Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42010174›Full record

ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2026

Psychosocial stress from pre- to post-pandemic times: latent class mixed model analysis using data from a German cohort.

Daniela Costa, Johannes Horn, Janka Massag, Oliver Purschke, Alexander Kluttig, Amand Führer, Rafael Mikolajczyk

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Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Daniela CostaInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3316-2092
Johannes HornInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6714-8016
Janka MassagInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0995-0593
Oliver PurschkeInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0444-0882
Alexander KluttigInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4446-9938
Amand FührerInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8637-5692
Rafael MikolajczykInstitute of Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics, and Informatics, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Magdeburger Str. 8, 06112, Halle (Saale), Germany. rafael.mikolajczyk@uk-halle.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1271-7204

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures disrupted daily life and worsened mental health. Stress, a key driver of mental disorders, likely intensified during this period. However, longitudinal studies tracking stress trajectories in the general population remain limited. This study aims to identify psychosocial stress trajectories from the pre- to post-pandemic period and examine associated characteristics in a population-based sample from a German city.

methods966 participants from the German National Cohort study-centre in Halle (240,000 inhabitants in Eastern Germany) were included. Those participated in a six-monthly intensified assessment and completed at least four questionnaires between 2019 and 2024 containing the PHQ-Stress module. First, latent class mixed models analysis identified heterogeneous stress trajectories. Second, associations between the most likely class membership and covariates were tested with multinomial and binomial logistic regressions.

resultsWe identified four psychosocial stress trajectory classes. Most participants followed a resilient trajectory (82%), while others showed chronic (4%), recovered (5%), or delayed (9%) trajectories. Membership in the resilient trajectory was associated with lower pre-pandemic psychological vulnerability, higher life satisfaction, greater agreeableness, and older age.

conclusionResilience predominated, while smaller subgroups showed less adaptive trajectories, with prior stress levels shaping long-term patterns. These findings demonstrate heterogeneity in stress responses and support the applicability of resilience frameworks such as Bonanno's.

Indexed as

COVID-19Resilience, PsychologicalStress, PsychologicalAdultAgedCohort StudiesFemaleGermanyHumansLatent Class AnalysisLongitudinal StudiesMaleMental HealthMiddle AgedSARS-CoV-2Surveys and QuestionnairesCovid-19Growth mixture modelsMental healthPsychological stressTrajectories

Identifiers

PMID42010174
PMCPMC13522046

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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.