{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T04:19:42Z","timestamp":1787804382724,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784246400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784246400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007051","name":"Uppsala University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007051","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>While antidepressant therapy is a common treatment for post-COVID mental health symptoms, little is known about initiations of antidepressants in patients after COVID-19 and how sociodemographic factors modify this risk. This study investigated whether adults infected by COVID-19 were more likely to initiate antidepressant therapy compared with non-infected individuals, and examined the influence of socioeconomic factors on initiation patterns.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a nationwide registry-based cohort study using data from the SCIFI-PEARL project, including all adults (\u2265\u200918 years of age) in Sweden from 1 March 2020 to 31 March 2022. Exposed individuals had a COVID-19 infection, and unexposed individuals were matched 1:1 by sex and birth year. Stratified Cox regression models were used to estimate the risk of antidepressant (ATC: N06A) initiation, adjusting for socioeconomic status, and Charlson Comorbidity Index.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The cohort included 2,666,510 individuals (1,333,255 exposed and unexposed). Exposed individuals had a 16% higher risk of initiating antidepressants compared with unexposed individuals after full adjustment (HR: 1.16, 95% CI:1.15\u20131.17). The risk reduced by roughly 43% when we adjusted for post-index healthcare contacts as potential mediator. Higher risks were observed for unmarried (HR: 1.14, 95% CI:1.13\u20131.16), or unemployed\/retired (HR 1.14, 95% CI: 1.13\u20131.16) individuals. Conversely, higher educational level and being born outside Sweden were associated with lower risk of initiation of antidepressant, (HR:0.70, 95% CI:0.68\u20130.71) and (HR:0.92, 95% CI: 0.91\u20130.94), respectively.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>COVID-19 exposure was associated with an increased risk of initiating antidepressant therapy, particularly among socioeconomically vulnerable groups. Differences by education and immigrant status suggest disparities in access to healthcare.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00127-026-03169-2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T14:12:52Z","timestamp":1784297572000},"page":"1557-1564","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Initiation of antidepressant medicines in Swedish patients diagnosed with COVID-19: a registry-based cohort study"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"61","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5750-2322","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Roberto","family":"Mu\u017ei\u0107","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0892-5668","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fredrik","family":"Nyberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0531-2516","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bj\u00f6rn","family":"Wettermark","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8118-4988","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohammadhossein","family":"Hajiebrahimi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"10","key":"3169_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2027","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-022-02028-2","volume":"28","author":"BWJH Penninx","year":"2022","unstructured":"Penninx BWJH, Benros ME, Klein RS, Vinkers CH (2022) How COVID-19 shaped mental health: from infection to pandemic effects. 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FN previously owned some AstraZeneca shares. The remaining authors have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}]}}