COVID-19-Related PTSD Symptoms and Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms: Moderation by Prior Discrimination and Socioeconomic Status

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Young adults in the United States have reported significantly elevated levels of posttraumatic stress (PTSD) symptoms in response to the recent COVID-19 pandemic (Liu et al., 2020), and cross-sectional analyses of international adolescent samples isolated economic instability and concurrent discrimination as predictors of anxiety and depressive symptoms since the onset of the pandemic (Huang & Zhao, 2020; Cao et al., 2020). Although COVID-specific worry has been linked with concurrent depression and anxiety (Liu et al., 2020), no study to date has elucidated the association between pandemic-related PTSD symptoms and internalizing symptoms during the pandemic while accounting for differential effects of stress-related factors prior to the pandemic, such as low socioeconomic status (SES) and prior discrimination. Reflecting a dual-risk model of stress, the current study hypothesizes a positive association between pandemic-related PTSD symptoms and internalizing symptoms and that this relationship will be exacerbated by lower SES and higher prior discrimination. 

A racially/ethnically diverse sample of late adolescents (N=209; Mage=19.6; 54% female; 46% White/European American, 26% Hispanic/Latinx, 11% East Asian/Asian American, 7% Black/African American, 10% other/mixed) responded to questionnaires assessing SES and Everyday Discrimination experiences (EDD; Williams et al., 1997) during the summer before their first year at a large southwestern university (T1). SES was calculated as a composite of self-reported Family Economic Hardship (Conger et al., 1999; α =.84), parental education level, and perceived socioeconomic class. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995; α=.93) and the Impact of Events scale adapted to assess PTSD symptoms related to the COVID-19 pandemic (IES-COVID; Horowitz et al., 1979; α =.90) were completed during the late spring/early summer of their first year of college (T3, N=155). Separate multiple linear regression analyses examined the main effects of T3 COVID-related PTSD symptoms on internalizing symptoms and the moderating effects of both SES and discrimination at T1 on this association, controlling for race/ethnicity, gender, and T1 internalizing symptoms.

On average, adolescents who reported experiencing higher pandemic-related PTSD symptoms also had higher rates of depression (b=.38, p<.001), and anxiety (b=.27, p<.01) symptoms. This association was significantly moderated by adolescents’ experiences of discrimination prior to college (see Figures 1a and 1b), such that those who reported high and average levels of discrimination demonstrated a significant positive association between pandemic-related PTSD symptoms and depression (high: b=.18, p<.001; average: b=.11, p<.001) and anxiety (b=.12, p<.001; b=.06, p<.01) symptoms, as compared with adolescents reporting lower exposure to discrimination (depression: b=.05, p=.24; anxiety: b=.01, p=.90). Contrary to initial hypotheses, SES did not significantly moderate associations between pandemic-related PTSD and internalizing symptoms.

These findings demonstrate that prior stress factors, such as discrimination, have the potential to exacerbate the impact of pandemic-related PTSD symptoms on adverse mental health consequences. In the context of current sociopolitical unrest and acknowledging that PTSD related to pandemics may be long-lasting (Lee et al., 2007), future research should examine how prior discrimination may amplify youths’ responses to international health crises, in order to identify young adults at risk of developing later internalizing psychopathology.

Authors

• Hanah Brooke Weldon, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Michaela Gusman, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Leah D Doane, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kevin John Grimm, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Cohen, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author