Can COVID-19 cause personalities to change?
The coronavirus pandemic took a serious toll on all our lives. Not only did it affect our physical health, but it also impacted our psychological well-being. Besides the disease itself, the lockdowns and social distancing lead to a series of health complications, including mental health struggles. In a recent study, researchers also suggested that the pandemic may have caused personality changes in many young adults.
About the study
Earlier this year, a team of researchers from Florida State University assessed the personalities of 7,109 participants, who had enrolled in the online Understanding America Study. Their aim was to see whether the pandemic had an impact on the personalities of people. It was found that social isolation took a great toll on the young people in society.
Also read: Coronavirus: Why you still need to tell people if you get COVID
Personality changes to note, as per the study
As per the study published in the PLOS One journal, there were several changes in the personalities of the young people.
The study authors wrote, “Younger adults became moodier and more prone to stress, less cooperative, and trusting, and less restrained and responsible.”
Why were younger adults so affected?
According to the researchers, young adults were very affected by the pandemic. This was attributed to how impressionable and easily influenced the personality is when someone is young.
“Although the pandemic was stressful for everyone, it disrupted the normative tasks of young adulthood, such as school and the transition into the workforce and being sociable and developing relationships," explains Professor Angelina Sutin, lead researcher of the study.
It is believed that the pandemic and the lockdowns affected the maturing process of young adults, disrupting their development.
Professor Wiebke Bleidorn, a co-author of the study, added: “It’s interesting to see this average effect, despite the fact that people must deal with the things going on quite differently. One interpretation is that not having the normal formative experiences put development on hold. It will be interesting to see if … these traits bounce back.”
Other factors that may have added to the psychological woes
According to Prof. Sutin, there were certain limitations to the study too.
“It is speculative because we did not measure reasons for the change, but this disruption may have had a larger impact on younger adults because these tasks are very important for this age group," he said.
Furthermore, the authors said, “The changes cannot be attributed solely to the pandemic. Political and social upheaval co-experienced with the pandemic may have also contributed to the observed changes.
“Future research could address whether specific policy differences across states or countries have different impacts on change. Also, with few assessments of personality per participant, it was not possible to test for nonlinear changes over time. Future research would benefit from more assessments of personality to be able to test for such change.”
Scientists also suggested that severe COVID-19 infections and long COVID could have personality trait changes.
How COVID-19 impacts the brain
Studies in the past have looked at how the SARs-CoV-2 virus affects brain structure, leading to certain changes in personality.
As per a study published in the Nature journal, conducted by scientists from the University of Oxford, COVID-19 can have a neurological impact with many patients experiencing brain fog as one of the symptoms of the virus.
The study looked at the impact of the virus on 785 patients between the ages of 51 and 81 and compared it with a control group.
“A greater reduction in grey matter thickness”, “greater changes in markers of tissue damage”, and a “greater reduction in brain size” were some of the differences observed from those who didn’t have COVID-19.
In addition, the researchers noted that the infected patients experienced cognitive decline as a result of the infection.
“Whether this deleterious effect can be partially reversed, or whether these effects will persist in the long term, remains to be investigated with additional follow-up," the authors wrote.