Stein, Janine and Pabst, Alexander and Berger, Klaus and Karch, Andre and Teismann, Henning and Streit, Fabian and Grabe, Hans J. and Mikolajczyk, Rafael and Massag, Janka and Lieb, Wolfgang and Castell, Stefanie and Heise, Jana-Kristin and Schulze, Matthias B. and Gastell, Sylvia and Harth, Volker and Obi, Nadia and Peters, Annette and Huemer, Marie-Theres and Bohmann, Patricia and Leitzmann, Michael and Schipf, Sabine and Meinke-Franze, Claudia and Hebestreit, Antje and Fuhr, Daniela C. and Michels, Karin B. and Jaskulski, Stefanie and Stocker, Hannah and Koch-Gallenkamp, Lena and Willich, Stefan N. and Keil, Thomas and Loeffler, Markus and Wirkner, Kerstin and Riedel-Heller, Steffi G. (2024) Mental health of individuals with pre-existing mental illnesses at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: results of the German National Cohort (NAKO). FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH, 12: 1451631. ISSN , 2296-2565
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Background The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a range of studies on mental health, with mixed results. While numerous studies reported worsened conditions in individuals with pre-existing mental disorders, others showed resilience and stability in mental health. However, longitudinal data focusing on the German population are sparse, especially regarding effects of age and pre-existing mental disorders during the early stages of the pandemic.Objectives To assess the interplay between psychiatric history, age, and the timing of the pandemic, with a focus on understanding how these factors relate to the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms.Methods Exploratory analyses were based on 135,445 individuals aged 20-72 years from the German National Cohort (NAKO). Depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed before and after the first wave of the pandemic. Inferential statistical analyses and negative binomial regression models were calculated.Results Persons with a self-reported psychiatric history exhibited comparable levels of depression and anxiety symptom severity after the first wave of the pandemic compared to the time before. In contrast, individuals without a psychiatric history, particularly those in their 20s to 40s, experienced an increase in mental health symptom severity during the first wave of the pandemic.Limitations Analyses focuses on the first wave of the pandemic, leaving the long-term mental health effects unexplored.Conclusion Future research should consider age-specific and mental-health-related factors when addressing global health crises. Additionally, it is important to explore factors influencing resilience and adaptation, aiming to develop targeted interventions and informed policies for effective mental health management during pandemics.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ; COVID-19 pandemic; mental health; depression; anxiety; longitudinal cohort study; German National Cohort (NAKO) |
| Subjects: | 600 Technology > 610 Medical sciences Medicine |
| Divisions: | Medicine > Institut für Epidemiologie und Präventivmedizin > Lehrstuhl für Genetische Epidemiologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Aug 2025 05:32 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Aug 2025 05:32 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/65667 |
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