Clinical and Psychological Factors Influencing the Perceived Stress among Patients with Anxiety and Depression in Remission during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Abstract Background and objectives The COVID-19 pandemic has turned into a crisis with serious direct medical influence, and also with enormous indirect socio-psychological consequences. The study, which is part of a larger one, aimed to assess the perceived stress after the first COVID-19 wave in patients with depression and anxiety in remission and healthy controls and to evaluate clinical-psychological factors as predictors for moderate/high Perceived Stress (MH-PSS-10). Methods The study was cross-sectional, with 120 participants, grouped into four categories: anxiety in remission, depression in remission, healthy controls, and healthy first-degree relatives to patients with depression/anxiety. Self-assessment scales for depression and anxiety – Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), The UCLA Loneliness Scale – 3-point scale (UCLA-LS3), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), and the State – Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T, STAI-S) were used. Results The groups did not differ in the level of PSS-10. Using the ROC curve analysis, significant threshold values for HADS-A (≥ 6.50), HADS-D (≥ 2.50), STAI-T (≥ 38.5), STAI-S (≥ 39.5) (p < 0.001), and UCLA-LS3 (≥ 3.50) (p = 0.007) were determined. Using the multiple binary logistic analysis, depression (OR = 2.42), loneliness (OR = 2.36), STAI-S (OR = 6.55), and STAI-T (OR = 3.43) significantly increased the risk of MH-PSS-10. Conclusion Patients with complete remission of anxiety and depressive disorders did not differ from healthy controis in stress perception during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subthreshold values of depression, anxiety, and loneliness increased the feeling of moderate/high stress irrespective of the psychiatric history.