[The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: mental health trajectories, resilient and vulnerable groups]

The COVID-19 pandemic has probably been the biggest health crisis of the twenty-first century to date. For many people it meant prolonged exposure to psychologically relevant stressors and simultaneously limited coping possibilities.

The aim of this review is to present a summary of the current state of knowledge on the course of mental health in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Using longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional surveys, key findings are summarized and vulnerability and resilience factors are identified.

Large proportions of the German population reported at least temporary effects on their mental well-being in the sense of increased anxiety and depression symptoms as well as reduced life satisfaction, particularly among women, children and adolescents. At the same time, resilient courses were observed in most cases, i.e., most people managed to maintain their mental health during the pandemic. Vulnerability factors included female gender, younger age and financial difficulties. In contrast, a positive appraisal style, cognitive flexibility, social support, self-efficacy beliefs and, at a societal level, social cohesion and institutional trust were reported as important resilience factors.

The vulnerability and resilience factors identified offer concrete starting points for promoting pandemic preparedness.