Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41050434›Full record

ArticleNature. Mental health2025

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.

Ronald C Kessler, Amy M Millikan-Bell, Emily R Edwards, Sarah M Gildea, Andrew J King, Howard Liu, Maria V Petukhova, Nancy A Sampson, Hannah N Ziobrowski, James R Wagner and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature. Mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

12 authors.

Ronald C KesslerDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Amy M Millikan-BellUS Army Public Health Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, USA.
Emily R EdwardsDepartment of Veteran Affairs, AVISN 2 MIRECC, Bronx, NY, USA.
Sarah M GildeaDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Andrew J KingDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Howard LiuDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Maria V PetukhovaDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Nancy A SampsonDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Hannah N ZiobrowskiDepartment of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA.
James R WagnerInstitute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Murray B SteinDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Robert J UrsanoDepartment of Psychiatry, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA.

Funding

Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors for Suicidal Behaviors in the US ArmyU01MH087981 · NIMH · HENRY M. JACKSON FDN FOR THE ADV MIL/MED · PI STEIN, MURRAY B., URSANO, ROBERT J. · 2009 to 2013
$65.0M
NIMH NIH HHS U01 MH087981
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Military personnel are routinely involved in pandemic relief efforts, placing them at risk of increased exposure to pandemic-related stressors. Although ample research suggests exposure to pandemic-related stressors contributed to decrements in mental health among civilians during the COVID-19 pandemic, limited work has examined whether these patterns were also salient in military populations. The Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (STARRS) Longitudinal Study screened for 30-day prevalence of major depressive episode, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and panic attack among n=10,206 US Army soldiers and veterans before (2018-2019) and then again during (2020-2022) the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistically significant increases were found in prevalence, with relative-risk (RR) comparable to those observed in civilian samples (RR=1.28-1.40). Greatest increases occurred among women, Blacks, Hispanics, those of lower socio-economic status, and Regular Army soldiers relative to reservists and those separated from service. Exposures to pandemic-related stressors, although associated with significantly increased mental health difficulty (RR=1.06-1.17), did not explain associations of socio-demographics and Army career characteristics with difficulty RR. No significant interactions were found between pandemic-related stressors and either baseline difficulty prevalence, socio-demographics or Army career characteristics predicting difficulty RR. Results suggest military personnel may experience pandemic-related decrements in mental health comparable to those observed in civilian samples, with largest changes among personnel with greater socioeconomic vulnerability and/or greatest exposure to pandemic-related stress. Findings emphasize the importance of ensuring accessibility of appropriate supports for military personnel during pandemic conditions.

Identifiers

PMID41050434
PMCPMC12490745

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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.