Primary emotions as predictors for fear of COVID-19 in former inpatients with Major Depressive Disorder and healthy control participants

Simon Sanwald,Thomas Kammer,Maximilian Gahr,Carlos Schönfeldt-Lecuona,Markus Kiefer,Katharina Widenhorn-Müller,Christian Montag

doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03677-2

Abstract

IntroductionThere are reports of an increase in depressive symptoms and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in patients with depression. This study investigates factors related to fear of COVID-19 in former inpatients suffering from depression and healthy controls by assessing variables typically associated with depression and anxiety disorders, i.e. stressful life events (SLEs), the primary emotions SADNESS, PLAY and SEEKING as well as dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies with respect to suppression and reappraisal.MethodsData of n = 44 former inpatients suffering from depression and n = 49 healthy controls were collected. The study had a longitudinal design with two measurement points. Before the pandemic, SLEs, primary emotions, emotion regulation and depression severity were assessed. During the pandemic, COVID-19 associated stressors and life events, emotion regulation, depression severity and fear of COVID-19 were assessed.ResultsFear of COVID-19 and depression severity during the pandemic were significantly higher in former inpatients than in healthy controls. Depression diagnosis, SLEs and depression severity before the pandemic were significant positive predictors of fear of COVID-19. The primary emotion PLAY was a significant negative predictor of fear of COVID-19. Depression severity did not change significantly in healthy controls.ConclusionThe results show that risk factors for depression might be risk factors for high fear of COVID-19. In addition, a playful personality could help preventing mental stress in pandemic situations. Thus, positivity based interventions could counteract elevated fear scores during a pandemic.

Highlights

There are reports of an increase in depressive symptoms and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in patients with depression
Experience of COVID‐19 related stressful life events Only 2.0% (n = 1) of the participants of the healthy control group and 4.7% (n = 2) of the participants of the group of former inpatients were infected with SARSCoV-2, there was no significant difference in infection frequencies. 8.2% (n = 4) of the group of healthy controls and 11.6% (n = 5) of the group of former inpatients indicated that a close person was infected with SARS-CoV-2
Inpatients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) scored significantly lower on the primary emotion SEEKING and on the primary emotion PLAY than controls did

Summary

Introduction

There are reports of an increase in depressive symptoms and fear during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in patients with depression. This study investigates factors related to fear of COVID-19 in former inpatients suffering from depression and healthy controls by assessing variables typically associated with depression and anxiety disorders, i.e. stressful life events (SLEs), the primary emotions SADNESS, PLAY and SEEKING as well as dysfunctional emotion regulation strategies with respect to suppression and reappraisal. A prospective increase in psychological stress during COVID-19 lockdown in a representative family sample has been shown [1] Another recent study reported anxiety, worry and depressive symptoms to be relevant factors for the level of psychological distress an individual experiences during the current pandemic [10]. Whether individuals with preexisting depression diagnosis are especially vulnerable to fear of the current pandemic, to the best of our knowledge, has not yet been investigated. The following sections provide a short description of Major Depression and the risk factors for developing depression examined in this study

Methods

Results

Conclusion