Investigating the role of individual differences in coping strategies and neural circuit structure in depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

The inability to regulate emotional responses to stressful events has been found to be associated with the development of symptoms of depression and anxiety. Cortical and subcortical brain regions implicated in emotion regulation, and other aspects of self-control, such as the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), insula, and hippocampus, may be involved in the neural underpinnings of this association. Self-reported coping strategies are one means to assess the attempt to regulate emotion responses and achieve self-control. However, we do not know the extent to which the association between the explicit use of coping strategies and structural variation in these brain regions contributes to experiences of depression and anxiety in response to stressful events. The COVID-19 pandemic is a salient stressful event, worldwide, that is likely to evoke depression and anxiety in many individuals, especially in those who are already experiencing psychiatric illness. In this context, the temporal onset of the pandemic offers a naturalistic design for investigating whether variations in coping strategies and in neural circuit structure that characterize individuals prior to a major stressful event are associated with the severity and/or development of depression and anxiety symptoms as a consequence of that stressful event (i.e., the pandemic). To our knowledge, no study has investigated how coping strategies and neural circuit structure prior to the COVID-19 pandemic relate to the severity of clinical symptoms during the pandemic. In a sample of adult participants with and without clinical symptoms of depression and anxiety prior to the pandemic, we will first assess whether coping strategies (defined as maladaptive or adaptive) are associated with changes in the severity of depression and anxiety symptoms as a function of the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, we will assess whether characteristic variations in the structure of neural circuit regions implicated in self-control and emotion regulation are also associated with changes in depression and anxiety symptoms as a function of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, we will examine whether coping strategies moderate the relationship between neural circuit structure and clinical symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.