{"id":208478,"date":"2022-03-02T16:50:07","date_gmt":"2022-03-02T21:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=208478"},"modified":"2022-12-13T12:45:07","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T17:45:07","slug":"having-assets-may-protect-people-from-persistent-depression-during-covid","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2022\/having-assets-may-protect-people-from-persistent-depression-during-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Having Assets May Protect People from Persistent Depression during COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-left\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"1709\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-636x425.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-755x504.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-1498x1000.jpg 1498w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-900x601.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-1920x1282.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2022\/03\/assets-and-depression-1200x801.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">mental health<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Having Assets May Protect People from Persistent Depression during COVID\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Individuals with physical, social, and financial assets, particularly higher incomes and more savings, were less likely to experience sustained depression during the first year of the pandemic.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar js-block-editorial-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">March 2, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on mental health, contributing to an increase in persistent and elevated depression across the United States. But individuals with high assets may be shielded from the burden of persistent depression, according to a new study by School of Public Health researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.org\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.abm9737?utm_source=rss&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss-covid-research\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Published in the journal <em>Science Advances<\/em><\/a>, the study found that 1 in 5 adults experienced persistent depression, both at the start of the pandemic in March and April 2020 and one year later, but those who had access to more physical, social, or financial assets\u2014particularly higher incomes and more savings\u2014were less likely to experience sustained depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The findings also showed that job loss, financial difficulties, or relationship problems were important predictors of depression in the first year of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study is the first of its kind to examine the association of assets and persistent depression across the US during the first 12 months of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have been observing particularly high rates of depressions since the beginning of COVID that have persisted throughout the first year of COVID,\u201d says study lead author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/catherine-ettman\/\">Catherine Ettman<\/a>, executive director of strategy and planning. \u201cThis suggests a substantial burden of poor mental health in the population that is persistent, particularly among those who have fewer assets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the study, Ettman and colleagues analyzed longitudinal survey data on depression prevalence, assets, and stressors among a nationally representative sample of US adults ages 18 and over. Approximately 25 percent of women reported symptoms of persistent depression at the beginning and end of the first year of COVID-19, compared to 15 percent of men, and adults ages 18 to 39 experienced persistent depression more than any other adult age group during this time period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Persistent depression was highest among people in low-income households and those with fewer savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When adjusting for demographics, people with a household income under $20,000 were more likely to experience persistent depression than those with household incomes of $75,000 or more. Similarly, people with fewer than $5,000 in savings were more likely to experience sustained depression than those with savings of $5,000 or more. Among social assets, people who earned only a high school degree were more likely to experience depression than those who earned a college degree or more, and those who were not married were more likely to experience depression those who were married.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notably, the researchers found that these assets did not prevent people from experiencing persistent depression after the first year of the pandemic if they still struggled with job loss, financial difficulties, or relationship issues. But absent of these stressors, having assets substantially reduced the likelihood of an individual experiencing persistent depression in March or April 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese findings show that mental illness is one of the consequences of the pandemic, and one that will stay with us for years to come,\u201d Ettman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Identifying ways to bolster financial assets and reduce stressors among people experiencing mental health challenges will be critical beyond the pandemic, says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/sandro-galea\/\">Sandro Galea<\/a>, SPH dean and Robert A. Knox Professor. \u201cIt will be important to make sure that we have the resources available to help people with depression in the long-term after COVID-19, particularly those who already have fewer economic assets to protect themselves from the mental health consequences of the pandemic,\u201d Galea says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At SPH, the study was co-authored by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/gregory-cohen\/\">Gregory Cohen<\/a>, statistical analyst in the Department of Epidemiology; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/salma-abdalla\/\">Salma Abdalla<\/a>, research fellow; and <a href=\"https:\/\/id-editorial.cms-devl.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/ludovic-trinquart\/\">Ludovic Trinquart<\/a>, an associate professor of biostatistics at the time of study.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on mental health, contributing to an increase in persistent and elevated depression across the United States. But individuals with high assets may be shielded from the burden of persistent depression, according to a new study by School of Public Health researchers. Published in the journal Science Advances, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":208487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"mental health","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[3434,2233,2330,3891,1871,3380,2039,3887],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3526,3531,3540],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[3837],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[2363],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/208478"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208478"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/208478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208605,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/208478\/revisions\/208605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208478"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=208478"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=208478"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=208478"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=208478"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=208478"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=208478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}