, sleep quality, and stress level. Methods: Salivary BDNF and cortisol levels were measured by specific immunoassays in 70 students whose mental health was also evaluated on the same day through the evaluation of anxiety and depression symptoms (Goldberg scale), sleep quality (Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and Athens Insomnia Scale), and stress (self-perceived stress scale) and healthy lifestyle habits (alcohol consumption, smoking, regular exercise, and body mass index) were also measured. Multivariate regression analyses were performed in order to identify the strengths of associations between psychological alterations and the concentrations of BDNF, cortisol, and other variables. Results: Salivary BDNF levels were significantly higher in students with more depressive symptoms, whereas no significant differences were found for cortisol levels. When performing the binary logistic regression model, BDNF levels are included as a predictor variable for a high-depressive-symptoms burden (p < 0.05). Students with worse sleep quality on the Pittsburg Scale had higher cortisol levels (p < 0.05). The subdomains of sleep latency and sleep medication were those significantly associated with salivary cortisol levels in logistic regression analyses (OR = 15.150, p = 0.028). Sleep medication only appeared to be related to cortisol levels (OR = 185.142, p = 0.019). Perceived stress levels and anxiety symptoms were not associated with BDNF or cortisol levels. Conclusions: BDNF could play a key role in the pathophysiology of mood-related disorders, and elevation of its peripheral levels could contribute to protecting neurons from the development of mental illness. Higher salivary cortisol levels measured in the morning are accompanied by poorer sleep quality. More research is needed, focusing on salivary biomarkers of disorders related to depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality as a potential tool for the diagnosis and prevention of mental illness.

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Young Adult Mental Health Beyond the COVID-19 Era: Can Enlightened Policy Promote Long-Term Change?

Cited by 5 publications

References 53 publications

What set some young adults apart during the COVID-19 pandemic? Mental health trajectories, risk and protective factors in an Australian longitudinal study

What set some young adults apart during the COVID-19 pandemic? Mental health trajectories, risk and protective factors in an Australian longitudinal study

Evaluating the Moderating Effect of Gender on Adolescents’ Internalizing Symptoms Throughout the First Wave of COVID-19

Salivary Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Cortisol Associated with Psychological Alterations in University Students

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