ArticlePsychological medicine2022
Emotional distress in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence of risk and resilience from a longitudinal cohort study.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 350 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Study Protocol on Peer Digital Acceset (PDA): A Randomized Controlled Trial to Translate Online Peer Support for Youth Mental Well-being
Feasibility, Acceptability, and Effectiveness of a Coping and Resilience Intervention in Adolescents in the Post-COVID-19 Era
Who cites it
350 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 687 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental Health Symptom Changes by Sex or Gender Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2026Pooled it
- Mental health and mental health help-seeking behaviors among first-generation voluntary African migrants: A systematic review.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- [Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cannabis use in young adults and general population: a systematic review].Revista espanola de salud publica · 2023Pooled it
- Community interventions for anxiety and depression in adults and young people: A systematic review.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- An observatory on changes in dreaming during a pandemic: a living systematic review (part 1).Journal of sleep research · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review of mental health symptom changes by sex or gender in early-COVID-19 compared to pre-pandemic.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Age, Motivation, and Emotion Regulation Skills Predict Treatment Outcome in an Internet-Based Self-Help Intervention for COVID-19 Related Psychological Distress.Frontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Understanding the mental health effects of social support among university students: a hybrid SEM-ANN approach.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A review on mental health challenges and interventions in the context of pandemics, terrorism, war and armed conflicts.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- Psychomotor and neurofunctional sequelae after COVID-19.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2026Article
- Dynamic Benefits of Finding the Silver Lining: Secondary Control as a Buffer Against Declines in Well-Being During COVID-19.Motivation and emotion · 2026Article
- Trends in Sedative-Hypnotic Prescription Among Insomnia Patients: A Nationwide Cohort Study From 2010 to 2022 in Korea.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Tracking everyday emotional experiences in university students with the distinct mood assessment questionnaire.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2026Article
- The importance of the socio-historical context: similarities and differences in identity development and psychological adjustment across two cohorts of Spanish college emerging adults.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Predictors of Loneliness, Mental Wellbeing, and Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland.International journal of public health · 2026Article
- The bidirectional relationship between emotional distress and subjective wellbeing among college students: a cross-lagged network analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Depression, anxiety, and stress among adults in Kuwait across pre- and post-vaccine phases of the COVID-19 pandemic: a repeated cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- A rank ordering and analysis of nine resilience competencies demonstrates the special importance of thought management in maintaining resilience.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal trajectories of social isolation and loneliness across the lifespan during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Multi-site, longitudinal investigation of emerging adult mental health across multiple stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
290 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated lockdown could be considered a 'perfect storm' for increases in emotional distress. Such increases can only be identified by studies that use data collected before and during the pandemic. Longitudinal data are also needed to examine (1) the roles of previous distress and stressors in emotional distress during the pandemic and (2) how COVID-19-related stressors and coping strategies are associated with emotional distress when pre-pandemic distress is accounted for.
methodsData came from a cohort study (N = 768). Emotional distress (perceived stress, internalizing symptoms, and anger), COVID-19-related stressors, and coping strategies were measured during the pandemic/lockdown when participants were aged 22. Previous distress and stressors were measured before COVID-19 (at age 20).
resultsOn average, participants showed increased levels of perceived stress and anger (but not internalizing symptoms) during the pandemic compared to before. Pre-COVID-19 emotional distress was the strongest predictor of during-pandemic emotional distress, followed by during-pandemic economic and psychosocial stressors (e.g. lifestyle and economic disruptions) and hopelessness, and pre-pandemic social stressors (e.g. bullying victimization and stressful life events). Most health risks to self or loved ones due to COVID-19 were not uniquely associated with emotional distress in final models. Coping strategies associated with reduced distress included keeping a daily routine, physical activity, and positive reappraisal/reframing.
conclusionsIn our community sample, pre-pandemic distress, secondary consequences of the pandemic (e.g. lifestyle and economic disruptions), and pre-pandemic social stressors were more consistently associated with young adults' emotional distress than COVID-19-related health risk exposures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.