Symposia
Disaster Mental Health
Stefanie Sequeira, PhD
Graduate Student
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jennifer Silk, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychology
Pittsburgh, PA
Emily Hutchinson, B.S.
Graduate Student
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Neil Jones, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Cecile Ladouceur, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology
University of Pittsburgh, Department Of Psychiatry
Pittsburgh, PA
Increases in adolescent depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic (Racine et al., 2020) may be related to changes in the social environment. Intra- and interpersonal social risk factors may confer risk for depression during the pandemic, particularly for shy/fearful adolescent girls who are more likely to socially disengage. We examined how shy/fearful temperament exacerbates depressive symptoms in girls who 1) show reduced neural activation to social rewards and 2) report lower social connectedness during the pandemic.
Ninety-three girls (12-17 years; 71% white; 2/3 high in shy/fearful temperament) were recruited from a longitudinal study for a COVID-19 study in May 2020. At baseline (2016-2018), girls completed a peer feedback fMRI task. Parameter estimates were extracted from anatomically-defined regions-of-interest (nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen, insula) during positive (vs. neutral) feedback. For each region, we examined the interaction between baseline temperament and neural activity on self-reported depressive symptoms during COVID-19, controlling for age, baseline depressive symptoms, and time since baseline.
Girls also completed a 10-day daily diary protocol in May 2020. Each day, girls rated how “close/connected” they felt to peers and parents, as well as how “down, depressed, or hopeless” they felt (all 0-100 sliding scales). Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine interactions between temperament and daily social connectedness on depressed mood.
Reduced activity in the caudate, putamen, and insula conferred risk for depressive symptoms only for shy/fearful girls (interaction Bs = -11.5 – -12.8, SEs = 3.5 – 4.3, FDR-corrected ps < .02). Lower neural activity was associated with less frequent texting with friends during the pandemic (rs = .28 – .41, ps < .03), also assessed using daily diary.
At the between-person level, lower connectedness to parents was associated with higher depressed mood only for shy/fearful girls (interaction B = -.29, SE = .13, p = .02). At the within-person level, all girls reported higher depressed mood on days they reported lower connectedness to parents (B = -.14, SE = .03, p < .001) and peers (B = -.07, SE = .02, p = .002).
Lower neural response to social reward, which could underlie lower social engagement, and lower connectedness to parents may be particularly detrimental during COVID-19 for shy/fearful girls. Improving social connection and engagement may be critical for adolescents as the pandemic continues, particularly shy adolescents who may be more socially disengaged.