Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia - Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Katalin Gémes¹, Jakob Bergström², Davide Papola³, Corrado Barbui³, Agnes Iok Fong Lam⁴, Brian J Hall⁵, Soraya Seedat⁶, Naser Morina⁷, Soledad Quero⁸, Daniel Campos⁹, Irene Pinucci¹⁰, Lorenzo Tarsitani¹¹, Séverine Deguen¹², Judith van der Waerden¹³, Martina Patanè¹⁴, Marit Sijbrandij¹⁴, Ceren Acartürk¹⁵, Sebastian Burchert¹⁶, Richard A Bryant¹⁷, Ellenor Mittendorfer-Rutz²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: katalin.gemes@ki.se.
² Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
⁴ Centre for Macau Studies, University of Macau, Macao (SAR), People's Republic of China.
⁵ Center for Global Health Equity, New York University (Shanghai), Shanghai, People Republic of China; School of Public Health, New York University, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁷ Department of Consultation-Liason Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁸ Department of Basic, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain; CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
⁹ Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Huesca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IISAragon), Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁰ Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
¹² INSERM U1136, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Paris, France; EHESP School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rennes, France.
¹³ INSERM U1136, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Paris, France.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey.
¹⁶ Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁷ University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 35598751
PMCID: PMC9119165
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.082

Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia - Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Katalin Gémes et al. J Affect Disord. 2022.

. 2022 Aug 15:311:214-223.

doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.082. Epub 2022 May 19.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: katalin.gemes@ki.se.
² Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
³ WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
⁴ Centre for Macau Studies, University of Macau, Macao (SAR), People's Republic of China.
⁵ Center for Global Health Equity, New York University (Shanghai), Shanghai, People Republic of China; School of Public Health, New York University, New York, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁷ Department of Consultation-Liason Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
⁸ Department of Basic, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain; CIBER de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
⁹ Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Huesca, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Aragón (IISAragon), Zaragoza, Spain.
¹⁰ Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy; Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹¹ Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
¹² INSERM U1136, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Paris, France; EHESP School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rennes, France.
¹³ INSERM U1136, Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Épidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Paris, France.
¹⁴ Department of Clinical, Neuro-, and Developmental Psychology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
¹⁵ Department of Psychology, Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey.
¹⁶ Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
¹⁷ University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

PMID: 35598751
PMCID: PMC9119165
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.05.082

Abstract

Background: Little is known about changes of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in potentially disadvantaged groups. We investigated changes in anxiety and depression symptoms during the first year of the pandemic in six European countries and Australia by prior mental disorders and migration status.

Methods: Overall, 4674 adults answered a web-based survey in May-June 2020 and were followed by three repeated surveys up to February 2021. Information on psychosocial, financial and demographic, living conditions, prior mental disorders, depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic and migration status was collected. Weighted general estimation equations modelling was used to investigate the association between prior mental disorders, migration status, and symptoms over time.

Results: Most participants were <40 years old (48%), women (78%) and highly educated (62%). The baseline prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms ranged between 19%-45% and 13%-35%, respectively. In most countries, prevalence rates remained unchanged throughout the pandemic and were higher among people with prior mental disorders than without even after adjustment for several factors. We observed interactions between previous mental disorders and symptoms of anxiety or depression over time in two countries. No difference by migration status was noted.

Limitations: Convenience sampling limits generalizability. Self-assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety might involve some misclassification.

Conclusions: Depression and anxiety symptoms were worse among individuals with prior mental disorders than without, but there was no clear trend of worsening mental health in the observed groups during the observed period.

Keywords: COVID-19; General population; Longitudinal study; Prior mental disorders; Symptoms of anxiety and depression; migration status.

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Figures

**Fig. 1**
Prevalence estimates of individuals with symptoms of depression and anxiety in all study waves by previous mental disorders, weighted and imputed data in the fully adjusted model.

**Fig. 2**
Prevalence estimates of individuals with symptoms of depression and anxiety in all study waves by migration status, weighted and imputed data in the fully adjusted model.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia - Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Affiliations

Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia - Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical