The different impact of negative affect and anhedonia in the trajectory of mental well-being: Longitudinal data of youth during an international pandemic

Purpose: The preventative measures during the COVID-19 pandemic can undermine individuals’ mental health, especially among adolescents. In this study, we expected that Israeli adolescents might experience adverse impacts on their well-being and that those with existing emotional difficulties, such as high negative affect and anhedonia, would manifest worse well-being than those without. We aim to examine individual differences in well-being trajectories, as these differences link to negative affect and anhedonia. Methods: We utilised a longitudinal online survey to measure 306 Israeli adolescents’ negative affect, anhedonia and well-being from May 2020 and every two weeks for wave 1 to wave 8. Demographic information, including age, gender and ethnicity was also included. Results: Multilevel models showed that the effect of time on well-being was random, suggesting varied trajectories of well-being across Israeli adolescents. We also found that the initial negative affect level moderated the association between time and well-being. Those with negative affect showed low initial but increasing well-being overtime. In contrast, those with low negative affect had high initial but decreasing well-being. Both results might be due to individuals’ adaptation to the changes. On the other hand, initial anhedonia symptoms consistently predicted poor well-being over time. Conclusions: Our study showed the varied well-being trajectories and the predictive roles of negative affect in the trajectory during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should examine whether considering these distinct emotional processes could contribute to the development of more tailored approaches to promoting young people’s mental well-being.