Depression trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic: a secondary analysis of the impact of cognitive-appraisal processes.

The present work is, to our knowledge, the first study of response-shift effects in depression. During these first 15.5 pandemic months, group differences highlighted the connection between negative appraisals and depression, and response-shift effects in these relationships over time. Egregious life circumstances may play a lesser role for the Stably Depressed but a greater role for people who have transient periods of depression as well as for those with improving trajectories (i.e., endogenous vs. reactive depression). How one thinks about QOL is intrinsically linked to mental health, with clear clinical implications.