TY - GEN A1 - Hoffmann, Stephanie A1 - Schulze, Susanne A1 - Löffler, Antje A1 - Becker, Juliane A1 - Hufert, Frank A1 - Gremmels, Heinz-Detlef A1 - Holmberg, Christine A1 - Rapp, Michael A. A1 - Entringer, Sonja A1 - Spallek, Jacob T1 - Did the prevalence of depressive symptoms change during the COVID-19 pandemic? A multilevel analysis on longitudinal data from healthcare workers T2 - International Journal of Social Psychiatry N2 - Background: Healthcare workers (HCW) are at high risk to develop mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic because of additional work load, perceived stress, and exposure to patients with COVID-19. Currently, there are few studies on change over time in the prevalence of depressive symptoms during pandemic start among HCW. Thus, the aims of the current study were to examine whether depressive symptoms increased during the pandemic and were associated with perceived stress and own COVID-19 infection and workplace exposure to virus-infected patients. Methods: The cohort study used longitudinal data from HCW collected monthly (July 2020 till December 2020) during the first year of the pandemic before vaccination became available. The sample of n = 166 was drawn from a German hospital and included medical (e.g. nurses, therapists, and physicians) and administrative staff. Using multilevel models, we analyzed the change in depressive symptoms [assessed with General Depression Scale (GDS), a validated German version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)] and its association with perceived stress across the study period. Laboratory-confirmed own infection was tested as a potential moderator in this context. Subscales of the GDS were used to examine change over time of depressive symptom modalities (e.g. emotional, somatic, and social interactions (β, 95% confidence interval). Results: Depression scores increased significantly during the study period (β = .03, 95% CI [0.02, 0.05]). Perceived stress was associated with depressive symptoms (β = .12, 95% CI [0.10, 0.14]) but did not change over time. Exposure to COVID-19 infection was associated with a higher increase of depressive symptoms (β = .12, 95% CI [0.10, .14]). Somatic symptoms of depression increased among medical HCW with workplace exposure to COVID-19 (β = .25, 95% CI [0.13, 0.38]), but not in administrators (β = .03, 95% CI [−0.04, 0.11]). Conclusion: Research is needed to identify factors that promote the reduction of depressive symptoms in medical HCW with exposition to COVID-19 patients. Awareness of infection protection measures should be increased. KW - Depressive symptoms KW - COVID-19 KW - pandemic KW - healthcare workers Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/00207640231196737 SN - 0020-7640 VL - 70 IS - 1 SP - 87 EP - 98 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Scholaske, Laura A1 - Spallek, Jacob A1 - Entringer, Sonja T1 - Perceived stress and depressive symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum in Turkish-origin women living in German T2 - Journal of Psychosomatic Research N2 - Objective: People of Turkish origin (also referred to as “with a Turkish migrant background”) are one of the largest migrant groups in Germany and show disparities across different stress-related health outcomes. Specifically, women of Turkish origin in Germany have a greater risk for some mental health issues and adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes compared to women without migrant background. We tested differences between women of Turkish origin and women without migrant background in self-reported pregnancy and postpartum stress experiences and depressive symptoms. Methods: 32 women of Turkish origin (mean age 29.7 years) and 77 women without migrant background (mean age 32 years) participated in a multi-site prospective cohort study with two study visits during pregnancy and one month postpartum. Women provided sociodemographic data and completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Center for Epidemiology – Depression (CESD) scale at each study visit. Results: Using hierarchical linear models, we found that women of Turkish origin (both first and second gen- eration) reported more perceived stress (b = 0.57, CI: 0.29–0.84, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (b = 0.32, CI = 0.14–0.49, p < 0.001) compared to women without migrant background across gestation. A linear regression analysis showed that there was also a significant difference in depressive symptoms at one month postpartum (b = 0.35, CI = 0.03–0.66, p < 0.05). Conclusion: Tailored psychosocial interventions are needed to address mental health needs of pregnant Turkish origin women and to intervene on the possible transmission of stress-related health disadvantages to their offspring. KW - Depression Turkish origin women KW - Perceived stress KW - Pregnancy KW - Turkish origin women Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111570 SN - 0022-3999 IS - 177 ER -