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A to study of the Boston University School of Public Health found that there were increasing rates of depression among American adults during the first year of the pandemic, with a higher prevalence among those on low incomes and multiple factors of stress related to COVID-19.
Researchers surveyed more than 1,100 adults last spring – most of the same group they had studied in March and April 2020. They found that nearly 33% of study participants reported symptoms of depression this year, up from 28% at the start of the pandemic.
According to lead researcher Catherine Ettman, determining factors included low income, not being married and stressors related to the pandemic.
“… such as difficulty finding child care, difficulty paying rent or finding housing, and loss of employment,” Ettman said. “So people who reported having experienced four or more stressors were more likely to report probable depression. “
The researchers found that the likelihood of depression among low-income people increased in the first year of the pandemic. The 2021 survey found that the odds of depression among people with household income of less than $ 20,000 were seven times higher than those with household income of $ 75,000 or more, compared with 2, 3 times more the previous year.
“So what we’ve found is that the gaps are growing… We want to be aware that the pandemic has been uneven and that we are seeing the effects on mental health have been uneven, ”Ettman said. “So if we know that stressors such as difficulty finding child care, difficulty paying rent, and job loss are associated with a greater likelihood of depression, then policies to reduce these stressors can help.“
The study found that mental illness persisted longer during the pandemic than after other traumatic events, including September 11 and Hurricane Katrina; this is likely due to the duration, scale and cumulative effect of the pandemic and its “pervasive disruption” in people’s lives, according to the report.
The researchers believe their study is the first to look at changing rates of depression in a nationally representative sample of American adults during the first year of the pandemic. Its conclusions are in line with those of other studies who found increasing rates of mental illness in the United States during the pandemic.
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