ArticleFrontiers in psychology2023
Age differences in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: March 2020 - June 2021.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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
30 citing papers in PubMed.
- Sex differences in psychological distress and its risk factors among US adult Black and White immigrants, NHIS 2005-2018.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Longitudinal Impact of Psychosocial Factors on Cognition and Hearing in Younger and Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR · 2026Article
- How personality traits shape susceptibility to mental distress in times of crisis: Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Did Religion Help Me?: Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Grenada.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- Older Age Is Associated with Fewer Depression and Anxiety Symptoms Following Extreme Weather Adversity.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of autistic and non-autistic adults in Eastern Germany.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on symptoms of depression and anxiety among older adults: the MYHAT study.Aging & mental health · 2025Article
- Health Care Workers' Experience With a Psychological Self-Monitoring App During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
- Coping With Bereavement and Loss Experiences Among Families of Deceased due to COVID-19 in Guilan Province, Northern Iran: A Cross-Sectional Study.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Psychological distress across 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic differs by age and by race/ethnicity.Journal of traumatic stress · 2025Article
- Levels and predictors of PTSS in young children aged 3-12 years at the hardest-hit area of China during early COVID-19 outbreak.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Mediating Factors and Demographic Disparities Associated With Disordered Eating in University Students During the Era of COVID-19.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2025Article
- The Pandemic's Impact on Mental Well-Being in Sweden: A Longitudinal Study on Life Dissatisfaction, Psychological Distress, and Worries.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Mental health symptoms and discrimination among immigrant and US-born Hispanic or Latino adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Disrupted and Disconnected Post Disaster: Associations Between the Social and Built Environment and Loneliness During COVID-19 in a U.S. Gulf Coast Sample.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Associations of subjective age trajectories with loneliness and stress across adulthood.PloS one · 2025Article
- Sleep problems were unrelated to social media use in the late COVID-19 pandemic phase: A cross-national study.PloS one · 2025Article
- The contribution of socio-demographic, health-related and psychological factors to the perception of changes in life following a few waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.Health psychology report · 2025Article
- Psychological Distress Among Ethnically Diverse Participants From Eastern and Southern Africa.JAMA network open · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In March 2020, COVID-19 brought illness, lockdowns, and economic turmoil worldwide. Studies from March-April 2020 reported increased psychological distress, especially among younger (vs. older) adults. Here, we examine whether age differences persisted in a 29-wave longitudinal survey conducted with an American national life-span sample over the first 16 months of the pandemic. Socio-emotional selectivity theory (SST) predicts that older age will be consistently associated with lower psychological distress due to life-span changes in motivation, while the strength and vulnerability integration model (SAVI) posits that age differences in psychological distress will diminish under prolonged stress. We find that younger adults consistently reported more psychological distress than older adults, though age differences did decrease over time. Prior diagnosis with anxiety or depression additionally predicted greater psychological distress throughout the study, but did not moderate age differences. We discuss implications for psychological theories of aging and interventions to reduce psychological distress.
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.