Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38587666›Full record

ArticleEuropean archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience2025

Genetic predisposition for negative affect predicts mental health burden during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alicia M Schowe, Malvika Godara, Darina Czamara, Mazda Adli, Tania Singer, Elisabeth B Binder

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

6 authors.

Alicia M Schowe *Department of Genes and Environment, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany. alicia_schowe@psych.mpg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-7148-9517
Malvika Godara *Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, 10557, Berlin, Germany. malvika.godara@gv.mpg.de.
Darina CzamaraDepartment of Genes and Environment, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.
Mazda AdliDepartment of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, CCM, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Tania Singer *Social Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, 10557, Berlin, Germany.
Elisabeth B Binder *Department of Genes and Environment, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.

Funding

Berlin University Alliance 114_GC_Pandemie_23
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was accompanied by an increase in mental health challenges including depression, stress, loneliness, and anxiety. Common genetic variants can contribute to the risk for psychiatric disorders and may present a risk factor in times of crises. However, it is unclear to what extent polygenic risk played a role in the mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we investigate whether polygenic scores (PGSs) for mental health-related traits can distinguish between four resilience-vulnerability trajectories identified during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns in 2020/21. We used multinomial regression in a genotyped subsample (n = 1316) of the CovSocial project. The most resilient trajectory characterized by the lowest mental health burden and the highest recovery rates served as the reference group. Compared to this most resilient trajectory, a higher value on the PGS for the well-being spectrum decreased the odds for individuals to be in one of the more vulnerable trajectories (adjusted R-square = 0.3%). Conversely, a higher value on the PGS for neuroticism increased the odds for individuals to be in one of the more vulnerable trajectories (adjusted R-square = 0.2%). Latent change in mental health burden extracted from the resilience-vulnerability trajectories was not associated with any PGS. Although our findings support an influence of PGS on mental health during COVID-19, the small added explained variance suggests limited utility of such genetic markers for the identification of vulnerable individuals in the general population.

Indexed as

COVID-19Genetic Predisposition to DiseaseMental HealthMultifactorial InheritanceResilience, PsychologicalAdultAnxietyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuroticismYoung AdultCOVID-19Mental healthPandemicPolygenic risk scoresResilienceVulnerability

Identifiers

PMID38587666
PMCPMC11799032

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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.