Association among income loss, financial strain and depressive symptoms during COVID-19: evidence from two longitudinal studies

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has major ramifications for global health and the economy, with growing concerns about economic recession and implications for mental health. Here we investigated the associations between COVID-19 pandemic-related income loss with financial strain and mental health trajectories over a 1-month course. Methods. Two independent studies were conducted in the U.S and in Israel at the beginning of the outbreak (March-April 2020, T1; N = 4 171) and at a 1-month follow-up (T2; N = 1 559). Mixed-effects models were applied to assess associations among COVID-19-related income loss, financial strain, and pandemic-related worries about health, with anxiety and depression, controlling for multiple covariates including pre-COVID-19 income. Findings. In both studies, income loss and financial strain were associated with greater depressive symptoms at T1, above and beyond T1 anxiety, worries about health, and pre-COVID-19 income. Worsening of income loss was associated with exacerbation of depression at T2 in both studies. Worsening of subjective financial strain was associated with exacerbation of depression at T2 in one study (US). Interpretation. Income loss and financial strain were uniquely associated with depressive symptoms and the exacerbation of symptoms over time, above and beyond pandemic-related anxiety. Considering the painful dilemma of lockdown versus reopening, with the tradeoff between public health and economic wellbeing, our findings provide evidence that the economic impact of COVID-19 has negative implications for mental health. Funding. This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation, Foundation Dora and Kirsh Foundation.

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Associations between Adolescents’ Prosocial Experiences and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

10.31234/osf.io/2s73n ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lauren Alvis ◽

Robyn Douglas ◽

Natalie Shook ◽

Benjamin Oosterhoff

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Native American ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Anxiety Symptoms ◽

Stressful Events ◽

The Us ◽

Helping Others ◽

Interpersonal Needs ◽

Multiple Regression Models ◽

Relief Efforts

Natural disasters and times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are extremely stressful events, with mental health consequences. But, such events also provide opportunities for prosocial support between citizens, which may be related to mental health symptoms and interpersonal needs. We examined adolescents’ prosocial experiences as both actors and recipients during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and assessed whether these experiences were associated with indicators of mental health. Adolescents (N = 437; 78% female) aged 13 to 20 years (Mage = 16.43, SD = 1.10; 63.6% White, 12.9% Hispanic/Latinx, 8.5% Asian, 4.2% Black, 2.8% Native American) were recruited across the US in early April of 2020. Participants reported on their COVID-19 prosocial experiences (helping others, receiving help) and mental health (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, burdensomeness, belongingness). Multiple regression models indicated greater engagement in COVID-19 prosocial behavior was associated with greater anxiety symptoms and greater burdensomeness. Receiving more COVID-19 help was associated with lower depressive symptoms and higher belongingness. Findings highlight the importance of furthering our understanding of the nuanced connections between prosocial experiences and adolescents' mental health to help inform post-pandemic recovery and relief efforts.

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Association of coping strategies with mental health trajectories during the first twenty-one weeks of COVID-19 lockdown

10.31234/osf.io/hy5wb ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Meg Fluharty ◽

Feifei Bu ◽

Andrew Steptoe ◽

Daisy Fancourt

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Coping Strategies ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Social Study ◽

Mental Health Symptoms ◽

Health Symptoms ◽

Health Trajectories ◽

Over Time

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health is well evidenced. However, there is little research on how individuals’ coping strategies during the pandemic were related to changes in mental health over time. The current study used data from the COVID-19 Social Study (N=26,505) to explore whether particular coping strategies (problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidant, and supportive) were associated with (i) better mental health as lockdown was introduced, and (ii) faster recovery from symptoms across 21 weeks. People with greater use of problem-focused, avoidant, and supportive coping displayed more mental health symptoms, while greater use of emotion-focused coping was associated with fewer mental health symptoms. Symptoms decreased over time for all coping strategies, but only supportive coping was associated with a faster decrease in anxiety and depressive symptoms, indicating a potential protective effect of social support on psychological distress.

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Doing More With Less: A Survey of Economic Precarity, Financial Strain, Burnout, and Secondary Traumatic Stress in Philadelphia’s Public Mental Health System

10.31234/osf.io/a6fjn ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Briana Shiri Last ◽

Simone H. Schriger ◽

Emily M. Becker-Haimes ◽

Sara Fernandez-Marcote ◽

Natalie Dallard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health System ◽

Traumatic Stress ◽

Mental Health System ◽

Secondary Traumatic Stress ◽

Public Mental Health ◽

Financial Strain ◽

Public Mental Health System ◽

Mental Health Funding ◽

Education Debt

Background: Efforts to increase the implementation of evidence-based interventions come at a time of rising inequality and cuts to public mental health funding. Clinicians in publicly funded mental health clinics face increased demands, work long hours, experience financial stress, and treat clinically severe, under-resourced patients. A detailed understanding of clinicians' economic precarity, financial strain, and job-related stressors, and an understanding of how these factors relate to treatment delivery, is needed. Methods: In July 2020, we surveyed 49 clinicians working in Philadelphia’s public mental health system who participated in a large-scale trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) training initiative. Respondents reported on professional burnout, economic precarity, financial strain, secondary traumatic stress, and self-reported use of TF-CBT. We examined associations between clinicians’ economic precarity, job-related stressors, and their TF-CBT use with mixed models. We used content coding to organize open-ended responses into themes.Results: Economic precarity, financial strain, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress among respondents was high. Thirty-seven percent of clinicians were independent contractors, and of those, 44% reported desiring a salaried position. Most clinicians (76%) had outstanding education loans, and of those, 38% reported over $100,000 in education debt. In the last year, 29% of clinicians went without personal mental healthcare due to cost. Most clinicians (73%) endorsed at least one symptom of secondary traumatic stress, with 22% scoring above the clinical cutoff. Education debt was negatively associated with TF-CBT use (p<0.001). Secondary traumatic stress, measured continuously and categorically, was associated with burnout (ps<0.05).Discussion: Clinicians in Philadelphia’s public mental health system experience burnout, economic precarity, financial strain, and secondary traumatic stress, which were associated with TF-CBT use. The economic strain and stress of providing care in under-resourced clinical settings may interfere with ongoing efforts to integrate scientific evidence into mental health services. Financial investment in the mental health workforce is essential.

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Food Insecurity and Mental Health Trajectories During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Evidence

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1578 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 408-409

Author(s):

Dexia Kong ◽

Peiyi Lu ◽

Elissa Kozlov ◽

Mack Shelley

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Longitudinal Data ◽

Health Outcomes ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Mental Health Outcomes ◽

Mixed Effect ◽

Health Trajectories ◽

Over Time

Abstract The extent to which food insecurity impacts changes in mental health outcomes over time in the context of Covid-19 remains unknown. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey, the objectives of the present study were to: (1) assess the prevalence of food insecurity among U.S. adults amid the Covid-19 pandemic; and (2) investigate the relationships between food insecurity statuses and changes in mental health outcomes over time as the pandemic unfolds. Longitudinal data from the Internet-based Understanding Coronavirus in America survey collected bi-weekly between April and December 2020 were used (n=4,068, 15 repeated measures). Adult respondents (aged ≥18) were asked about their food insecurity experiences and stress/anxiety/depressive symptoms. Linear mixed-effect models examined changes in mental health outcomes over time among groups with various food insecurity statuses. Overall prevalence of food insecurity was 8%. Food insecurity was consistently associated with higher levels of stress/anxiety/depressive symptoms (p<0.001). Stress/anxiety/depressive symptoms declined over time among food-secured U.S adults. However, mental health trajectories of respondents with various food insecurity categories, including food insecurity status, persistent food insecurity, and food insecurity of higher severity and longer duration, remained stable or worsened over time. Moreover, the mental health gap between food-secured and food-unsecured participants widened over time. Food insecurity represents a pressing public health problem during the Covid-19 pandemic with substantial mental health implications. Persistent and severe food insecurity may contribute to mental health disparity in the long term. Food insecurity reduction interventions may alleviate the estimated alarming mental health burden as the pandemic unfolds.

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Predicting depressive symptoms in unemployed

Psihologija ◽

10.2298/psi0501005m ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 5-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zorica Maric

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Depressive Symptomatology ◽

Self Esteem ◽

Research Literature ◽

Financial Strain ◽

Unemployed People

In this study we review recent research literature focused on relationship between unemployment and depression, and theories emphasizing the mechanisms by which unemployment may contribute to increased levels of depression. Our research investigated depressive symptomatology and its predictors among unemployed people (N = 453) varying in length of unemployment. Results showed that self - mastery, self - esteem, financial strain, gender, intensity of job - seek behavior and length on unemployment were significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Results are discussed in light of current theories of unemployment and mental health and recommendations are made for practice.

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Financial Changes and Health During COVID-19 in the National Health and Aging Trends Study

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.2160 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 566-566

Author(s):

Melissa Hladek ◽

Thomas Cudjoe ◽

Brittany Drazich ◽

Qiwei Li ◽

Sarah Szanton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Sleep Quality ◽

National Health ◽

National Sample ◽

Financial Difficulty ◽

Income Loss ◽

Poverty Threshold ◽

Financial Changes

Abstract This study tested associations between income decline and financial difficulty with mental health (lack of feeling anxious/depressed, recurring thoughts/nightmares, avoiding activities/thoughts, feeling jumpy/on guard) and sleep quality during COVID-19 among a national sample of 3,188 older adults. Approximately 8% of US older adults reported income decline and 6% reported financial difficulty. Although income decline and financial difficulty rates were both statistically significantly higher among those financially strained before COVID-19 (19% and 34%, respectively), income decline was more common among those with incomes ≥200% of the poverty threshold (9%) whereas financial difficulty was more common among those with incomes <200% poverty (10%). Adjusting for sociodemographic, health and depressive symptoms before COVID-19, financial difficulty was associated with worse mental health (b= -2.39, p<0.001) and sleep quality (b=-0.820, p<0.001), but income loss was not (b= -0.685, p=0.092 and b= -0.405, p=0.082, respectively). Timely interventions are needed for older adults reporting COVID-19 financial difficulty.

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Longitudinal Changes in Life Satisfaction and Mental Health in Emerging Adulthood During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Risk and Protective Factors

Emerging Adulthood ◽

10.1177/21676968211042109 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 216769682110421

Author(s):

Richard Preetz ◽

Andreas Filser ◽

Ana Brömmelhaus ◽

Tim Baalmann ◽

Michael Feldhaus

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Satisfaction ◽

Protective Factors ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Risk And Protective Factors ◽

Change Score ◽

Financial Strain ◽

Longitudinal Changes ◽

Daily Routines ◽

Health Trajectories

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted emerging adults’ daily routines due to social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and public and educational facilities’ closure. This article uses longitudinal panel data from Germany ( N = 625) to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affects emerging adults’ mental health and life satisfaction. Specifically, we investigate risk and protective factors for within-person changes in life satisfaction and mental health using change score models. Our analysis reveals three main findings. First, we find a significant decline in emerging adults’ life satisfaction and mental health compared to pre-pandemic levels. Second, results show heterogeneity in life satisfaction and mental health trajectories. Third, limited peer contacts, financial strain, and returning to the parental home act as risk factors for longitudinal changes. Social integration, having an intimate partner, and self-efficacy act as protective factors. We discuss the implications of our findings for the consequences of the pandemic for emerging adults.

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Depression and loneliness during COVID-19 restrictions in the United States, and their associations with frequency of social and sexual connections

10.1101/2020.05.18.20101840 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Molly Rosenberg ◽

Maya Luetke ◽

Devon Hensel ◽

Sina Kianersi ◽

Debby Herbenick

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Low Income ◽

The United States ◽

Social Connections ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Us ◽

Prevalence Of Depression ◽

Nationally Representative

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of depression and loneliness during the US COVID-19 response, and examine their associations with frequency of social and sexual connections. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of American adults (n=1010), aged 18-94, running from April 10-20, 2020. We assessed depressive symptoms (CES-D-10 scale), loneliness (UCLA 3-Item Loneliness scale), and frequency of in-person and remote social connections (4 items, e.g. hugging family member, video chats) and sexual connections (4 items, e.g. partnered sexual activity, dating app use). Results: One-third of participants (32%) reported depressive symptoms, and loneliness was high [mean (SD): 4.4 (1.7)]. Those with depressive symptoms were more likely to be women, age 20-29, unmarried, and low-income. Frequent in-person connections were associated with lower depression and loneliness; frequent remote connections were not. Conclusions: Depression and loneliness were elevated during the early US COVID-19 response. Those who maintained frequent in-person, but not remote, social and sexual connections had better mental health outcomes. While COVID-19 social restrictions remain necessary, it will be critical to expand mental health services to serve those most at-risk and identify effective ways of maintaining social and sexual connections from a distance.

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The Impact of Economic Recessions on Depression, Anxiety, and Trauma-Related Disorders and Illness Outcomes—A Scoping Review

Behavioral Sciences ◽

10.3390/bs11090119 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 119

Author(s):

Olivia Guerra ◽

Ejemai Eboreime

Keyword(s):

Low Socioeconomic Status ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Adult Population ◽

Economic Recession ◽

Financial Strain ◽

Income Loss ◽

Economic Recessions ◽

Self Harm ◽

The Impact ◽

Illness Outcomes

In the wake of a global economic recession secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic, this scoping review seeks to summarize the current quantitative research on the impact of economic recessions on depression, anxiety, traumatic disorders, self-harm, and suicide. Seven research databases (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science: Core Collection, National Library of Medicine PubMed, PubMed Central, and Google Scholar) were searched for keywords returning 3412 preliminary results published since 2008 in Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD)nations. These were screened by both authors for inclusion/exclusion criteria resulting in 127 included articles. Articles included were quantitative studies in OECD countries assessing select mental disorders (depression, anxiety, and trauma-/stress-related disorders) and illness outcomes (self-harm and suicide) during periods of economic recession. Articles were limited to publication from 2008 to 2020, available online in English, and utilizing outcome measures specific to the disorders and outcomes specified above. A significant relationship was found between periods of economic recession and increased depressive symptoms, self-harming behaviour, and suicide during and following periods of recession. Results suggest that existing models for mental health support and strategies for suicide prevention may be less effective than they are in non-recession times. It may be prudent to focus public education and medical treatments on raising awareness and access to supports for populations at higher risk, including those vulnerable to the impacts of job or income loss due to low socioeconomic status preceding the recession or high levels of financial strain, those supporting others financially, approaching retirement, and those in countries with limited social safety nets. Policy makers should be aware of the potential protective nature of unemployment safeguards and labour program investment in mitigating these negative impacts. Limited or inconclusive data were found on the relationship with traumatic disorders and symptoms of anxiety. In addition, research has focused primarily on the working-age adult population with limited data available on children, adolescents, and older adults, leaving room for further research in these areas.

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