SynthesisPsychological medicine2024
A narrative systematic review of changes in mental health symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Synthesis in Psychological medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Emotion regulation skills training as an adjunctive treatment to narrative exposure therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in refugees: a pilot randomized controlled trial.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2026Trial
- Risk factors for Problematic Internet Use (PIU) among Polish students: the role of loneliness, depression, and health behaviours in a predictive analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Echoes of ease: Tracing the course of obsessive-compulsive symptoms in the aftermath of a pandemic-Insights from a four-year panel study.The British journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- COVID-19 workplace adaptation in Ireland: the development and validation of a quantitative survey.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- A Brief, Affordable, Broad-Access Transdiagnostic Intervention (Project RE-THINK) for Adolescents: Quasi-Experimental Study.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellbeing up to 2.5 years from its outbreak in Switzerland.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- A Multi-site, longitudinal investigation of emerging adult mental health across multiple stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Effects of exposure to pandemic-related stressors on anxiety and mood difficulty during versus before the COVID-19 pandemic in United States Army soldiers and veterans.Nature. Mental health · 2025Article
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic: unveiling the traits that hold the key-a cross-sectional study.European journal of medical research · 2025Article
- The Roots of Problematic Polydrug Use in Emotional Problems and Suicide Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Biological, Psychosocial, and Microbial Determinants of Childhood-Onset Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Narrative Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Anxiety Symptom Severity and Implicit and Explicit Self-As-Anxious Associations in a Large Online Sample of U.S. Adults: Trends From 2011 to 2022.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2025Article
- Long-term sickness absences based on mental disorders by socioeconomic group - trends of prevalence in Finland 2010-2023.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Physical Activity and Mental Health After COVID-19 Recovery: Age and Sex Differences.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Treatment rates and delays for mental and substance use disorders: results from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Article
- Pandemic Fallout: Sustained Declines in Young People's Subjective Well-Being and Protective Factors in Switzerland.Social indicators research · 2025Article
- Article
- Intolerance of uncertainty as a predictor of anxiety severity and trajectory during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- The COVID-19 pandemic and wellbeing in Switzerland-worse for young people?Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2024Article
- The COVID-19 Experience in Adolescents: Emotional and Behavioral Recall at the End of the Pandemic.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns regarding population-wide impacts on mental health. Existing work on the psychological impacts of disaster has identified the potential for multiple response trajectories, with resilience as likely as the development of chronic psychopathology. Early reviews of mental health during the pandemic suggested elevated prevalence rates of multiple forms of psychopathology, but were limited by largely cross-sectional approaches. We conducted a systematic review of studies that prospectively assessed pre- to peri-pandemic changes in symptoms of psychopathology to investigate potential mental health changes associated with the onset of the pandemic (PROSPERO #CRD42021255042). A total of 97 studies were included, covering symptom clusters including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fear, anxiety, depression, and general distress. Changes in psychopathology symptoms varied by symptom dimension and sample characteristics. OCD, anxiety, depression, and general distress symptoms tended to increase from pre- to peri-pandemic. An increase in fear was limited to medically vulnerable participants, and findings for PTSD were mixed. Pre-existing mental health diagnoses unexpectedly were not associated with symptom exacerbation, except in the case of OCD. Young people generally showed the most marked symptom increases, although this pattern was reversed in some samples. Women in middle adulthood in particular demonstrated a considerable increase in anxiety and depression. We conclude that mental health responding during the pandemic varied as a function of both symptom cluster and sample characteristics. Variability in responding should therefore be a key consideration guiding future research and intervention.
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Registered trials
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