Changes in posttraumatic stress disorder symptom severity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Ten-wave findings from a longitudinal observational cohort study of community adults.
Psychiatry Res
; 329: 115496, 2023 11.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37797439
ABSTRACT
Few studies have examined changes in posttraumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology across an extended time period during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a longitudinal cohort design to examine (1) changes in overall PTSD symptoms and symptom clusters; (2) moderators of change; (3) the clinical significance of observed changes; and (4) correlates of clinically meaningful changes. Community adults (N = 1412) were assessed using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) at 10 timepoints (October 2018 - April 2022). Changes in overall PCL-5 score and symptom clusters were substantially moderated by pre-pandemic clinical severity (i.e., above/below PCL-5 cut-off). Pre-pandemic non-clinical participants exhibited increases in overall scores, Cluster D (negative cognitions), and Cluster E (arousal), while clinically elevated participants exhibited decreases overall and in all clusters. Regarding clinical significance, 12% of pre-pandemic non-clinical participants exhibited clinically meaningful increases, and 4% exhibited decreases. Conversely, 42% of the pre-pandemic elevated group exhibited clinically meaningful decreases, while 6% exhibited increases. Pandemic impacts in numerous psychosocial domains were associated with clinically meaningful change. Collectively, these findings reveal substantively divergent trajectories by pre-pandemic severity and PTSD symptom cluster. The large proportion of pre-pandemic high-severity participants exhibiting sizable decreases was an unexpected notable observation.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
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Etiology_studies
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Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychiatry Res
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Canadá