Mediating Effect of Autistic Traits between the Emotional Impact of Pandemic and Depressive Symptoms

ABSTRACT

Background. The pandemic is having a significant impact on mental health, especially in vulnerable groups. Method. A conditional analysis was carried out with a population of 185 people. The study population did not have any psychiatric diagnosis, they are people without autism. The age of the participants ranges between 18 and 72 years (M = 31.43;SD = 16.26). The mediating role of autistic traits and the moderating role of age between the emotional impact of the pan-demic and depressive symptoms are analyzed. Results. The results demonstrate a significant influence of age and emo-tional impact of the pandemic on the depressive symptoms. The mediating variable autistic traits was also significant. Conclusions. These results point to the younger population with autistic traits as particularly vulnerable.