Facing the pandemic and lockdown: an insight on mental health from a longitudinal study using diaries

Abstract

Abstract We conducted a longitudinal online study to examine attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS) over time in a sample of locked-down individuals. We used (i) questionnaires and (ii) the automatic analysis of the emotional content of narratives. Participants (N = 162) were recruited to complete an online survey 4 times between March and June 2020 (T1, T2, T3, T4). T1 completion coincided with the beginning of the lockdown, and T4 with the pandemic trough. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed with the DASS-42 and APS with the PQ-16. Psychosocial data such as the feeling of loneliness and social network size were also collected. The participants wrote daily narratives during the lockdown period. Anxiety and APS were the highest at T1 and decreased over time. APS and APS-associated distress were correlated with the DASS-42 at all times. APS arose acutely at the beginning of the pandemic, despite participants being socio-economically advantaged, and were related with negative emotions.