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. 2023 May 1:328:72-80.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.042. Epub 2023 Feb 16.

What factors explain the changes in major depressive disorder symptoms by age group during the COVID-19 pandemic? A longitudinal study

Aina Gabarrell-Pascuet  1 , Tibor V Varga  2 , María Victoria Moneta  3 , José Luis Ayuso-Mateos  4 , Elvira Lara  4 , Beatriz Olaya  3 , Josep Maria Haro  3 , Joan Domènech-Abella  5
Affiliations

What factors explain the changes in major depressive disorder symptoms by age group during the COVID-19 pandemic? A longitudinal study

Aina Gabarrell-Pascuet et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic suggest an increase in major depressive disorder (MDD) among younger adults. The current study aims to assess the association of age groups and MDD risk before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and quantify the effect of potential mediating variables such as loneliness, social support, resilience, and socioeconomic factors.

Methods: A representative sample of Spanish adults was interviewed before (2019, N = 1880) and during (2020, N = 1103) the COVID-19 pandemic. MDD was assessed using the CIDI, loneliness through the UCLA scale, social support through the OSSS-3, resilience with the 6-BRS, and worsened economic circumstances and unemployment through a single question. Mixed-models were used to study changes in MDD by age group. Regression models were constructed to quantify the association between age and potential mediators, as well as their mediating effect on the association between age group and MDD.

Results: Among the younger age cohorts (18-29 and 30-44 years) the probability of having MDD during the pandemic increased from 0.04 (95 % CI: 0.002-0.09) to 0.25 (0.12-0.39) and from 0.02 (-0.001-0.03) to 0.11 (0.04-0.17), respectively. Some 36.6 % of the association between age and risk of MDD during the pandemic was explained by loneliness (12.0 %), low resilience (10.7 %), and worsened economic situation (13.9 %).

Limitations: Reliance on self-report data and generalizability of the findings limited to the Spanish population.

Conclusions: Strategies to decrease the impact of a pandemic on depressive symptoms among young adults should address loneliness, provide tools to improve resilience, and enjoy improved financial support.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Depression; Economic situation; Loneliness; Resilience; Young.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

Unlabelled Image
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Probability of having major depressive disorder (MDD) by age group and time point. NOTE: Predicted margins from mixed model of Table 2. Control variables were centered at mean according to their distribution in the study sample
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Probabilities of potential risk factors for MDD by age group. Probabilities with 95 % confidence interval obtained through margins calculation from logistic regression models. In the case of social support and loneliness, ordered logistic regression models were constructed and the probabilities of not reporting any loneliness symptoms (i.e., UCLA loneliness score = 3) and reporting a low social support (i.e., OSSS-3 score < 9) were calculated. All models were adjusted for sex, educational level, partner status, province of residence, health, and loneliness and social support at T1. Probabilities were calculated with covariates centered at mean according to their distribution in the study sample.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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