The Impact of COVID-19 on Adolescent Mental Health: Preliminary Findings From a Longitudinal Sample of Healthy and At-Risk Adolescents

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on far-reaching consequences for adolescents. Adolescents with early life stress (ELS) may be at particular risk. We sought to examine how COVID-19 impacted psychological functioning in a sample of healthy and ELS-exposed adolescents during the pandemic. Methods: A total of 24 adolescents (15 healthy, nine ELS) completed self-report measures prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effect of COVID-19 on symptoms of depression and anxiety were explored using linear mixed-effect analyses. Results: With the onset of the pandemic, healthy but not ELS-exposed adolescents evidenced increased symptoms of depression and anxiety (ps < 0.05). Coping by talking with friends and prioritizing sleep had a protective effect against anxiety for healthy adolescents (t = -3.76, p = 0.002). Conclusions: On average, this study demonstrated large increases in depression and anxiety in adolescents who were healthy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, while ELS-exposed adolescents evidenced high but stable symptoms over time.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescents; anxiety; depression; stress.

Figure 1

A timeline of state and local government restrictions and the trajectory of total cases. Between the pre-pandemic baseline and the COVID-19 follow-up assessment, participants had experienced the onset of the pandemic, a shelter-in-place order, rising rates of local cases, and a push toward reopening.

Figure 2

Spaghetti plots depicting self-reported depression and anxiety in healthy controls and early life stress exposed adolescents. Means for each group are depicted via a bolded line. A significant Group by Time Interaction was found for the LME models examining depression [F_{(1, 22)} = 4.54, p = 0.045, d = 0.91] and anxiety [F_{(1, 22)} = 9.35, p = 0.009, d = 1.23]. HC subjects demonstrated meaningful increases in depression and anxiety (t = 3.43, p = 0.003, d = 1.07; t = 3.10, p = 0.005, d = 0.81), while ELS subjects did not (t = −0.05, p = 0.96; t = −1.25, p = 0.222). ELS, early life stress; HC, healthy control; LME, Linear Mixed-Effects Model; PROMIS, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement System.