Symptom Networks of COVID-19-Related Versus Other Potentially Traumatic Events in a Global Sample

Williamson, Rachel E.; Hoeboer, Chris M.; Primasari, Indira; Qing, Yulan; Coimbra, Bruno M.; Hovnanyan, Ani; Grace, Emma; Olff, Miranda

The potential mental health consequences of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are widely acknowledged; however, limited research exists regarding the nature and patterns of stress responses to COVID-19-related potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and the convergence/divergence with responses to other (non-COVID-19-related) PTEs. Network analysis can provide a useful method for evaluating and comparing these symptom structures. The present study includes 7034 participants from 86 countries who reported on mental health symptoms associated with either a COVID-19-related PTE (n= 1838) or other PTE (n= 5196). Using network analysis, we compared the centrality and connections of symptoms within and between each group. Overall, results show that the COVID-19-related network includes transdiagnostic symptom associations similar to networks tied to PTEs unrelated to the pandemic. Findings provide evidence for a shared centrality of depression across networks and theoretically consistent connections between symptoms. Network differences included stronger connections between avoidance-derealization and hypervigilance-depression in the COVID-19 network. Present findings support the conceptualization of psychological responses to pandemic-related PTEs as a network of highly interconnected symptoms and support the use of a transdiagnostic approach to the assessment and treatment of mental health challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT: Raw data were generated through the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress (GC-TS). Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available on request and will be shared after the end of the study on the GC-TS website.