The effects of the pandemic on mental health in persons with and without a psychiatric history. Issue 6 (8th April 2023) - Murphy, Eleanor
Abstract: Background: Prospective studies are needed to assess the influence of pre-pandemic risk factors on mental health outcomes following the COVID-19 pandemic. From direct interviews prior to ( T1 ), and then in the same individuals after the pandemic onset ( T2 ), we assessed the influence of personal psychiatric history on changes in symptoms and wellbeing. Methods: Two hundred and four (19–69 years/117 female) individuals from a multigenerational family study were followed clinically up to T1 . Psychiatric symptom changes ( T1 -to- T2 ), their association with lifetime psychiatric history (no, only-past, and recent psychiatric history), and pandemic-specific worries were investigated. Results: At T2 relative to T1, participants with recent psychopathology (in the last 2 years) had significantly fewer depressive (mean, M = 41.7 v. 47.6) and traumatic symptoms ( M = 6.6 v. 8.1, p < 0.001), while those with no and only-past psychiatric history had decreased wellbeing ( M = 22.6 v. 25.0, p < 0.01). Three pandemic-related worry factors were identified: Illness/death, Financial, and Social isolation. Individuals with recent psychiatric history had greater Illness/death and Financial worries than the no/only-past groups, but these worries were unrelated to depression at T2 . Among individuals with no/only-past history, Illness/death worries predicted increased T2 depression [ B = 0.6(0.3), p < 0.05]. Conclusions: As recent psychiatric history was not associated with increased depression or anxiety during the pandemic, new groups of previously unaffected persons might contribute to the increased pandemic-related depression and anxiety rates reported. These individuals likely represent incident cases that are first detected in primary care and other non-specialty clinical settings. Such settings may be useful for monitoring future illness among newly at-risk individuals.