Pre- and Post-Pandemic Religiosity and Mental Health Outcomes: A Prospective Study.

Relatively few studies have prospectively examined the effects of known protective factors, such as religion, on pandemic-related outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pre- and post-pandemic trajectories and psychological effects of religious beliefs and religious attendance. Male and female adults (N = 189) reported their beliefs in religious importance (RI) and their religious attendance (RA) both before (T1) and after (T2) the pandemic's onset. Descriptive and regression analyses were used to track RI and RA from T1 to T2 and to test their effects on psychological outcomes at T1 and T2. The participants who reported a decrease in religious importance and attendance were greater in number than those who reported an increase, with RI (36.5% vs. 5.3%) and RA (34.4% vs. 4.8%). The individuals with decreased RI were less likely to know someone who had died from COVID-19 (O.R. =0.4, p = 0.027). The T1 RI predicted overall social adjustment (p < 0.05) and lower suicidal ideation (p = 0.05). The T2 RI was associated with lower suicidal ideation (p < 0.05). The online RA (T2) was associated with lower depression (p < 0.05) and lower anxiety (p < 0.05). Further research is needed to evaluate the mechanisms driving decreases in religiosity during pandemics. Religious beliefs and online religious attendance were beneficial during the pandemic, which bodes well for the use of telemedicine in therapeutic approaches.

The effects of the pandemic on mental health in persons with and without a psychiatric history.

BACKGROUND: Prospective studies are needed to assess the influence of pre-pandemic risk factors on mental health outcomes following the COVID-19 pandemic. From direct interviews prior to (T1), and then in the same individuals after the pandemic onset (T2), we assessed the influence of personal psychiatric history on changes in symptoms and wellbeing. METHODS: Two hundred and four (19-69 years/117 female) individuals from a multigenerational family study were followed clinically up to T1. Psychiatric symptom changes (T1-to-T2), their association with lifetime psychiatric history (no, only-past, and recent psychiatric history), and pandemic-specific worries were investigated. RESULTS: At T2 relative to T1, participants with recent psychopathology (in the last 2 years) had significantly fewer depressive (mean, M = 41.7 v. 47.6) and traumatic symptoms (M = 6.6 v. 8.1, p < 0.001), while those with no and only-past psychiatric history had decreased wellbeing (M = 22.6 v. 25.0, p < 0.01). Three pandemic-related worry factors were identified: Illness/death, Financial, and Social isolation. Individuals with recent psychiatric history had greater Illness/death and Financial worries than the no/only-past groups, but these worries were unrelated to depression at T2. Among individuals with no/only-past history, Illness/death worries predicted increased T2 depression [B = 0.6(0.3), p < 0.05]. CONCLUSIONS: As recent psychiatric history was not associated with increased depression or anxiety during the pandemic, new groups of previously unaffected persons might contribute to the increased pandemic-related depression and anxiety rates reported. These individuals likely represent incident cases that are first detected in primary care and other non-specialty clinical settings. Such settings may be useful for monitoring future illness among newly at-risk individuals.

Mechanisms Underlying Lipidomic Changes in Major Depressive Disorder

IMPACT: Lipidomics is emerging as a powerful strategy to identify biomarkers for Major Depressive Disorder, as well as therapeutic targets in lipid metabolic pathways. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Lipidomics is increasingly recognized in precision psychiatry for global lipid perturbations in patients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). We will test the hypothesis that lipid metabolism dysregulation is associated with familial risk of depression. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Patients with MDD (G1), children (G2), and grandchildren (G3) have been part of a longitudinal study since 1982. If a parent G2 and grandparent G1 have MDD, G3 is considered a high risk of depression. Biospecimens (saliva and serum) were collected for full exome sequencing and RNA analysis. Samples will also be extracted for lipid content and lipids will be identified by mass spectrometry. A panel of nearly 600 lipid species can reliably be identified and quantified using liquid chromatography paired with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Dysregulated lipids will be correlated with familial risk of depression in samples of G3. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We hypothesize that dysregulation of lipids and lipid metabolism will be apparent in biospecimens from the high risk compared to the low risk of depression. Also, alterations in RNA transcriptomics of genes involved in lipid metabolic networks are associated with familial risk of depression. Several differential lipid species were previously identified to be associated with MDD. Reduced phosphatidylcholine(PC), phosphatidylethanolamine(PE), phosphatidylinositol(PI), and increased LysoPC, LysoPE, ceramide, triacylglycerol, and diacylglycerol levels have been correlated to MDD. However, these results need to be replicated in independent studies using lipidomics analysis. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: It is highly likely that completely novel cellular targets will emerge from these studies by uncovering the convergence of lipidomics and genetic variance of lipid metabolic enzymes as biomarkers for predisposition to MDD as well as potential targets for therapeutic development for MDD.