Acute and longer-term psychological distress associated with testing positive for COVID-19: longitudinal evidence from a population-based study of US adults
This article has been Reviewed by the following groups
Listed in
- Evaluated articles (ScreenIT)
Abstract
Background
The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has produced a considerable public health burden but the impact that contracting the disease has on mental health is unclear. In this observational population-based cohort study, we examined longitudinal changes in psychological distress associated with testing positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Methods
Participants ( N = 8002; observations = 139 035) were drawn from 23 waves of the Understanding America Study, a nationally representative probability-based online panel of American adults followed-up every 2 weeks from 1 April 2020 to 15 February 2021. Psychological distress was assessed using the standardized total score on the Patient Health Questionnaire-4.
Results
Over the course of the study, 576 participants reported testing positive for COVID-19. Using regression analysis including individual and time-fixed effects we found that psychological distress increased by 0.29 standard deviations ( p < 0.001) during the 2-week period when participants first tested positive for COVID-19. Distress levels remained significantly elevated ( d = 0.16, p < 0.01) for a further 2 weeks, before returning to baseline levels. Coronavirus symptom severity explained changes in distress attributable to COVID-19, whereby distress was more pronounced among those whose symptoms were more severe and were slower to subside.
Conclusions
This study indicates that testing positive for COVID-19 is associated with an initial increase in psychological distress that diminishes quickly as symptoms subside. Although COVID-19 may not produce lasting psychological distress among the majority of the general population it remains possible that a minority may suffer longer-term mental health consequences.
Article activity feed
-
-
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.25.21254326: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: The UAS was approved by the University of Southern California human subjects committee internal review board (IRB) and informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Consent: The UAS was approved by the University of Southern California human subjects committee internal review board (IRB) and informed consent was obtained from all participants.Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable Demographic characteristics and other potential moderating factors: We examined a set of demographic factors that may moderate the association between COVID-19 and psychological distress: participant age … SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.25.21254326: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: The UAS was approved by the University of Southern California human subjects committee internal review board (IRB) and informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Consent: The UAS was approved by the University of Southern California human subjects committee internal review board (IRB) and informed consent was obtained from all participants.Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable Demographic characteristics and other potential moderating factors: We examined a set of demographic factors that may moderate the association between COVID-19 and psychological distress: participant age (18-39, 40-59, 60+ years), gender (male, female), race/ethnicity (White, Hispanic, Black, Other race/ethnicity), and annual household income levels (≤$40,00, $40,000–$100,000 ≥$100,000 per annum). Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No funding statement was detected.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
-
