Stress appears to play a role in women with young children who are diagnosed with post-acute sequelae of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, known as Long COVID, and those who report having Long COVID symptoms.

This finding, revealed from the results of 2,500 US women who completed an online survey in July 2023, is reported with related findings in an article published in Health Psychology.

Developed by a team of researchers at Stony Brook University co-led by Marci Lobel and doctoral student Darya Likhacheva, the study examines the experience of Long COVID from a health psychology lens.

Long COVID continues to be a public health concern, yet most research involves work centered on biomedical risk factors, with little attention to the psychosocial stress processes and social relationships that could contribute to the long-term condition. Additionally, women bear a disproportionate burden of Long COVID, and gender-specific mechanisms potentially related to the condition remain poorly understood.

The research team used the survey to investigate stress, social support, and Long COVID in women who had a previous COVID-19 infection. All survey respondents were mothers of young children. Nearly 10% reported that they had Long COVID, but it was not diagnosed, and 1.2% reported they had an official diagnosis of the condition.

In summary, the survey findings showed that women who were highly stressed were more likely to have an official or self-diagnosis of Long COVID. They also had more symptoms such as fatigue, memory problems, and shortness of breath than women with lower stress as indicated in the survey. Women with more than two children experienced more Long COVID symptoms than mothers of one or two children.

The survey results also showed that stress links to Long COVID symptoms and diagnostic status were weaker among women who reported that they are well-supported by their partner, family, or friends, yet this finding according to the team appeared tenuous.

“While we cannot know for sure the actual role of stress in the development of Long COVID, or the perceived condition in these women, our study illuminates the gaps in diagnosis and healthcare for women by capturing experiences of symptoms that may not have been formerly recognized by their healthcare providers,” says Lobel, senior author and a professor in the psychology department at Stony Brook University.

“Additionally, the results demonstrate that stress is meaningfully related to Long COVID in women and may contribute to existing gender disparities.”

She explains that numerous studies find that women commonly experience negative interactions with healthcare services, often having their symptoms dismissed or minimized, resulting in underdiagnosis of conditions. Similarly, some individuals with Long COVID symptoms struggle to obtain an official diagnosis.

An important note articulated by the authors is that the study findings cannot differentiate whether stress contributes to Long COVID vulnerability or severity, or whether stress results from the symptom burden and uncertainty associated with this condition. Both, they say, are possible.

They also point out that while the findings reveal stress is meaningfully linked to Long COVID risk, symptom number, and duration in women, “associations vary across outcomes and are modified by different types of social support.”

The authors conclude that the findings, overall, “underscore the need for gender-sensitive approaches to Long COVID.”

Source: Stony Brook University