(PS9-A9) Changes in Tripartite Dimensions of Anxiety and Depression in Emerging Adults Before and During COVID-19

Emerging adults, perhaps more susceptible to distress than other age populations, may have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (Arnett, 2000). Research indicates that anxiety and depression symptoms in emerging adults were most severe at the onset of the pandemic but declined over time. Using the tripartite model of anxiety and depression as a framework, we examined general distress (common to anxiety and depression), anxious arousal (unique to anxiety), and anhedonic depression (unique to depression) symptoms in emerging adults (n=89, 53% White) before (October/November 2017) and throughout the pandemic (until January 2021) in four data waves with multilevel models. We examined the association between COVID-19 impact and changes in anxiety and depression scores. Scores were highest in all three tripartite dimensions in January 2020, which was before the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States. After all scores initially increased, anxiety symptoms remained elevated throughout the following year during the pandemic. However, depression symptoms began to decrease over time. While we identified a spike in anxiety and depression scores before the pandemic began, we also found that pandemic-related stress was significantly associated with an increase in distress. The following factors have been found to exacerbate the impact of stress and were therefore included as moderators in the present model: chronic physical health conditions, psychiatric conditions, and race/ethnicity (Browning et al., 2021; Ge et al., 2020; Sayeed et al., 2020). Presence of a chronic physical health condition moderated the nature of change in anxious arousal, such that those with a chronic physical health condition had higher levels of anxious arousal. Individuals with psychiatric diagnoses reported greater increases in anxious arousal over time. Overall, the results show an increase in depression and anxiety symptoms in emerging adults over time, even prior to the onset of the pandemic. Individuals reporting more COVID-19 exposures were at greater risk for general distress and anhedonic depression. Our results highlight that stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in the mental health of emerging adults. Environmental stressors and health emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may maintain distress symptoms over time. Therefore, examining the impact of stressful life events in emerging adults may help provide a better understanding about what is needed to reduce stress and inform interventions to promote optimal mental health outcomes in this population.