Australians who faced adversity, such as financial distress or social isolation, experienced the greatest harm to their mental health during the initial months of the pandemic, a study suggests.

In one of the first nationally representative longitudinal studies of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers measured depression and anxiety symptom trajectories among 1300 adults.  

Their findings suggested pandemic-related stress for most people was transient and unlikely to lead to clinical depression or anxiety disorders. 

However, about 19% of participants had initially elevated or subsequently increasing levels of depressive symptoms, and there was a similar picture for anxiety in about 23%, over the 12-week period from when nationwide public health restrictions were first introduced in 2020.