Mental health risk and resilience during the covid-19 pandemic among individuals at high genetic risk for bipolar disorder

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives around the world, but little is known about risk and resilience factors for adverse psychological outcomes during the pandemic among individuals at high genetic risk for mood disorders. This study examines self-reported mental health before and during the pandemic, among families in an ongoing genetic study of bipolar and related disorders ascertained from genetically isolated Anabaptist communities. In December 2020, previously-enrolled participants with baseline measures of depression, mania, and general psychiatric symptomology (N=502) were mailed surveys, including the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and a modified version of the novel CoRonavIruS Health Impact Survey (CRISIS). Responders to the Round 1 survey (N=197) were more likely to be unaffected by mental illness, although all unaffected participants were related to one or more affected participants. Second and third round surveys were mailed throughout 2021. The final round will be mailed after the pandemic ends. The present report represents analyses of baseline and Round 1 data. The CRISIS results varied across four main dimensions reflecting psychological distress, worry specific to the pandemic, COVID impact, and life changes. Baseline SCL-90-R “phobic anxiety” was a risk factor for elevated BDI depressive symptom scores during the pandemic, but only among those reporting high levels of CRISIS psychological distress (Type III interaction p < 0.001). Within this group, those reporting high levels of pandemic-related disruptions also reported elevated BDI depressive symptoms (Type III interaction p < 0.001). Preliminary results from this high-risk population suggest that baseline mental health interacts with pandemic-related distress in predicting depressive symptoms during the pandemic. Self-report measures may help identify individuals at greatest risk for adverse mental health outcomes following psychosocial stressors, like those posed by the pandemic. Such individuals may benefit from targeted mental health services.