26.06.2020Emotional distress before and during the pandemic in young adults in Switzerland

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown could constitute a “perfect storm” for increases in emotional distress, including anxiety and depression. Therefore, the Risk & Resilience area of the Jacobs Center and the z-proso team at the University of Zurich examined emotional distress before and during the pandemic in young adults in Switzerland. Findings revealed that pre-pandemic emotional distress was the strongest predictor of during-pandemic emotional distress, followed by during-pandemic hopelessness, and economic and psychosocial stressors, and also some pre-pandemic stressors (e.g., accumulation of life events). Keeping a daily routine, exercise, and positive reappraisal/reframing were associated with less during-pandemic distress.

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