Mental Distress Among Norwegian Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Predictors in Initial Response and Subsequent Trajectories.

Objectives

To identify factors associated with change in mental distress at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, relative to pre-pandemic levels, and with changes during the following 1.5 years.

Methods

The prospective Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study collected eight waves of data during the pandemic (March 2020-September 2021) in 105,972 adult participants used for this analyses. A piecewise latent growth model was fitted to identify initial level and longitudinal changes in mental distress.

Results

Mental distress peaked at the beginning of the pandemic. Factors associated with initial increases were: medical conditions, living alone, history of psychiatric disorders, lower education, female sex, younger age, and obesity. Being quarantined or infected with SARS-CoV-2 were associated with increasing distress while being vaccinated was associated with reduced mental distress.

Conclusion

Having a chronic disease and being quarantined or infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus were associated with more mental distress during the pandemic. This knowledge is important for planning interventions to support individuals during future pandemics and other societal crises.