The prevalence of serious psychological distress (SPD) was elevated during the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, but the relationships of SPD during the pandemic with pre-pandemic SPD, pre-pandemic socioeconomic status, and pandemic-related social stressors remain unexamined.

A probability-based sample (N = 1751) of the US population age 20 and over was followed prospectively from February 2019 (T1), with subsequent interviews in May 2020 (T2) and August 2020 (T3). Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess prospective relationships between T1 SPD with experiences of disruption of employment, health care, and childcare at T2. Binary logistic regression was then used to assess relationships of T1 SPD, and socioeconomic status and T2 pandemic-related stressors with T3 SPD.

At T1, SPD was associated with age, race/ethnicity, and household income. SPD at T1 predicted disruption of employment (OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.4–3.8) and health care (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.4–7.1) at T2. SPD at T1 (OR 10.2, 95% CI 4.5–23.3), low household income at T1 (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.1–6.4), disruption of employment at T2 (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.4–7.6), and disruption of healthcare at T2 (OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.5–7.2) were all significantly associated with elevated risk for SPD at T3.

Elevated risk for SPD during the COVID-19 pandemic is related to multiple psychological and social pathways that are likely to interact over the life course. Policies and interventions that target individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions as well as those experiencing persistent unemployment should be high priorities in the mental health response to the pandemic.

Understanding food insecurity and its health consequences is important for identifying strategies to best target support for individuals and communities. Given the limited information that exists for indigenous groups in Latin America, this study aimed to understand the association between food insecurity and mental health in an indigenous population in Panama.

Cross-sectional data were collected using a survey conducted with Kuna Indians residing off the coast of Panama. Data sources included measures from the Panamanian prevalence of risk factors associated with CVD survey, and validated measures for psychosocial factors and standardised health outcome measures. Regression models with each of the mental health outcomes (depression, serious psychological distress, perceived stress) were used to examine the association between food insecurity and mental health outcomes.

Indigenous Kuna community residing on the San Blas Islands of Panama.

Two-hundred nine adults.

Food insecurity was reported by 83 % of the participants. Across demographic categories, the only significant difference was by age with higher prevalence in younger ages. After adjusting for demographics, higher food insecurity was significantly associated with higher number of depressive symptoms and more serious psychological distress, but not with levels of perceived stress.

Based on these findings, treatment for mental health in the Kuna community may need to account for social determinants of health and be tailored to meet the needs of younger age groups in this population. In addition, interventions designed to decrease food insecurity should be considered as a possible means for improving mental health.

Help seeking for online peer and other social support in response to depression and other mental health problems offers an electronic technology alternative to traditional mental health care. Here, with nationally representative samples of adult community residents in the USA, we study online peer support help seeking, estimate its occurrence, and investigate depression and other suspected predictors and correlates, some of which might prove to be causal influences.

The data are from nationally representative probability sample surveys of the non-institutionalized US adult population, with a new independent sample assessed via confidential computerized self-assessment modules each year from 2004 to 2010, yielding estimates about online peer support. A total of 264 431 adults participated in these years.

An estimated three per 1000 adults (0.3%) seek online peer support for mental health problems each year (95% confidence interval 0.0022–0.0036). Individuals with depression and/or serious psychological distress are strongly over-represented among these adult online peer support help seekers (odds ratio >7, p < 0.001). Associations with college education, being non-Hispanic white, being female, and age are also noteworthy (p < 0.05).

Online help seeking for mental health social support is becoming frequent enough for study in large sample national surveys, and might well be fostered by active neuropsychiatric ailments such as depression or other serious psychological distress. Open questions remain about whether the result is beneficial, or conditions required for efficacious online peer support, as might be disclosed in definitive evidence from randomized controlled trials.