Network Analysis of COVID-19-Related PTSD and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese General Population and Comorbidity Subgroup

Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms are prevalent and highly correlated mental health outcomes of traumatic events, but their comorbidity in the COVID-19 pandemic has not been examined with evidence from Chinese culture. Method: With information from 2,858 Chinese adults, this study used a network analysis to investigate the relationship between PTSD and depressive symptoms along with their symptoms-structure associations. Results: Results indicated similar positive connections among similar cluster symptoms (i.e., positive affect) in both general and comorbidity-reported populations. Self-destructive/reckless behaviors were core symptoms in the general population, and interpersonal difficulties were core symptoms in the comorbidity subgroup. Finally, the very strong communication seen between "arousal and reactivity alterations " and "depressed affect " deserves more attention. Conclusion: Our results indicated interpersonal symptoms can be important targets when intervening or treating PTSD and depressive symptoms related to COVID-19 in the clinical population.Clinical Impact StatementClinicians could target related symptoms in treatment planning at the same time and contribute especially to the treatment of some symptoms that might be difficult to intervene on, such as intrusive thoughts. In addition, the treatment of the most central symptom, self-destructive/reckless behavior in this network, could result in the alleviation of other related symptoms in this network, and particularly prevent the general population from developing comorbidity disorder. Moreover, identifying and intervening the central symptoms and strong bridge nodes are of great importance to prevent comorbidity in the early period.