Psychological withdrawal and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective

The first objective was to track temporal changes in participants’ mental health during the 2020 lockdown in Spain. Second, we tested whether age moderated the association between the use of psychological withdrawal and mental health over time. Design: Participants (N = 396, 74% women) completed three waves of a web-based survey during the lockdown. Age mean was 40.11 (sd = 12.66).

Main outcome Measures

Participants answered a set of sociodemographic data, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the Measures of Affect Regulation Scale (MARS).

Results

Disruptions and withdrawal were associated with more mental health symptoms (between 39% and 41% mental distress). Growth models showed that social dysfunction increased over time while dysphoric symptoms decreased. The use of withdrawal aggravated social dysfunction symptoms. Young people who use more withdrawal experienced more social dysfunction and dysphoria over time than those who used less withdrawal strategies.

Conclusion

The differential trends in social dysfunction versus dysphoria symptoms suggest an adaptation process after the initial stress of the lockdown. Older age was correlated with less mental health problems and reflects age related improvements in emotional regulation.

Keywords:

• Social dysfunction
• dysphoria
• COVID-19
• age
• withdrawal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by funds awarded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Department of Education of the Junta de Castilla y León (Spain) by order of 19 June 2020 to the project Coping Strategies in the Health Emergency Situation created by COVID-19.