Trajectories of depression and anxiety during COVID-19 associations with religion, income, and economic difficulties

Abstract

Objective: The current study examined trajectories of anxiety and depression symptoms at three-time points during the COVID-19 pandemic and examined correlates of those trajectories.

Design: Data were collected at three time points during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants: The sample in the current study consisted of 804 respondents who had completed the online questionnaire at all three time points designed for the study.

Results: Using Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) we identified four trajectories: (a) A resilient group reported consistently low levels of symptoms (62% anxiety and 72% depression), (b) a chronic group reported consistently high levels of symptoms (12% anxiety and 14% depression), (c) an emerging group reported low initial symptoms that increased steadily across time (20% anxiety and 13% depression), and (d) an improving group reported high initial symptoms that decreased across time (6% anxiety and 3% depression).

Conclusions: The salient conclusion that emerged from these results is that even in a severe and prolonged crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the most common outcome in the population is that of resilience. Moreover, examining predictors of these trajectories, we found that the resilience trajectory was associated with fewer economic difficulties due to the COVID-19, greater income, and self-identification as religious.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Depression; Longitudinal study; Trajectories.