COVID-19-Related Daily Stress Processes in College-Aged Adults: Examining the Role of Depressive Symptom Severity.

Exposure to daily stressors specific to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., threat of infection) is associated with emotional distress, heightened stress reactivity, and increased depressive symptomology. Herein, we examined whether current depressive symptomology modulates the association between COVID-19-related daily stressor exposure and negative affective reactivity in young, otherwise healthy, college-aged adults. Fifty-eight adults (21 men; 22±3years) completed a daily web-based interview for eight consecutive days to assess COVID-19-related daily stress exposure and emotional responsiveness (September-November 2020). Depressive symptom severity was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and a score of ≥10 (range: 0-27) was used to define adults with a depressive episode ( n =20). Participants reported at least one COVID-19-related stressor on 35.8% of interview days. Depressive symptomology did not predict the likelihood of exposure to a COVID-19-related stressor ( p =0.46; OR=1.52; 95% CI: 0.492-4.718). However, negative affect (NA) was greater on days with an exposure to any COVID-19-specific daily stressor in adults with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms ( b =0.28, SE=0.093, p =0.003) but not in those without ( b =0.009, SE=0.074, p =0.90), such that negative affective reactivity to COVID-19-related stressors was amplified in adults with a current depressive episode ( p =0.019). Depressive symptomology did not moderate positive affective reactivity ( p =0.686). Taken together, these data suggest that exposure to daily stressors related to COVID-19 further worsens NA in adults with a current depressive episode, potentially rendering them more susceptible to adverse mental health outcomes during the pandemic.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2021 Greaney, Darling, Turner, Saunders, Almeida and Mogle.)