Edited by: Vsevolod Konstantinov, Penza State University, Russia
Reviewed by: Arlette Setiawan, Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia; Thiago Teixeira Guimarães, Air Force University, Brazil; Alena Zolotareva, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia
This article was submitted to Anxiety and Stress Disorders, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry
†ORCID: Chan Shen
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
To assess whether COVID-19 vaccine approval and availability was associated with reduction in the prevalence of depression and anxiety among adults in the United States.
We adopted cross sectional and quasi-experimental design with mental health measurements before vaccine availability (June 2020,
Depression prevalence was 25.0% in June 2020 and 24.6% in March 2021; anxiety prevalence was 31.7% in June 2020 and 30.0% in March 2021 in the sample. In adjusted analysis, there were no significant differences in likelihood of depression and anxiety between June 2020 and March 2021.
Depression and anxiety were not significantly different between June 2020 and March 2021, which suggests that the pandemic effect continues to persist even with widespread availability of vaccines.
The year 2020 brought unprecedented situations around the globe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many households faced isolation, fear, violence, drug abuse, and anxiety. The pandemic has impacted every aspect of society resulting in economic uncertainty, limited interpersonal connections, mortality, drug abuse, and social disruption. Furthermore, America has faced riots, protests, police brutality, and political divisiveness as well (
Numerous studies in the literature have examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Two meta-analyses found that prevalence rates of depression and anxiety increased substantially during the COVID-19 outbreak (
Several studies have further researched the relationship between mental health during the pandemic and multiple factors such as government role, food insufficiency, housing, and income level (
This study aims to fill the knowledge gap by assessing if COVID-19 vaccine availability was associated with reduction in the prevalence of depression and anxiety among a nationally representative group of adults in the US. We compared the prevalence of depression and anxiety before and after COVID-19 vaccine became available using a nationally representative household survey.
The data source we used for this study is the Census pulse survey. The Census pulse survey is a nationally representative household survey was designed by the United States Census Bureau in collaboration with numerous federal agencies to measure social and economic impact due to the coronavirus pandemic in the US (
We adopted a cross sectional and quasi-experimental design with mental health measurements in June 2020 and March 2021. Specifically, we used the survey results from Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) during the following two waves: Week 7: June 11- June 16, 2020, and Week 27: March 17- 29, 2021. We chose these two waves of data for comparison purposes because in June 2020 individuals were subject to high stress due to prolonged health regulations, lock downs, and social isolation due to physical and social distancing, and in March 2021 vaccines were approved and became available to all adults over 18 years of age.
The inclusion criteria for the study were non-missing data on PHQ-2 and GAD-2 scores. Between week 7 and week 27, the census pulse survey consisted of 131,941 adults representing 209,245,170 adults in the United States.
The dependent variables examined in this study were depression (yes/no) and anxiety (yes/no) based on Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) questionnaires. PHQ-2, a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) assesses depression symptoms with two questions. 1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things. 2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless. GAD-2 assesses anxiety symptoms with two questions. 1. Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge. 2. Not being able to stop or control worrying. Each question is rated from 0 to 3 (Not at all (0), several days (1), More than half the days(2), and nearly every day (3). Thus, both PHQ-2 and GAD-2 scores range from 0 to 6. Adults with PHQ-2 score 3 or greater should be screened for major depressive disorder (
Other explanatory variables included age, sex, food insecurity, education, income, race and ethnicity, marital status, loss of employment (whether reported lost work during the past 4 weeks), region.
We tested group differences using Rao-Scott chi-square. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to analyze factors associated with the presence of depression and anxiety respectively. In these regressions, our main focus was on time and we controlled for age, sex, food insecurity, education, income, race and ethnicity, marital status, loss of employment, and region. All analyses were conducted with the SAS survey procedures to take the survey weights provided by the Census pulse survey into consideration.
Description of selected characteristics of adult (18 years or older) respondents in weeks 7 (june 2020) and 27 (march 2021) United States Census Pulse Survey.
0.085 | 0.770 | ||||||
Female | 40,588 | 51.6 | 37,828 | 52.0 | |||
Male | 27,421 | 48.4 | 26,104 | 48.0 | |||
1.673 | 0.796 | ||||||
White | 52,049 | 63.5 | 48,968 | 65.4 | |||
African American | 5,009 | 11.0 | 4,225 | 10.3 | |||
Latino/Hispanic | 5,677 | 16.5 | 5,660 | 15.8 | |||
Asian | 2,940 | 5.0 | 2,990 | 5.1 | |||
Other race | 2,334 | 4.0 | 2,089 | 3.5 | |||
1.101 | 0.894 | ||||||
Married | 39,596 | 55.9 | 38,090 | 56.7 | |||
Widow | 3,510 | 3.9 | 3,893 | 4.5 | |||
Sep/Div | 11,859 | 13.9 | 10,937 | 13.7 | |||
Never married | 12,813 | 26.0 | 10,634 | 24.6 | |||
1.929 | 0.587 | ||||||
Less than high school | 1,259 | 8.1 | 1,180 | 7.6 | |||
High School | 21,806 | 51.7 | 19,983 | 49.3 | |||
Associate degree | 6,961 | 8.9 | 6,638 | 10.0 | |||
College | 37,983 | 31.3 | 36,131 | 33.1 | |||
14.451 | 0.071 | ||||||
LT $25,000 | 6854 | 15.5 | 5645 | 12.7 | |||
$25,000–$34,999 | 5820 | 11.3 | 4894 | 9.7 | |||
$35,000–$49,999 | 7094 | 11.8 | 6297 | 10.8 | |||
$50,000–$74,999 | 11437 | 17.0 | 10433 | 16.5 | |||
$75,000–$99,999 | 9276 | 12.1 | 8462 | 11.7 | |||
$100,000–$149,999 | 11608 | 13.9 | 10996 | 14.0 | |||
$150,000–$199,999 | 5455 | 6.0 | 5452 | 6.4 | |||
GE $200,000 | 6319 | 6.3 | 6414 | 7.3 | |||
0.152 | 0.985 | ||||||
Northeast | 11,453 | 17.2 | 10,054 | 17.2 | |||
South | 23,280 | 38.1 | 19,855 | 37.7 | |||
Midwest | 14,141 | 20.4 | 13,172 | 20.7 | |||
West | 19,135 | 24.2 | 20,851 | 24.3 | |||
2.607 | 0.272 | ||||||
Employed | 38,862 | 54.7 | 37,135 | 59.1 | |||
Not employed | 29,082 | 45.2 | 26,715 | 40.7 | |||
1.266 | 0.737 | ||||||
Private | 52,992 | 71.0 | 49,944 | 73.2 | |||
Public | 9,939 | 16.6 | 10,035 | 15.7 | |||
None | 3,995 | 10.3 | 2,918 | 8.6 | |||
2.489 | 0.288 | ||||||
Yes | 26,204 | 47.5 | 22,539 | 43.8 | |||
No | 41,711 | 52.4 | 41,284 | 56.1 | |||
10.829 | 0.004 | ||||||
Yes | 46,016 | 58.4 | 48,773 | 67.9 | |||
No | 21,803 | 41.2 | 15,020 | 31.8 |
Based on adults (aged 18 or older) who responded to the United States Census Pulse Survey in week 7 or Week 27, with no missing data in Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item questions. Due to missing data (marital status, employment, income, health insurance, lost work, food sufficiency), the column percentages may not add to 100%. Missing data are not included in the table. Group differences were tested with Rao-Scott chi-square statistics.
LT, Less than; GE, Greater than or equal; Sep/Div, Separated Divorced; Wt, Weighted. The red indicates that these are statistically significant.
With respect to depression, 25.0% in June 2020 and 24.6% in March 2021 had PHQ-2 score
Description of selected characteristics of adult respondents by depression and anxiety (row percentages) United States Census Pulse Survey–week 7 (june 2020) and week 27 (march 2021).
0.035 | 0.852 | 0.48 | 0.489 | ||||||
June 2020 | 14,285 | 25.0 | 20,221 | 31.7 | |||||
March 2021 | 12,618 | 24.6 | 16,263 | 30.0 | |||||
1.666 | 0.197 | 7.119 | |||||||
Female | 17,240 | 26.3 | 24,376 | 34.3 | |||||
Male | 9663 | 23.2 | 12,108 | 27.3 | |||||
3.900 | 0.420 | 2.812 | 0.590 | ||||||
White | 19,229 | 23.2 | 26,662 | 29.6 | |||||
African American | 2,290 | 27.6 | 2,969 | 34.2 | |||||
Latino/Hispanic | 2,946 | 28.3 | 3,840 | 34.1 | |||||
Asian | 1,101 | 22.6 | 1,369 | 26.6 | |||||
Other race | 1,337 | 33.3 | 1,644 | 36.6 | |||||
35.555 | 25.033 | ||||||||
Married | 12,003 | 18.6 | 18,150 | 25.3 | |||||
Widow | 1,459 | 24.8 | 1,668 | 26.4 | |||||
Sep/Divorced | 6,105 | 30.2 | 7,584 | 35.8 | |||||
Never married | 7,203 | 35.8 | 8,915 | 41.4 | |||||
12.739 | 6.895 | ||||||||
LT High School | 835 | 31.8 | 966 | 37.7 | |||||
High School | 10,881 | 27.7 | 13,257 | 32.5 | |||||
Associate degree | 3,180 | 26.8 | 4,073 | 33.5 | |||||
College | 12,007 | 18.0 | 18,188 | 26.0 | |||||
36.893 | 34.120 | ||||||||
LT $25,000 | 4,741 | 37.3 | 5,470 | 43.0 | |||||
$25,000–$34,999 | 3,170 | 32.0 | 3,868 | 37.3 | |||||
$35,000–$49,999 | 3,384 | 29.2 | 4,220 | 34.8 | |||||
$50,000–$74,999 | 4,723 | 24.6 | 6,343 | 31.4 | |||||
$75,000–$99,999 | 3,141 | 20.7 | 4,461 | 26.7 | |||||
$100,000–$149,999 | 3,271 | 16.9 | 5,006 | 22.6 | |||||
$150,000–$199,999 | 1,353 | 14.6 | 2,249 | 21.3 | |||||
GE $200,000 | 1,353 | 13.2 | 2,388 | 19.6 | |||||
0.833 | 0.842 | 0.880 | 0.830 | ||||||
Northeast | 4,149 | 23.5 | 5,945 | 28.1 | |||||
South | 9,218 | 25.8 | 12,230 | 35.1 | |||||
Mid-west | 5,178 | 23.4 | 7,053 | 43.5 | |||||
West | 8,358 | 25.5 | 11,256 | 37.4 | |||||
6.291 | 1.974 | 0.378 | |||||||
Employed | 14,169 | 21.9 | 20,931 | 41.0 | |||||
Not employed | 12,702 | 28.6 | 15,512 | 22.4 | |||||
16.766 | 13.160 | ||||||||
Private | 18,742 | 21.9 | 26,569 | 20.9 | |||||
Public | 5,113 | 29.9 | 6,182 | 48.1 | |||||
None | 2,531 | 37.8 | 3,041 | 25.9 | |||||
45.427 | <0.001 | 61.924 | <0.001 | ||||||
Lost work | 14,147 | 33.2 | 18,832 | 41.0 | |||||
No | 12,715 | 17.8 | 17,594 | 22.4 | |||||
133.962 | 89.638 | ||||||||
Yes | 12,523 | 15.4 | 18,803 | 20.9 | |||||
No | 14,309 | 40.9 | 17,592 | 48.1 | |||||
496.000 | 496.000 | ||||||||
Yes | 21610 | 65.7 | 21610 | 81.8 | |||||
No | 5293 | 6.5 | 14874 | 14.1 |
Based on adults (aged 18 or older) who responded to the United States Census Pulse Survey in week 7 or Week 27, with no missing data in Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item questions. Missing data (marital status, employment, income, health insurance, lost work, and food sufficiency) are not presented in the table. Group differences were tested with Rao-Scott chi-square statistics.
Dep, Depression; LT, Less than; GE, Greater than or equal; Sep/Div, Separated Divorced; Wt, Weighted. The red indicates that these are statistically significant.
In adjusted logistic regression (
Adjusted odds ratios and 95% (confidence intervals) selected characteristics from separate logistic regressions on depression and anxiety United States Census Pulse Survey–Week 7 (june 2020) and week 27 (march 2021).
June 2020(Ref) | |||||||
March 2021 | 0.87 | [0.65,1.16] | 0.3495 | 0.94 | [0.73, 1.20] | 0.6060 | |
Female | 1.14 | [0.85, 1.53] | 0.3690 | 1.39 | [1.06, 1.83] | 0.0172 | |
Male (Ref) | |||||||
0.93 | [0.89, 0.97] | 0.0005 | 0.91 | [0.88, 0.95] | <0.001 | ||
White (Ref) | |||||||
AA | 0.82 | [0.50, 1.34] | 0.4221 | 0.82 | [0.50, 1.33] | 0.4174 | |
Latino | 0.74 | [0.43, 1.26] | 0.2629 | 0.70 | [0.43, 1.13] | 0.1408 | |
Asian | 0.85 | [0.40, 1.79] | 0.6615 | 0.70 | [0.37, 1.33] | 0.2677 | |
Other race | 1.11 | [0.58, 2.14] | 0.7424 | 0.91 | [0.45, 1.83] | 0.7844 | |
Married (Ref) | |||||||
Widow | 1.55 | [0.78, 3.11] | 0.2104 | 1.15 | [0.56, 2.37] | 0.6979 | |
Sep/Div | 1.45 | [1.00, 2.12] | 0.0506 | 1.28 | [0.88, 1.85] | 0.1922 | |
Never Married | 1.52 | [1.02, 2.28] | 0.0381 | 1.25 | [0.85, 1.83] | 0.2455 | |
LT HS | 1.18 | [0.55, 2.54] | 0.6628 | 0.99 | [0.52, 1.89] | 0.9794 | |
HS | 1.18 | [0.86, 1.62] | 0.3047 | 0.94 | [0.72, 1.24] | 0.6712 | |
Assoc deg | 1.24 | [0.75, 2.04] | 0.4065 | 1.06 | [0.69, 1.63] | 0.7816 | |
College (Ref) | |||||||
LT $25,000 (Ref) | |||||||
$25,000–$34,999 | 0.98 | [0.53, 1.81] | 0.9355 | 0.95 | [0.56, 1.62] | 0.8593 | |
$35,000–$49,999 | 0.98 | [0.58, 1.65] | 0.9282 | 0.96 | [0.53, 1.73] | 0.8897 | |
$50,000–$74,999 | 0.87 | [0.51, 1.49] | 0.6096 | 0.90 | [0.54, 1.51] | 0.6906 | |
$75,000–$99,999 | 0.83 | [0.44, 1.56] | 0.5547 | 0.82 | [0.47, 1.43] | 0.4821 | |
$100,000–$149,999 | 0.76 | [0.40, 1.45] | 0.3986 | 0.74 | [0.41, 1.31] | 0.2970 | |
$150,000–$199,999 | 0.72 | [0.36, 1.45] | 0.3566 | 0.75 | [0.40, 1.42] | 0.3764 | |
GE $200,000 | 0.72 | [0.35, 1.49] | 0.3738 | 0.75 | [0.38, 1.47] | 0.3981 | |
Northeast (Ref) | |||||||
South | 1.06 | [0.71, 1.57] | 0.7806 | 1.05 | [0.72, 1.53] | 0.8087 | |
Mid-west | 0.96 | [0.60, 1.53] | 0.8623 | 0.93 | [0.60, 1.44] | 0.7473 | |
West | 1.04 | [0.68, 1.61] | 0.8491 | 1.07 | [0.70, 1.62] | 0.7625 | |
Private (Ref) | |||||||
Public | 1.12 | [0.77, 1.63] | 0.5606 | 1.08 | [0.73, 1.59] | 0.6935 | |
None | 1.14 | [0.70, 1.88] | 0.5965 | 1.10 | [0.65, 1.85] | 0.7215 | |
Lost work (Ref) | |||||||
No | 0.62 | [0.47, 0.83] | 0.0012 | 0.57 | [0.44, 0.74] | <0.001 | |
Yes (Ref) | |||||||
No | 2.92 | [2.25, 3.79] | 0.0000 | 2.82 | [2.09, 3.81] | <0.001 |
Based on adults (aged 18 or older) who responded to the United States Census Pulse Survey in week 7 or Week 27, with no missing data in Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item questions.
AOR, Adjusted Odds Ratio; 95% CI, 95% Confidence Interval; Dep, Depression; LT, Less than; GE, Greater than or equal; Sep/Div, Separated Divorced.
In adjusted logistic regression (
This study examined the association of COVID-19 vaccine availability and mental health. We observed adult depression prevalence rate at 25.0% in June 2020 and at 24.6% in March 2021 based on Census pulse survey. Therefore, the result suggests that the depression prevalence was relatively stable over this time period. We also report that anxiety was initially 31.7% at the beginning of the pandemic and 30.0% in March 2021. People who lost their jobs, had food insecurity, and were older were more likely to experience depression and anxiety in the study period. Females, in general, were more likely to experience anxiety, and people who were never married were more likely to experience depression during the study period.
These depression and anxiety rates were much higher than numbers found in the literature in the year preceding the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, one study found that in 2019, 18.5% of U.S. adults were experiencing depression, of which 11.5% reported mild symptoms, 4.2% reported moderate symptoms, and 2.8% reported severe symptoms (
Several studies during the pandemic showed an increase in depression and anxiety symptoms that were above the 2019 levels and were similar to the results of this study. A meta-analysis with pooled prevalence showed depression levels at 25% from January 1, 2020 to May 8, 2020 (
Our study differs from the previous ones in that its time frame encompasses the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine for the general public and the potential for some resolution of depression and anxiety. The initial high levels of depression and anxiety were not unexpected as COVID-19 brought uncertainty and stress with its high transmission and number of hospitalizations and deaths in the early months of 2020. Additionally, the poor health messaging, lockdowns, economic downturn, and poor management of the pandemic in early 2020 were also factors that could be expected to impact depression and anxiety symptoms. A prior study found that COVID-19 vaccination improved anxiety and depression in chronic kidney disease patients (
Three main factors may explain the high levels of depression and anxiety that did not subside after the availability of vaccines: vaccine hesitancy, concern for children ineligible for the vaccine, and social determinants. There is significant vaccine hesitancy in the Us. One online survey indicated that 41% of participants reported a belief of an adverse effect on fertility with the vaccination, and 38% reported being unsure about an adverse effect on fertility (
The other potential factor for maintaining high levels of anxiety and depression symptoms was concern about children and COVID-19. In March 2021, children under 12 years did not have access to vaccinations, and school boards were considering returning the children to in-person learning. In a study conducted in mid-March 2020, parents of children from primary school to college were surveyed, and parents who perceived stress and had children in middle or high school were at greater risk for depression and anxiety (
Our findings also indicated an association of depression and anxiety with social determinants of health such as employment, food sufficiency, and marital status (a proxy for social support). Regardless of COVID-19, individuals with untreated depressive disorders had lower employment rates (
In our study, we found that persons who had never married were associated with depressive symptoms. In a literature review of marriage and psychiatric illness prior to the pandemic, marriage was both a protecting and predisposing factor for psychiatric illness, depending upon the quality of the marriage (
Our finding that depression and anxiety symptoms did not improve after COVID-19 vaccine became available has implications for future mental healthcare needs and healthcare delivery. During the period studied in this research, there was increased use of telehealth for anxiety and depression in some settings (
With each wave of COVID-19, there may continue to be high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. The means to provide pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies to alleviate the mental health burden need to be expanded. Future studies need to explore barriers to COVID-19 related mental healthcare utilization and the impact of mental health therapies on outcomes among adults with depression and or anxiety.
Our study has many strengths and some limitations. We used nationally representative data with near real-time collection. The findings from this study may inform public health planning and policies to address mental health. Availability of repeated cross-sections enabled assessment of COVID-19 related mental health burden over time. However, the survey lacked information on some variables such as chronic conditions, health status, loss/impact of COVID-19 on family and friends, the severity of depression and anxiety, physical activity, and vaccine hesitancy that may have influenced mental health.
Depression and anxiety symptoms did not change significantly between June 2020 and March 2021. These results suggest that the effects of the pandemic on mental health continue to persist despite the widespread availability of vaccines that would have been considered to assuage some of the symptoms.
Publicly available datasets were analyzed in this study. This data can be found here:
CS and US contributed to conception and design of the study. LR and US performed the statistical analysis. All authors contributed to the writing of the manuscript, read, and approved the submitted version.
This project described was supported in part by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, 5U54GM104942-05 (RW) and by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Agreement No. 1OT2OD032581-01 (US) and NIH/1OT2HL158258-01 (US), and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities through the Texas Center for Health Disparities (NIMHD), 5U54MD006882-10 (HW and US).
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the NIH.