City-wide study of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in San Antonio: An investigation of stressful events accompanying infection and their relation to psychosocial functioning.

Little is known about how Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection is associated with stressful events (SEs) and stress-related psychological symptoms. This study examined the prevalence of SEs and incidence of stress-related symptoms accompanying COVID-19 infection. The association between these stress-related symptoms and psychosocial functioning were also examined. A city-wide sample of 3,595 adults with lab-informed cases of COVID-19 infection in San Antonio, Texas completed an online assessment of their psychological health and well-being after completing contact tracing activities in 2021-2022. A total 88.3% of participants reported exposure to SEs related to COVID-19 infection and their "worst" SEs were related to physical symptoms, fear of infecting others, financial problems, being isolated/quarantined, and loss of a loved one. Based on these SEs, 14.8% of the sample screened positive for substantial stress-related psychological problems related to COVID-19 infection. These psychological symptoms were strongly associated with worse psychosocial functioning. Together, these findings suggest SEs were commonly experienced by adults infected with COVID-19. Only a relatively small proportion reported substantial psychological symptoms related to their infection, but those who did had a high likelihood of impaired psychosocial functioning. Targeted support for individuals at high-risk of psychological symptoms following COVID-19 infection may help mitigate long-term psychological effects.

Disasters, Diagnosis, and Distress: Multiple Perspectives, Populations, and Methodologies.

Disaster mental health is a consequential topic in today's world in which disasters are increasing in both numbers and magnitude and inflicting deep psychological wounds across wide populations [...].

Groundhog Day: research without old data and old references.

BACKGROUND: The use of older data and references is becoming increasingly disfavored for publication. A myopic focus on newer research risks losing sight of important research questions already addressed by now-invisible older studies. This creates a 'Groundhog Day' effect as illustrated by the 1993 movie of this name in which the protagonist has to relive the same day (Groundhog Day) over and over and over within a world with no memory of it. This article examines the consequences of the recent preference for newer data and references in current publication practices and is intended to stimulate new consideration of the utility of selected older data and references for the advancement of scientific knowledge. METHODS: Examples from the literature are used to exemplify the value of older data and older references. To illustrate the recency of references published in original medical research articles in a selected sample of recent academic medical journals, original research articles were examined in recent issues in selected psychiatry, medicine, and surgery journals. RESULTS: The literature examined reflected this article's initial assertion that journals are emphasizing the publication of research with newer data and more recent references. CONCLUSIONS: The current valuation of newer data above older data fails to appreciate the fact that new data eventually become old, and that old data were once new. The bias demonstrated in arbitrary policies pertaining to older data and older references can be addressed by instituting comparable treatment of older and newer data and references.

Perceived Need for Mental Health Treatment and the Mental Health Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.

Objective: Population-based information on the extent of perceived need for mental health treatment and clinically significant psychological distress can help inform strategies for responding to the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: A representative sample of U.S. adults, age 20 and over (N = 1,957), completed surveys in May and June 2020. Potential target populations were distinguished based on perceived need for mental health treatment and psychological distress, assessed by the Kessler-6, among those without perceived need. Populations were characterized with respect to demographic characteristics and prior mental health treatment history using logistic regression models.Results: The prevalence of perceived need for mental health treatment was 21%. Perceived need was strongly associated with pre-pandemic treatment history; compared to those with no treatment history, perceived need was dramatically higher among those in treatment when the pandemic began (OR = 53.8 95% CI 28.2-102.8) and those with pre-pandemic treatment history (OR = 9.3, 95% CI 5.1-16.8). Among the 79% who did not perceive need, moderate or greater distress was reported by 19% and was associated with younger age and Hispanic ethnicity (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.2-3.6).Conclusions: In the U.S., where mental health treatment is relatively common, mental health treatment response during the pandemic, and perhaps other crises, should target people with a history of mental health treatment. Outreach to people less likely to seek care on their own despite clinically significant distress should target Hispanic populations.

Psychological distress and alcohol use disorder during the COVID-19 era among middle- and low-income U.S. adults.

PURPOSE: This study examined how exposure to events during the Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) era is linked to symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), COVID-19 era-related stress (CS), alcohol use disorder (AUD), and suicidal ideation (SI) in low and middle-income U.S adults. METHODS: A national sample of 6,607 adults (4.4% who reported testing positive for COVID-19, 25.3% testing negative, and 70.3% untested) were recruited an online platform andcompleted the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2, PTSD-Checklist for DSM-5, the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification-Consumption scale, and an item assessing SI in May-June 2020. A series of multivariable analyses were conducted. RESULTS: In the total sample, 35.3% screened positive for current AUD, 33.6% for MDD, 33.6% for GAD, 24.6% for SI, and 20.2% for CS. Past 2-week SI (adjusted odds ratios [AORs]= 1.49-12.06), number of close friends (AORs= 1.40-2.72), history of AUD (AORs= 1.15-1.92), history of anxiety disorder (AORs= 1.07-2.63), and younger age (AORs= 0.97-0.98) were significantly associated with screening positive for MDD, GAD, CS, and AUD. COVID-19 status was not independently associated with these conditions, but the combination of testing positive for COVID-19, meeting criteria for AUD, and screening positive for MDD, GAD, or CS predicted a 96% probability for SI. CONCLUSION: Predisposing factors are stronger predictors of psychological distress than personal COVID-19 infection or exposure. The additive effects of COVID-19 infection, alcohol use, and psychiatric problems in predicting SI suggest screening, monitoring, and treating these conditions in population-based prevention and treatment efforts may be important.

A Nosological Exploration of PTSD and Trauma in Disaster Mental Health and Implications for the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic rapidly spread around the world, resulting in massive medical morbidity and mortality and substantial mental health consequences. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an important psychiatric disorder associated with disasters, and many published scientific articles have reported post-traumatic stress syndromes in populations studied for COVID-19 mental health outcomes. American diagnostic criteria for PTSD have evolved across editions of the manual, and the current definition excludes naturally occurring medical illness (such as viral illness) as a qualifying trauma, ruling out this viral pandemic as the basis for a diagnosis of PTSD. This article provides an in-depth nosological consideration of the diagnosis of PTSD and critically examines three essential elements (trauma, exposure, and symptomatic response) of this diagnosis, specifically applying these concepts to the mental health outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current criteria for PTSD are unsatisfying for guiding the response to mental health consequences associated with this pandemic, and suggestions are made for addressing the conceptual diagnostic problems and designing research to resolve diagnostic uncertainties empirically. Options might be to revise the diagnostic criteria or consider categorization of COVID-19-related psychiatric syndromes as non-traumatic stressor-related syndromes or other psychiatric disorders.