Longitudinal Mental Health State During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Longitudinal Change of Mental Symptoms and Its Predictors During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Longitudinal Study on Spanish Population

Objective: The general objective of this study is to analyze the change in mental health and post-traumatic symptoms over 6 months during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Spanish community sample, with a particular focus on individual differences in longitudinal change in symptoms and its predictors. Method: This longitudinal prospective study surveyed a Spanish community sample three times (T1: during the initial outbreak, T2: after 4 weeks and T3: after 6 months). Four thousand one hundred and thirty-nine participants from all the Spanish regions completed the questionnaires. However, the longitudinal analysis was performed only with participants which responded at least two times (1,423 participants). Mental health assessments included depression, anxiety, and stress (measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and post-traumatic symptoms were assessed by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Results: All the mental health variables achieved worse results at T2. Depression, stress, and posttraumatic symptoms did not recover at T3 when compared with the initial measure, while anxiety was practically stable across the timeline. Women, younger age, having a previous mental health diagnosis and contact with individuals with COVID-19 were linked to worse psychological evolution during the 6-months period. A good perception of one's physical health may be a protective factor. Conclusions: After 6 months of the pandemic, the general population's mental health was still worse than at the initial outbreak for most of the variables analyzed.