Short report: COVID-19-related anxiety is associated with mental health problems among adults with rare disorders.
Adults with rare disorders feel more COVID-19 anxiety, and that anxiety feeds other mental-health problems.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked adults with rare disorders how worried they felt about COVID-19. They also asked about depression, sleep, and stress. The team compared the answers to adults without rare disorders.
What they found
Adults with rare disorders felt more COVID-19 fear. Their fear explained part of their mental-health scores. The study found a positive link: more virus worry went with more mood trouble.
How this fits with other research
Green et al. (2020) saw the opposite pattern. Autistic youth reported less anxiety and depression during early COVID-19. Age and diagnosis explain the gap, not the virus.
Adams et al. (2019) showed the same worry-harm link in autistic kids. Uncertainty anxiety predicted poorer quality of life. Sosnowski et al. (2022) now show the link holds for rare-disorder adults.
Porter et al. (2008) and Lugnegård et al. (2011) already flagged high anxiety in autistic adults. The new data say clinicians should add COVID-19 worry to the list.
Why it matters
You may serve adults with rare disorders or autism. Ask one extra question: 'How nervous are you about COVID-19?' A high score can flag who needs more mental-health support. No new test kit is required.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: For adults with rare disorders, COVID-19 can be more severe and deadlier. This may lead to anxiety about COVID-19 among adults with rare disorders, including worries about being infected. COVID-19 anxiety is linked with mental health problems in the general population. AIMS: To examine the levels of mental health problems and COVID-19 anxiety, and their association, among adults with rare disorders. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Adults with rare disorders (N = 58, Mage = 45.2 years, SD = 12.7, 69.0 % females, 31.0 % males) answered standardized mental health and COVID-19 anxiety questionnaires online. Their scores were compared with samples without rare disorders. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Mental health problems were higher than in a sample without rare disorders (effect size d = 1.14), as was COVID-19 anxiety (effect size d = 0.53). COVID-19 anxiety correlated significantly with mental health problems (r = 0.46). Controlling for age, gender, and work status, COVID-19 anxiety explained 16.1 % of the variance in mental health problems (ΔR2 = 0.161, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: COVID-19 anxiety is higher than norms and associated with mental health problems for adults with rare disorders. During the pandemic, clinicians are recommended to assess COVID-19 anxiety for patients with rare disorders.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.029