The capacity to adapt: Documenting the relationship between stressors and probable depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress at two time points during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Psychological adaptability, or the reduction of psychiatric symptoms in the context of ongoing stressors, is well-documented. The present study assessed relationships between COVID-19 related stressors and depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (PTS) during April and July 2020. METHODS: Prevalence of, and changes in, symptom severity levels in April vs. July were measured with ANOVA F-tests. Logistic regressions were used to assess the odds of probable diagnosis. RESULTS: Symptom distributions skewed lower in July, as compared to April for all three diagnostic categories. From April to July, prevalence of probable anxiety and depression decreased across all levels of stress, prevalence of PTS increased for high stress, and decreased for medium and low stress levels. In July, only high stress related to higher odds of probable diagnoses, as compared to April when both medium and high stress did. LIMITATIONS: Due to use of cross-sectional self-report data, the present findings could not establish causality between variables, and provide probable, rather than clinical, diagnoses. CONCLUSION: Findings emphasize adaptability phenomena during COVID-19 and highlight the nuanced impact of ongoing stress.