Iranian Financial Engineering Association(IFEA) International Journal of Finance & Managerial Accounting 2588-4379 13 49 2026 03 01 COVID-19 Depression Impact on Retail Investor Transactions 87 100 24355 10.22034/ijfma.2025.78295.2233 EN Keramatollah Heydari Rostami Assistant professor, Management Department, Faculty of Administrative Sciences and Economics, Arak University, Arak, Iran. 0000-0001-6016-0741 Marjan Shahali Assistant Professor at Department of Accounting, Damghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Damghan, Iran. 0000-0002-6657-0685 Yassaman Khalili Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran. 0000-0002-1496-0251 Mostafa Malekian Kalehbasti Graduated with a specialized doctorate in accounting from the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. 0009-0002-1848-5168 Journal Article 2025 02 13 The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped financial decision-making by intertwining mental health crises with economic behaviors, yet the mechanisms linking pandemic-induced depression to transactional activities remain underexplored. This study investigates how COVID-19-related psychological distress influences real-world trading behaviors among individual investors, employing a mixed-methods framework integrating behavioral economics, psychometric assessments, and regression analysis. Focusing on 384 traders in the Tehran Stock Exchange, the research reveals that pandemic-driven depression amplifies transactional volumes, particularly among men, driven by heightened liquidity needs and risk-seeking coping mechanisms. Gender emerges as a critical moderator, with women’s financial literacy and work experience buffering anxiety-induced trading volatility, while marital status and age mediate risk aversion differently across demographics. Contrary to expectations, financial education correlates with reduced distress but does not uniformly curb risk-taking, highlighting a paradox where self-confidence and systemic risk awareness coexist. The findings challenge assumptions of homogeneous crisis responses, emphasizing the role of sociocultural norms and resource conservation strategies in shaping financial resilience. By contextualizing transactional behaviors within the “stress proliferation” framework, this study advances behavioral finance paradigms, offering insights into the gendered and cognitive underpinnings of pandemic-era decision-making. http://www.ijfma.ir/article_24355_1aa559737cd37f919f3fb11a7b5b1c69.pdf