Skip to content

Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Amish and Mennonite Participants in AMBiGen

Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Amish and Mennonite Participants in AMBiGen

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04684615
Enrollment
193
Registered
2020-12-24
Start date
2020-12-28
Completion date
2025-05-15
Last updated
2026-05-05

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression

Keywords

Anabaptist, Coronavirus, behavioral health, Mood Disorder, Natural History

Brief summary

People have had to make a lot of changes to their lives due to the COVID-19 health crisis. Most experts agree that social distancing and other safety measures have taken a toll on people s mental health. Amish and Mennonite communities often have large families. They may have limited access to health care. Their lifestyle is based on interaction and group events rather than technology. So people in Amish and Mennonite communities may experience the pandemic in their own special ways. Objective: To describe the relationship between stress related to the pandemic and self-rated measures of mental health symptoms and distress among Amish and Mennonite people with bipolar disorder and related conditions, and their family members. Eligibility: Adults ages 18 and older who are taking part in the NIMH AMBiGen study (80-M-0083). Design: Participants will be mailed 4 surveys. One survey will ask about depression symptoms. One survey will ask about mania symptoms. One survey will assess a broad range of psychological problems. One survey will assess the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health. They will fill out the surveys 4 times over 24 months. The surveys will not include participants names, just codes. This will help protect privacy. Data collected in 80-M-0083 will be used. This includes data about participants genes, medical conditions, and assessments. Participants will get an 800 number they can call to speak to the research team. They can also write to the team if they prefer. Participants who wish will get referrals for mental health services. Participation will last up to 24 months. There will be an option for recontact in the future.

Detailed description

This protocol leverages existing NIMH studies and participants to accomplish time-sensitive research on the mental health impact of environmental stressors imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study will describe the relationship between stressors related to COVID-19 and self-rated measures of mental health symptoms and distress among Amish and Mennonite participants in an ongoing study of bipolar disorder (AMBiGen), and their family members. Objectives: The primary objective is to describe the relationship between stressors related to COVID-19 and self-rated measures of mental health symptoms and distress among individuals with bipolar disorder, related conditions, and their family members. The secondary objectives are to determine the roles played by psychiatric diagnosis, genetic risk of various mental illnesses, and perceived social support in moderating risk and resilience for mental health during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Interventions

None listed

Sponsors

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Lead SponsorNIH

Study design

Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

* INCLUSION CRITERIA: In order to be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all of the following criteria: 1. Active enrollment in Protocol 80-M-0083 2. 18 years of age and older.

Exclusion criteria

1\. Under age 18. INCLUSION OF VULNERABLE PARTICIPANTS: The study will be not be targeting any vulnerable populations. We are not planning to recruit children; all participants being invited to participate have previously been assessed under Protocol 80-M-0083 as over the age of 18.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
To describe the relationship between stressors related to COVID-19 and self-rated measures of mental health symptoms and distress among a range of participants including various patient populations and healthy volunteers.assesses the stressors experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.The availability of repeated measurement will allow us to establish whether changes in stressors related to COVID-19 are associated with changes in mental health symptoms and distress within subject.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
1) Determine whether existing mental health concerns moderates the relationship between stressors related to COVID-19 and self-rated measures of mental health symptoms and distress. 2) To identify risk and resilience factors among study particip...End of studyIn order to determine whether the participant has existing mental health concerns, we must collect information on a variety of symptoms related to mental health. We hypothesize that certain participant- level characteristics may be related to the mental health and behavioral impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this exploratory aim, we will evaluate a variety of sociodemographic, clinical, genetic, and behavioral variables.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORFrancis J McMahon, M.D.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: May 6, 2026