ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2020
Low assets and financial stressors associated with higher depression during COVID-19 in a nationally representative sample of US adults.
Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Focusing attention on the important association between food insecurity and psychological distress: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Mental disorders following COVID-19 and other epidemics: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Translational psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety After COVID-19 Despite Systematic Telemedical Care: Results From the Prospective COVID-SMART Study.Depression and anxiety · 2025Trial
- Food Insecurity Prevalence, Severity and Determinants in Australian Households during the COVID-19 Pandemic from the Perspective of Women.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Factors Associated with Depressive Symptoms Among Korean Young Adults by Sex in the Third Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Social Ties and Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in China During Emergencies: The Moderating Role of Disaster Exposure.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on 144 Studies Including 406,043 Participants: Prévalence et corrélats des symptômes dépressifs au Canada pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 : revue systématique et méta-analyse de 144 études comprenant 406 043 participants.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Review
- Association Between Unmet Healthcare Needs and Depression in Older Adults: Evidence from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Digitization and Active Aging: How Digital Finance Shapes the Mental Health of Empty-Nest Older Individuals.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Economic inequality and mental health in older adults: Exploring new dimensions of economic well-being.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Review
- Impact of COVID-19 on Incident Depression and Anxiety: A Population-Based Observational Study Using Statewide Claims Data.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Area-level credit scores and symptoms of depression and anxiety in adults.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Emotional and Financial Stressors in New York City During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Consecutive Cross-Sectional Analysis.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2025Article
- Article
- Differential Effects of Pandemic-Related Stressors on Mental Health by Age and Sex.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Multiple material need insecurities and severity of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic among women who use drugs.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Food Insufficiency Increased After The Expiration Of COVID-19 Emergency Allotments For SNAP Benefits In 2023.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2024Article
- The association of increased SNAP benefits during COVID-19 with food insufficiency and anxiety among US adults: a quasi-experimental study.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Financial strain, schooling modality and mental health of US adults living with children during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2024Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCOVID-19 and related containment policies have caused or heightened financial stressors for many in the USA. We assessed the relation between assets, financial stressors and probable depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsBetween 31 March 2020 and 13 April 2020, we surveyed a probability-based, nationally representative sample of US adults ages 18 and older using the COVID-19 and Life stressors Impact on Mental Health and Well-being survey (n=1441). We calculated the prevalence of probable depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (cut-off ≥10) and exposure to financial stressors by financial, physical and social assets categories (household income, household savings, home ownership, educational attainment and marital status). We estimated adjusted ORs and predicted probabilities of probable depression across assets categories and COVID-19 financial stressor exposure groups.
resultsWe found that (1) 40% of US adults experienced COVID-19-related financial stressors during this time period; (2) low assets (OR: 3.0, 95% CI 2.1 to 4.2) and COVID-19 financial stressor exposure (OR: 2.8, 95% CI 2.1 to 3.9) were each associated with higher odds of probable depression; and (3) among persons with low assets and high COVID-19 financial stressors, 42.7% had probable depression; and among persons with high assets and low COVID-19 financial stressors, 11.1% had probable depression. Persons with high assets and high COVID-19 financial stressors had a similar prevalence of probable depression (33.5%) as persons with low assets and low COVID-19 financial stressors (33.5%). The more assets a person had, the lower the level of probable depression.
conclusionPopulations with low assets are bearing a greater burden of mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.