Reutter, MarioMarioReutterHutterer, KatharinaKatharinaHuttererGründahl, MartheMartheGründahlGall, DominikDominikGallDannlowski, UdoUdoDannlowskiDomschke, KatharinaKatharinaDomschkeLeehr, Elisabeth JohannaElisabeth JohannaLeehrLonsdorf, Tina B.Tina B.LonsdorfLueken, UlrikeUlrikeLuekenReif, AndreasAndreasReifSchiele, Miriam A.Miriam A.SchieleZwanzger, Peter MichaelPeter MichaelZwanzgerPauli, PaulPaulPauliHein, GritGritHeinGamer, MatthiasMatthiasGamer2024-08-222024-08-222024https://publica.fraunhofer.de/handle/publica/47396410.1038/s41598-024-55839-32-s2.0-8518710407638454076The COVID-19 pandemic and associated countermeasures had an immensely disruptive impact on people’s lives. Due to the lack of systematic pre-pandemic data, however, it is still unclear how individuals’ psychological health has been affected across this incisive event. In this study, we analyze longitudinal data from two healthy samples (N = 307) to provide quasi-longitudinal insight into the full trajectory of psychological burden before (baseline), during the first peak, and at a relative downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data indicated a medium rise in psychological strain from baseline to the first peak of the pandemic (d = 0.40). Surprisingly, this was overcompensated by a large decrease of perceived burden until downturn (d = − 0.93), resulting in a positive overall effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health (d = 0.44). Accounting for this paradoxical positive effect, our results reveal that the post-pandemic increase in mental health is driven by individuals that were already facing psychological challenges before the pandemic. These findings suggest that coping with acute challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic can stabilize previously impaired mental health through reframing processes.open accessjournal article