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Mental distress among U.S. adults during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Twenge Jean M.,
Joiner Thomas E.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.23064
Subject(s) - mental health , pandemic , distress , covid-19 , national health interview survey , mental distress , psychology , psychiatry , young adult , medicine , clinical psychology , demography , environmental health , population , developmental psychology , disease , sociology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Objective This study aims to document the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on mental health. Method We compared a nationally representative online sample of 2,032 U.S. adults in late April 2020 to 19,330 U.S. adult internet users who participated in the 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) using the Kessler‐6 scale of mental distress in the last 30 days. Results Compared to the 2018 NHIS sample, U.S. adults in April 2020 were eight times more likely to fit criteria for serious mental distress (27.7% vs. 3.4%) and three times more likely to fit criteria for moderate or serious mental distress (70.4% vs. 22.0%). Differences between the 2018 and 2020 samples appeared across all demographic groups, with larger differences among younger adults and those with children in the household. Conclusions These considerable levels of mental distress may portend substantial increases in diagnosed mental disorders and in their associated morbidity and mortality.