Abstract
COVID-19 has brought considerable changes and caused critical psychological responses, especially among frail populations. So far, researchers have explored the predictive effect of diverse factors on pandemic-related psychological distress, but none have focused on the impact of prior depression and anxiety symptomatology adopting an extended (10-year) longitudinal design. 105 patients aged over 60, affected by hypertension who participated in a previous longitudinal study were assessed through a follow-up telephone structured interview. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) were used for assessing depression and anxiety symptoms and the psychological impact of COVID-19, respectively. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. At the assessment, participants did not report clinically relevant depression, anxiety, and psychological pandemic-related distress symptoms. However, significant mean differences between baseline and current follow-up evaluations for both depression and anxiety were found, reflecting a decrease in symptomatology over time (p < .001). Baseline depression symptoms (β = 1.483, p = .005) significantly predicted the psychological impact of COVID-19 after 10 years. Conversely, their decrease (β = −1.640, p < .001) and living with others (β = −7.274, p = .041) significantly contributed to lower psychological distress scores. Our findings provide insight into the predisposing influence of depressive symptoms on pandemic-related psychological distress ten years later. Preventive interventions and strategies considering these factors are needed to better pre-empt the severe mental consequences of the pandemic.
Highlights
COVID-19 has brought considerable changes and caused critical psychological responses, especially among frail populations
Prior studies have found that higher levels of restrictions due to lockdown measures were related to higher psychological distress, lower life satisfaction, and loneliness[15] and that the latter strongly predicted depressive and anxiety symptomatology[16,17]
The present study aimed at estimating the longitudinal impact of depression and anxiety symptoms on the psychological response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
COVID-19 has brought considerable changes and caused critical psychological responses, especially among frail populations. Researchers have explored the predictive effect of diverse factors on pandemic-related psychological distress, but none have focused on the impact of prior depression and anxiety symptomatology adopting an extended (10-year) longitudinal design. Participants did not report clinically relevant depression, anxiety, and psychological pandemic-related distress symptoms. Does the pandemic constitute an unprecedented healthcare crisis, and a challenging and overwhelming occurrence that has triggered widespread anxiety, depression, distress, insomnia, and fear in the general p opulation[3,4] Such mental health disorders were shown to be attributable to various factors, including gender, social support, length of isolation, and specific experiences with COVID-19 infection[5,6]. Stronger and prolonged social contact reduction and consequent stronger perceived changes in life due to quarantine were shown to be associated with poorer mental health and to contribute to psychiatric symptoms onset, too[18,19,20]
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