Personality Predicts Pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 Trajectories of Transdiagnostic Anxiety and Depression Symptoms

This study aimed to characterize within-person pre-COVID-19 and coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) transdiagnostic anxiety and depression symptom trajectories in emerging adults and determine the roles of neuroticism and behavioral activation in predicting these COVID-19-related changes.We recruited a sample of 342 emerging adults (aged 18–19 at baseline) who were screened on neuroticism and behavioral activation and completed symptom questionnaires on multiple occasions before and after the start of the pandemic.We examined estimates of the symptom factors of General Distress, Anhedonia-Apprehension, and Fears at each wave. The stress amplification model predicts a multiplicative neuroticism–adversity interaction with those high on neuroticism showing the greatest symptom increases to the pandemic. The stably elevated negative affect model is an additive model and predicts that persons high on neuroticism will display elevated symptoms at every wave. General Distress and Anhedonia-Apprehension showed large increases from the pre-COVID- 19 to COVID-19 transition then decreased thereafter. The increase brought the average General Distress score to clinical levels at the first COVID-19 wave. There was a small decrease in Fears from the pre- COVID-19 to COVID-19 transition followed by a large increase. Thus, COVID-19 was associated with both increases in psychological symptoms and some resilience. Neuroticism positively predicted the pre- COVID-19 to COVID-19 transition change in Fears but was associated with a dampening of increases in General Distress and Anhedonia-Apprehension. The results disconfirmed the stress amplification model of neuroticism but partially supported the stably elevated negative affect model.