Depression, Anxiety, and Stress during Early Months of COVID-19 in Appalachia

Charlie Boone*, Mira Snider, Daniel Totzkay, and Shari A. Steinman

Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation Category: Behavioral & Social Sciences (Poster Presentation #88)

Student’s Major: Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic began to affect the United States in March 2020. A steep increase in cases perpetuated an extensive lockdown period, in which many found themselves facing isolation and fear. This study seeks to analyze the progression of depression, anxiety, and stress over the first two months of the pandemic. Given that personal, familial, and public health risk increased and social support decreased during isolation, we hypothesized that depression, anxiety, and stress levels would increase over the course of the study. Data was collected from a sample of 718 Appalachian adults and recorded via an online survey once every two weeks for a total period of two months. This study used the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS21), a self-report questionnaire with strong psychometric properties, as its primary measure. We conducted a series of three repeated measures ANOVAs testing the effect of time on depression, anxiety, and stress. Contrary to hypotheses, stress, anxiety, and depression all decreased during the duration of the study (Stress: F(3,715)=10.51, p<.001, Anxiety: F(3,715)=5.23, p=.001, Depression: F(3,715)=3.53, p=.015). Results suggest potential adjustment or habituation to distressing external events. In the future, longitudinal data could be used to further illustrate the progression of depression, anxiety, and stress throughout the pandemic as this study only examines the preliminary months. The implications of this study’s results can be applied to the larger Appalachian adult population and serve to guide clinical services and health organizations in subsequent crises.

Funding: RAPID - National Science Institution

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course