Personality predicts pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 trajectories of transdiagnostic anxiety and depression symptoms.

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize within-person pre-COVID-19 and coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) transdiagnostic anxiety and depression symptom trajectories in emerging adults and determine the roles of neuroticism and behavioral activation in predicting these COVID-19-related changes. We recruited a sample of 342 emerging adults (aged 18–19 at baseline) who were screened on neuroticism and behavioral activation and completed symptom questionnaires on multiple occasions before and after the start of the pandemic. We examined estimates of the symptom factors of General Distress, Anhedonia-Apprehension, and Fears at each wave. The stress amplification model predicts a multiplicative neuroticism–adversity interaction with those high on neuroticism showing the greatest symptom increases to the pandemic. The stably elevated negative affect model is an additive model and predicts that persons high on neuroticism will display elevated symptoms at every wave. General Distress and Anhedonia-Apprehension showed large increases from the pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 transition then decreased thereafter. The increase brought the average General Distress score to clinical levels at the first COVID-19 wave. There was a small decrease in Fears from the pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 transition followed by a large increase. Thus, COVID-19 was associated with both increases in psychological symptoms and some resilience. Neuroticism positively predicted the pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 transition change in Fears but was associated with a dampening of increases in General Distress and Anhedonia-Apprehension. The results disconfirmed the stress amplification model of neuroticism but partially supported the stably elevated negative affect model.

Longitudinal associations among adult attachment orientations, emotion regulation tendencies, and transdiagnostic anxiety and depression symptoms in young adults

“…We also studied these associations in a nonclinical young adult sample who had a narrow age range and higher family incomes on average. Regarding the unique sampling procedures (i.e., oversampling on the two diagonals of the bivariate space defined by neuroticism and reward sensitivity levels), the sample does not represent a known population (Zinbarg et al, 2023). These sampling characteristics make it unclear how these results may generalize to clinical samples, other age groups, non-clinical samples without unique sampling procedures, or lower socioeconomic status samples.…”

Everyday discrimination and trajectories of transdiagnostic symptoms of depression and anxiety among young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“…The present study included participants from a broader, longitudinal Brain, Motivation and Personality Development study, conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University (see Zinbarg et al, 2023, for details on the broader sample). Participants were recruited from the Chicago and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.…”