The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and exposure to other potentially traumatic events up to old age

We investigated whether the impact of potentially traumatic events (PTEs) on trauma-related symptoms changes across the transitional adult lifespan (i.e., 16–100 years old) and if this association differs for self-reported COVID-19–related PTEs compared to other PTEs. A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 7,034 participants from 88 countries between late April and October 2020. Participants completed the Global Psychotrauma Screen (GPS), a self-report questionnaire assessing trauma-related symptoms. Data were analyzed using linear and logistic regression analyses and general linear models.

 

We found that older age was associated with lower GPS total symptom scores, B = −0.02, p < .001; this association remained significant but was substantially weaker for self-reported COVID-19–related PTEs compared to other PTEs, B = 0.02, p = .009. The results suggest an association between older age and lower ratings of trauma-related symptoms on the GPS, indicating a blunted symptom presentation. This age-related trend was smaller for self-reported COVID-19–related PTEs compared to other PTEs, reflecting the relatively higher
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults.

Referentie: 
Demi C. D. Havermans, Chris M. Hoeboer, Sjacko Sobczak, Indira Primasari, Bruno M. Coimbra, Ani Hovnanyan, Irina Zrnic Novakovic, Rachel Langevin, Helene F. Aakvaag, Emma Grace, Malgorzata Dragan, Brigitte Lueger-Schuster, Wissam El-Hage, Miranda Olff | 2023
In: Journal of Traumatic Stress ; ISSN: 1573-6598
https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22937
Online ahead of print DOI: 10.1002/jts.22937
Trefwoorden: 
Anxiety Disorders, COVID-19 (en), Depressive Disorders, Diagnosis, Elderly, Epidemics, Instruments, Mental health, Natural Disasters, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Psychosocial impact, Psychotrauma, PTSD (en), Statistical Analysis, Traumatic events
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