Increases in distress during stay-at-home mandates During the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study

•The Coronavirus pandemic is contributing to elevated levels of emotional distress.•Depression (but not anxiety) increased during the pandemic among young adults.•Social anxiety robustly predicted Coronavirus related worry and interference.•Developing interventions that target negative affect can help reduce distress. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has contributed to over 500,000 deaths, and hospitalization of thousands of individuals worldwide. Cross-sectional data indicate that anxiety and depression levels are greater during the pandemic, yet no known prospective studies have tested this assertion. Further, individuals with elevated trait anxiety prior to a global pandemic may theoretically be more apt to experience greater pandemic-related anxiety and/or impairment. The current study tested whether anxiety and depression increased from the month before the state's Stay-At-Home order to the period of the Stay-At-Home order among 120 young adults in Louisiana, a state with especially high rates of COVID-19 related infections and deaths. We also tested whether pre-pandemic social anxiety was related to greater pandemic related anxiety, depression, and COVID-related worry and impairment. Depression but not anxiety increased during the Stay-At-Home order. Further, pre-pandemic trait anxiety, social anxiety, and depression were statistically significant predictors of anxiety and depression during the Stay-At-Home order, although only social anxiety was robustly related to COVID-related worry and impairment. Emotional distress increased during the COVID-19 pandemic Stay-At-Home order and this is especially the case among individuals with pre-pandemic elevations in trait anxiety (especially social anxiety) and depression.