Neurophysiological Responses to Interpersonal Emotional Images Prospectively Predict the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Stress on Internalizing Symptoms.

Dickey, Lindsay; West, Michael; Pegg, Samantha; Green, Haley; Kujawa, Autumn

BACKGROUND Exposure to stressful events related to COVID-19 has been associated with increases in the prevalence of depression and anxiety, raising questions about vulnerabilities that make some individuals most susceptible to internalizing symptoms following stress exposure. METHODS The current prospective study examined the effects of neurophysiological reactivity to positive and threatening interpersonal stimuli, indexed by the late positive potential (LPP) event-related potential, in conjunction with exposure to interpersonal pandemic-related stressors in the prediction of internalizing symptom changes from pre- to during the pandemic. Emerging adults (N=75) initially completed measures of internalizing symptoms and an interpersonal emotional images task while electroencephalogram was recorded pre-pandemic and were re-contacted during the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020 to complete measures of exposure to pandemic-related stressful events and current internalizing symptoms. RESULTS Results indicated that emerging adults experienced numerous stressful events associated with the pandemic, as well as overall increases in symptoms of depression and traumatic intrusions during the pandemic. Furthermore, significant interactions between LPP reactivity to positive and threatening interpersonal stimuli and interpersonal stress exposure emerged in the prediction of internalizing symptoms, controlling for baseline symptoms. Under high exposure to interpersonal stressors, reduced positive LPPs predicted increases in depressive symptoms while enhanced threatening LPPs predicted increases in traumatic intrusions. CONCLUSIONS These findings highlight the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on emerging adults, and the role of individual differences in neurophysiological reactivity to emotional stimuli in vulnerability for depression and traumatic intrusions following stress exposure.