Depression rates have tripled and symptoms are on the rise

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL – Monday, October 4, 2021 – 5 a.m.ET

Contact:

Michael Saunders, [email protected]

Jillian McKoy, [email protected]

##

Depression rates tripled and symptoms intensified in the first year of COVID-19

People with low incomes and who experienced multiple stressors related to COVID were more likely to feel the effects of the pandemic, as socioeconomic inequalities in mental health continue to grow.

Depression in American adults persisted and worsened throughout the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH).

Published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, the first study of its kind found that 32.8% of American adults had high depressive symptoms in 2021, compared to 27.8% of adults in the first months of the pandemic in 2020 and 8.5% before the pandemic.

The most significant predictors of depressive symptoms during the pandemic were low household income, not being married, and the experience of multiple stressors related to the pandemic. The results underscore the inextricable link between the pandemic and its short- and long-term impact on the mental health of the population.

“The high and sustained prevalence of depression does not follow patterns of previous traumatic events such as Hurricane Ike and the Ebola outbreak,” says study lead author Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean and professor Robert A. Knox at BUSPH. “Typically, we would expect depression to peak after the traumatic event and then decrease over time. Instead, we found that 12 months after the start of the pandemic, levels of depression remained high. “

The study is the first nationally representative study in the United States to examine changes in the prevalence of depression before and during COVID, using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ 9), the primary tool for self-administered depression screening.

The researchers used data from 5,065 respondents to the 2017-18 National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES), as well as respondents to two COVID-19 Life Stressers Impact on Mental Health and Well-Being (CLIMB) surveys ). The first survey included 1,441 respondents and was conducted from March 31 to April 13, 2020, when the majority of the American population was under stay-at-home notice. The second survey was conducted with the same group a year later, from March 23 to April 19, 2021, and included 1,161 respondents.

Both surveys used the PHQ 9 to assess symptoms of depression and gathered the same demographics, and the CLIMB surveys also collected data on COVID-related stressors such as job loss, death of a loved one because of COVID, financial problems, feelings of loneliness, and a lack of child care.

Responses to the survey suggest that the burden of depression has intensified during the pandemic and has had a disproportionate impact on low-income adults. After adjusting for other demographics, people earning less than $ 20,000 in spring 2020 were 2.3 times more likely to have high depressive symptoms, compared to people earning $ 75,000 or more; in the spring of 2021, low-income adults were more than 7 times more likely to experience these symptoms.

Although population-level stressors overall declined in the first year of the pandemic, people with four or more stressors were more likely to also have elevated depressive symptoms and the least likely to overcome these. stressors.

“The sustained and increasing prevalence of elevated depressive symptoms suggests that the burden of the pandemic on mental health has been continuous and has been uneven,” says lead author of the study Catherine Ettman, doctoral candidate at the Brown University School of Public Health and Chief of Staff and Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the Dean of BUSPH. She notes that economic relief and the development of COVID-19 vaccines may have prevented even worse outcomes from depression.

“Low-income populations have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and efforts to move forward should keep this population in mind,” Ettman said. “Tackling stressors such as job loss, difficulty accessing child care and difficulty paying rent will help improve the mental health of the population and reduce the inequalities that have worsened. during the pandemic. “

**

About the Boston University School of Public Health
Founded in 1976, the Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top five private schools of public health in the world. It offers master’s and doctoral level training in public health. Professors from six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with a mission to improve the health of populations, especially the disadvantaged, underserved and vulnerable, locally and globally.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of any press releases posted on EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information via the EurekAlert system.