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Evidence of the psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including depression, anxiety, and health anxiety, has been documented globally. College students are a unique sub-set of the population with consistently elevated psychological distress associated with the pandemic, and well-informed intervention is urgently needed. The current study is the first, to our knowledge, to document the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of undergraduates in a heavily impacted area in the United States. Cross-sectional, self-report data on psychological distress and COVID-19 exposure were collected from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 641 undergraduates between April 7-9 May 2020. Nearly half of the students reported elevated psychological distress, including health anxiety, general anxiety, and depression. Heightened risk of psychological distress was associated with female sex, a COVID-19 case in one's immediate social network, underlying medical vulnerabilities, and recent experience of ≥3 viral symptoms. Vigilance to viral symptoms and worry about coronavirus were also factors associated with more severe psychological distress. The current study highlights some of the factors associated with a greater risk of developing psychological distress due to COVID-19 and can be used to inform the dissemination of psychological interventions.

Presentation 20266

Supplemental Material, sj-pdf-1-eax-10.1177_21676968211025128 for A Qualitative Study of COVID-19 Distress in University Students by Samantha G. Farris, Mindy M. Kibbey, Erick J. Fedorenko and Angelo M. DiBello in Emerging Adulthood

Presentation19247

Frequency of cannabis use and cognitive vulnerabilities such as anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the fear of bodily sensations), have been independently linked with poor physical health, however the interplay between these health-mental health processes may compound poor physical health and functioning in cannabis users. Thus, the current study evaluated the direct and interactive effects of cannabis use frequency and anxiety sensitivity on physical health and functioning among cannabis-using veterans. Participants (N = 138) were post-9/11 United States veterans recruited from a Veterans Affairs hospital who reported cannabis use in the past six months. Cannabis use frequency in the past month and anxiety sensitivity were significantly negatively correlated with perceived overall physical health. There was a significant interaction between cannabis use frequency and anxiety sensitivity, such that more frequent cannabis use was associated with poorer overall health and role functioning due to health problems among veterans with higher anxiety sensitivity (but not lower). Findings suggest that anxiety sensitivity is a cognitive vulnerability linked to poor perceived physical health and impairment among frequent cannabis users and could be targeted, along with cannabis use, for health-promotion in cannabis users.

BACKGROUND:The acute effects of aerobic exercise on improved mood and anxiety reduction have been demonstrated across clinical and nonclinical populations. Limited work has evaluated the acute effects of aerobic exercise on negative affect, obsessions, and compulsions in patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). METHOD:Fifty-five patients (64% female) with treatment-resistant OCD were randomized to either 12 weeks of aerobic exercise (AE) or health education contact (HEC) control. Participants rated negative affect (i.e., mood and anxiety), obsessions and compulsions before and after each weekly AE or HEC session. Multilevel models were constructed to evaluate the effect of intervention condition, treatment week (time), and their interaction in terms of acute change in affect, obsession, and compulsions. RESULTS:Results reflected a main effect of condition, such that AE resulted in significantly larger increases in positive mood, and reductions in anxiety and compulsions, as compared to HEC. There was also a main effect of time in predicting acute anxiety reduction, such that linear reductions in anxiety over the course of treatment were observed. No significant effects were observed for acute changes in obsessions. LIMITATIONS:The sample was small and was limited in demographic heterogeneity. Bouts of aerobic exercise were not standardized in terms of duration and mode, which could impact affective response to exercise, and acute affective OCD effects were exclusively self-reported. DISCUSSION:The current findings may help elucidate potential mechanisms of action of exercise on OCD outcomes. In addition, these results point toward the potential of designing exercise interventions that can teach patients to utilize individual bouts of physical activity, "in-the-moment" to improve mood and reduce anxiety and compulsions.

Presentation ID 15872

Presentation ID 15940

In 1998 a network of 20 regional tuberculosis (TB) laboratories (the Italian Multicentre Study on Resistance to Antituberculosis drugs (SMIRA) network) was established in Italy to implement proficiency testing and to monitor the prevalence of drug resistance nationwide. The network managed 30% of all TB cases reported in Italy each year. The aim of the present report is to describe: 1) the accuracy of drug-susceptibility testing in the network; 2) the prevalence of drug resistance for the period 1998-2000. Data were collected from the network laboratories. Sensitivity to streptomycin and ethambutol increased from the first survey (1998-1999) to the second survey (2000) from 87.7 to 91.9%. Specificity, predictive values for resistance and susceptibility, efficiency and reproducibility were consistent in both surveys. In previously untreated cases, the prevalence of multidrug-resistance was the same in both surveys (1.2%), while a slight decrease from the first to the second survey was observed for monoresistance to rifampicin (from 0.8 to 0.4%) and isoniazid (from 2.9 to 2%). The significant association found between isoniazid resistance and immigration is a useful indicator for both clinicians managing individual tuberculosis cases and public health services planning control strategies.