Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36834239›Full record

ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2023

Distress Signals: Age Differences in Psychological Distress before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Sandra Hale, Joel Myerson, Michael J Strube, Leonard Green, Amy B Lewandowski

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The association of food insecurity with psychological distress and health-related quality of life in the general adult population of Lebanon.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Age, income, and the discounting of delayed monetary losses.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Sandra HaleDepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Joel MyersonDepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Michael J StrubeDepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Leonard GreenDepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1555-5757
Amy B LewandowskiDepartment of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3480-056X
Washington University in St. Louis · US

Funding

DECISION-MAKING IN YOUNGER AND OLDER ADULTS: A DISCOUNTING FRAMEWORKR01AG058885 · NIA · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI GREEN, LEONARD S, MYERSON, JOEL · 2018 to 2022
$1.7M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG058885
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Psychological distress reached historically high levels in 2020, but why, and why were there pronounced age differences? We address these questions using a relatively novel, multipronged approach, part narrative review and part new data analyses. We first updated previous analyses of national surveys that showed distress was increasing in the US and Australia through 2017 and then re-analyzed data from the UK, comparing periods with and without lockdowns. We also analyzed the effects of age and personality on distress in the US during the pandemic. Results showed distress levels and age differences in distress were still increasing through 2019 in the US, UK, and Australia. The effects of lockdowns in 2020 revealed the roles of social deprivation and fear of infection. Finally, age-related differences in emotional stability accounted for the observed age differences in distress. These findings reveal the limitations of analyses comparing pre-pandemic and pandemic periods without accounting for ongoing trends. They also suggest that differences in personality traits such as emotional stability modulate responses to stressors. This could explain age and individual differences in both increases and decreases in distress in response to changes in the level of stressors such as those occurring prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indexed as

COVID-19Psychological DistressCommunicable Disease ControlEmotionsHumansPandemicsage differencesCOVID-19 pandemicpsychological distress

Identifiers

PMID36834239
PMCPMC9964389
OpenAlexW4321248191

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.