The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and exposure to other potentially traumatic events up to old age

Abstract

We investigated whether the impact of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) on trauma-related symptoms changes across the transitional adult lifespan (i.e., 16-100 years old) and if this association differs for self-reported COVID-19-related PTEs compared to other PTEs. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 7,034 participants from 88 countries between late April and October 2020. Participants completed the Global Psychotrauma Screen (GPS), a self-report questionnaire assessing trauma-related symptoms. Data were analyzed using linear and logistic regression analyses and general linear models. We found that older age was associated with lower GPS total symptom scores, B = -0.02, p < .001; this association remained significant but was substantially weaker for self-reported COVID-19-related PTEs compared to other PTEs, B = 0.02, p = .009. The results suggest an association between older age and lower ratings of trauma-related symptoms on the GPS, indicating a blunted symptom presentation. This age-related trend was smaller for self-reported COVID-19-related PTEs compared to other PTEs, reflecting the relatively higher impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults.