Psychological distress trajectories in chronic physical health conditions

Objective: The onset of a chronic health condition (CHC) can have a severe impact on an individual’s life, affecting mental and physical health. This study’s goal was to investigate psychological distress trajectories starting from 1 year before to 4 years after the onset of a physical CHC. The specific aims were to identify the number and shape of longitudinal psychological distress trajectories and to test health-related, psychological, social, and demographic factors predicting these trajectories. Method: Two samples were drawn from the Swiss Household Panel data set: a CHC sample (n = 361) and a 1-to-1 matched comparison sample of healthy individuals. Latent growth mixture modeling was used to identify psychological distress trajectories over 6 years. Factors predicting trajectories were then tested using multinomial logistic regression. Results: Four psychological distress trajectories were identified in the CHC sample: resilience (53.9%), chronic (22.2%), delayed (15.0%), and recovery (8.9%). In the comparison sample, two trajectories were identified: low psychological distress (90%) and elevated psychological distress (10%). Protective factors associated with resilient trajectory membership in the CHC sample were higher emotional stability, higher relationship satisfaction, and male gender. Conclusion: Individuals living with a CHC had an increased risk of vulnerability compared with a sample of healthy individuals. This advocates awareness of mental health issues following the onset of a CHC. In this regard, biopsychosocial factors (gender, emotional stability, and relationship satisfaction) offer prevention and intervention opportunities for more vulnerable individuals.