INTRODUCTION: Although hospitalisation for COVID-19 is associated with a higher post-discharge risk of mood disorders, including major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), this risk has not been compared to that following hospitalisation for a reason other than COVID-19. METHODS: Using data from France's National Health Data System (SNDS) database, we compared patients hospitalised for mood disorders in the 12 months following COVID-19/another reason hospitalisation. RESULTS: 96,313 adult individuals were hospitalised for COVID-19, and 2,979,775 were hospitalised for another reason. In the 12 months post-discharge, 110,976 (3.83 %) patients were hospitalised for mood disorders. In unadjusted analyses, patients initially hospitalised for COVID-19 (versus another reason) were more likely to be subsequently hospitalised for a mood disorder (4.27 % versus 3.82 % versus, respectively, p < 0.0001). These patients were also more likely to have a history of mood disorders, especially depressive disorders (6.45 % versus 5.77 %, respectively, p < 0.0001). Women, older age, lower social deprivation, a history of mood disorders, longer initial hospitalisation (COVID-19 or other), and a higher level of clinical care during initial hospitalisation were all significantly associated with the risk of subsequent hospitalisation for MDD and BD. In contrast, after adjusting for all these factors, persons initially hospitalised for COVID-19 were less likely to be subsequently hospitalised for MDD (OR = 0.902 [0.870-0.935]; p < 0.0001). No difference between both groups was observed for BD. LIMITATIONS: Other reasons were not separately studied. CONCLUSIONS: After adjusting for confounding factors, initial hospitalisation for COVID-19 versus for another reason was associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation for a mood disorder.