Factors associated with prolonged COVID-related PTSD-like symptoms among adults diagnosed with mild COVID-19 in Poland

Sapir Elkayam; Emilia Łojek; Marcin Sękowski; Dominika Żarnecka; Anna Egbert; Julia Wyszomirska; Karolina Hansen; Ewa Malinowska; Lucette Cysique; Bernice Marcopulos; Natalia Gawron; Marta Sobańska; Małgorzata Gambin; Paweł Holas; Agnieszka Pluta; Sylwia Hyniewska

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1358979

Factors associated with prolonged COVID-related PTSD-like symptoms among adults diagnosed with mild COVID-19 in Poland

Front Psychol. 2024 Mar 14:15:1358979. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1358979. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Sapir Elkayam¹, Emilia Łojek¹, Marcin Sękowski², Dominika Żarnecka¹, Anna Egbert³, Julia Wyszomirska⁴, Karolina Hansen¹, Ewa Malinowska¹, Lucette Cysique⁵, Bernice Marcopulos^{6

7}, Natalia Gawron², Marta Sobańska¹, Małgorzata Gambin¹, Paweł Holas¹, Agnieszka Pluta¹, Sylwia Hyniewska¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
² Department of Psychology, The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Psychology Department, St. Joseph's University New York, Brooklyn, NY, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
⁵ School of Psychology, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁶ Department of Graduate Psychology, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, United States.
⁷ School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States.

Abstract

COVID-19 has been considered a possible cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or similar conditions. However, what specific disease symptoms may contribute most to prolonged PTSD-like symptoms in COVID-19 survivors is unclear. The study aimed to present the factor structure of COVID-19 symptoms and identify which symptoms of COVID-19 best explain the subsequent presence of PTSD-like symptoms in mild COVID-19 survivors. COVID-positive adults (n = 341) completed online self-report scales at the baseline assessment (T1) and after approximately 4 months (T2), including The Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety-Depression Scale; The Scale of Psychosocial Experience Related to COVID-19, The Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5; and self-designed questionnaires evaluating the severity of COVID-related medical and neurocognitive symptoms and pre-pandemic variables. Exploratory factor analysis revealed five factors of COVID-19 symptoms: flu-like, respiratory, cold, neurological, and neurocognitive. Hierarchical logistic regression showed that besides selected control variables (anxiety and depression, presence of PTSD-like symptoms, COVID-related stigma in T1), neurocognitive symptoms of COVID-19 in T1 but not other symptoms of the disease were a significant predictor of the presence of PTSD-like symptom in T2. Findings suggest a need for a comprehensive neurocognitive assessment of people diagnosed with COVID-19 and prompt interventions targeting the prevention of potential risks for long-term PTSD-like states at the community level.

Keywords: COVID-19; emotional functioning; neurocognitive symptoms; posttraumatic stress; social support; stigma.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, from the funds awarded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in the form of a subsidy for the maintenance and development of research potential in 2022 and 2023 (Ref. 501-D125-01-1250000 zlec. 5011000236).