Pre-pandemic mental health and brain characteristics predict adolescent stress and emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic had profound effects on developing adolescents that, to date, remain incompletely understood. Youth with preexisting mental health problems and associated brain alterations were at increased risk for higher stress and poor mental health. This study investigated impacts of adolescent pre-pandemic mental health problems and their neural correlates on stress, negative emotions and poor mental health during the first [~]15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsN=2,641 adolescents (median age=12.0 years) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) cohort, with pre-pandemic data on anxiety, depression, and behavioral (attention, aggression, social withdrawal, internalizing, externalizing) problems, longitudinal survey data on mental health, stress and emotions during the first [~]15 months following the outbreak, structural MRI, and resting-state fMRI. Data were analyzed using mixed effects mediation and moderation models. ResultsPreexisting mental health and behavioral problems predicted higher stress, negative affect and negative emotions ({beta}=0.09-0.21, CI=[0.03,0.32]), and lower positive affect ({beta}=-0.21 to -0.09, CI=[-0.31,-0.01]) during the first [~]6 months of the outbreak. Pre-pandemic structural characteristics of brain regions supporting social function and emotional processing (insula, superior temporal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and the cerebellum) mediated some of these relationships ({beta}=0.10-0.15, CI=[0.01,0.24]). Pre-pandemic brain circuit organization moderated (attenuated) relationships between preexisting mental health and pandemic stress and negative emotions ({beta}=-0.17 to -0.06, CI=[-0.27,-0.01]). ConclusionsPreexisting mental health problems and their structural brain correlates were risk factors for youth stress and emotions during the early months of the outbreak. In addition, the organization of some brain circuits was protective and attenuated the effects of preexisting mental health issues on youth responses to the pandemics stressors.