IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i19p6861-d1250636.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trajectories of Adjustment Disorder and Well-Being in Austria and Croatia during 20 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Irina Zrnić Novaković

    (Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria)

  • Alina Streicher

    (Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria)

  • Dean Ajduković

    (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Marina Ajduković

    (Department of Social Work, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Jana Kiralj Lacković

    (Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Annett Lotzin

    (Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
    Department of Psychology, MSH Medical School Hamburg, 20457 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Brigitte Lueger-Schuster

    (Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the trajectories of adjustment disorder (AD) symptoms and well-being over 20 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria and Croatia. Further objectives of this study were to examine whether sociodemographic characteristics and the symptoms of anxiety and depression could predict these trajectories. As part of the pan-European ESTSS ADJUST study, N = 1144 individuals were recruited using convenience sampling and assessed four times between June 2020 and January 2022 through an online survey. Latent growth curve modelling was applied to estimate the trajectories of AD symptoms and well-being. Over time, the prevalence of probable AD varied between 9.8% and 15.1%. The symptoms of AD tended to increase, whereas well-being tended to decrease. According to the majority of the models tested, women, participants from Austria and those with lower income had higher initial AD symptoms, whereas older participants and those from Croatia had higher initial well-being. In all models and at all timepoints, anxiety and depression significantly predicted AD and well-being scores. Overall, our study points to several predictors of AD and well-being and indicates high variability in people’s reactions to the pandemic. Psychosocial support for the general population is needed during pandemics and similar crises, with a special focus on vulnerable groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Irina Zrnić Novaković & Alina Streicher & Dean Ajduković & Marina Ajduković & Jana Kiralj Lacković & Annett Lotzin & Brigitte Lueger-Schuster, 2023. "Trajectories of Adjustment Disorder and Well-Being in Austria and Croatia during 20 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(19), pages 1-25, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:19:p:6861-:d:1250636
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/19/6861/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/19/6861/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Meaghan L. O’Donnell & James A. Agathos & Olivia Metcalf & Kari Gibson & Winnie Lau, 2019. "Adjustment Disorder: Current Developments and Future Directions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-11, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Soledad Quero & Iryna Rachyla & Mar Molés & Sonia Mor & Cintia Tur & Pim Cuijpers & Alba López-Montoyo & Cristina Botella, 2019. "Can Between-Session Homework Be Delivered Digitally? A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of CBT for Adjustment Disorders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-19, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:19:p:6861-:d:1250636. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.