TY - JOUR
T1 - Non-binary gender, vulnerable populations and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - Data from the COVID-19 MEntal health inTernational for the general population (COMET-G) study
AU - Fountoulakis, Konstantinos N
AU - Vrublevska, Jelena
AU - Abraham, Seri
AU - Adorjan, Kristina
AU - Ahmed, Helal Uddin
AU - Alarcón, Renato D
AU - Arai, Kiyomi
AU - Auwal, Sani Salihu
AU - Berk, Michael
AU - Bjedov, Sarah
AU - Bobes, Julio
AU - Bobes-Bascaran, Teresa
AU - Bourgin-Duchesnay, Julie
AU - Bredicean, Cristina Ana
AU - Bukelskis, Laurynas
AU - Burkadze, Akaki
AU - Abud, Indira Indiana Cabrera
AU - Castilla-Puentes, Ruby
AU - Cetkovich, Marcelo
AU - Colon-Rivera, Hector
AU - Corral, Ricardo
AU - Cortez-Vergara, Carla
AU - Crepin, Piirika
AU - De Berardis, Domenico
AU - Delgado, Sergio Zamora
AU - De Lucena, David
AU - De Sousa, Avinash
AU - Di Stefano, Ramona
AU - Dodd, Seetal
AU - Elek, Livia Priyanka
AU - Elissa, Anna
AU - Erdelyi-Hamza, Berta
AU - Erzin, Gamze
AU - Etchevers, Martin J
AU - Falkai, Peter
AU - Farcas, Adriana
AU - Fedotov, Ilya
AU - Filatova, Viktoriia
AU - Fountoulakis, Nikolaos K
AU - Frankova, Iryna
AU - Franza, Francesco
AU - Frias, Pedro
AU - Galako, Tatiana
AU - Garay, Cristian J
AU - Garcia-Álvarez, Leticia
AU - García-Portilla, Maria Paz
AU - Gonda, Xenia
AU - Gondek, Tomasz M
AU - González, Daniela Morera
AU - Rancans, Elmars
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024
PY - 2024/5/1
Y1 - 2024/5/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant mental health challenges, particularly for vulnerable populations, including non-binary gender individuals. The COMET international study aimed to investigate specific risk factors for clinical depression or distress during the pandemic, also in these special populations.METHODS: Chi-square tests were used for initial screening to select only those variables which would show an initial significance. Risk Ratios (RR) were calculated, and a Multiple Backward Stepwise Linear Regression Analysis (MBSLRA) was followed with those variables given significant results at screening and with the presence of distress or depression or the lack of both of them.RESULTS: The most important risk factors for depression were female (RR = 1.59-5.49) and non-binary gender (RR = 1.56-7.41), unemployment (RR = 1.41-6.57), not working during lockdowns (RR = 1.43-5.79), bad general health (RR = 2.74-9.98), chronic somatic disorder (RR = 1.22-5.57), history of mental disorders (depression RR = 2.31-9.47; suicide attempt RR = 2.33-9.75; psychosis RR = 2.14-10.08; Bipolar disorder RR = 2.75-12.86), smoking status (RR = 1.15-5.31) and substance use (RR = 1.77-8.01). The risk factors for distress or depression that survived MBSLRA were younger age, being widowed, living alone, bad general health, being a carer, chronic somatic disorder, not working during lockdowns, being single, self-reported history of depression, bipolar disorder, self-harm, suicide attempts and of other mental disorders, smoking, alcohol, and substance use.CONCLUSIONS: Targeted preventive interventions are crucial to safeguard the mental health of vulnerable groups, emphasizing the importance of diverse samples in future research.LIMITATIONS: Online data collection may have resulted in the underrepresentation of certain population groups.
AB - BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant mental health challenges, particularly for vulnerable populations, including non-binary gender individuals. The COMET international study aimed to investigate specific risk factors for clinical depression or distress during the pandemic, also in these special populations.METHODS: Chi-square tests were used for initial screening to select only those variables which would show an initial significance. Risk Ratios (RR) were calculated, and a Multiple Backward Stepwise Linear Regression Analysis (MBSLRA) was followed with those variables given significant results at screening and with the presence of distress or depression or the lack of both of them.RESULTS: The most important risk factors for depression were female (RR = 1.59-5.49) and non-binary gender (RR = 1.56-7.41), unemployment (RR = 1.41-6.57), not working during lockdowns (RR = 1.43-5.79), bad general health (RR = 2.74-9.98), chronic somatic disorder (RR = 1.22-5.57), history of mental disorders (depression RR = 2.31-9.47; suicide attempt RR = 2.33-9.75; psychosis RR = 2.14-10.08; Bipolar disorder RR = 2.75-12.86), smoking status (RR = 1.15-5.31) and substance use (RR = 1.77-8.01). The risk factors for distress or depression that survived MBSLRA were younger age, being widowed, living alone, bad general health, being a carer, chronic somatic disorder, not working during lockdowns, being single, self-reported history of depression, bipolar disorder, self-harm, suicide attempts and of other mental disorders, smoking, alcohol, and substance use.CONCLUSIONS: Targeted preventive interventions are crucial to safeguard the mental health of vulnerable groups, emphasizing the importance of diverse samples in future research.LIMITATIONS: Online data collection may have resulted in the underrepresentation of certain population groups.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Depression
KW - Mental health history
KW - Non-binary gender
KW - Risk factors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85186520393&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2024.02.050
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2024.02.050
M3 - Article
C2 - 38382816
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 352
SP - 536
EP - 551
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -
