Mental health and well-being during the second wave of COVID-19: longitudinal analyses of the UK COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing study (UK COVID-MH)

Abstract

Background Waves 1 to 3 (March 2020 to May 2020) of the UK COVID-19 Mental Health and Wellbeing study suggested an improvement in some indicators of mental health across the first 6 weeks of the UK lockdown; however, suicidal ideation increased. Aims To report the prevalence of mental health and well-being of adults in the UK from March/April 2020 to February 2021. Method Quota sampling was employed at wave 1 (March/April 2020), and online surveys were conducted at seven time points. Primary analyses cover waves 4 (May/June 2020), 5 (July/August 2020), 6 (October 2020) and 7 (February 2021), including a period of increased restrictions in the UK. Mental health indicators were suicidal ideation, self-harm, suicide attempt, depression, anxiety, defeat, entrapment, loneliness and well-being. Results A total of 2691 (87.5% of wave 1) individuals participated in at least one survey between waves 4 and 7. Depressive symptoms and loneliness increased from October 2020 to February 2021. Defeat and entrapment increased from July/August 2020 to October 2020, and remained elevated in February 2021. Well-being decreased from July/August 2020 to October 2020. Anxiety symptoms and suicidal ideation did not change. Young adults, women, those who were socially disadvantaged and those with a pre-existing mental health condition reported worse mental health. Conclusions The mental health and well-being of the UK population deteriorated from July/August 2020 to October 2020 and February 2021, which coincided with the second wave of COVID-19. Suicidal thoughts did not decrease significantly, suggesting a need for continued vigilance as we recover from the pandemic.

Two years after lockdown: longitudinal trajectories of sleep disturbances and mental health over the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of age, gender, and chronotype

“…Notwithstanding the adoption of this regional approach consisting of lighter restraining measures than the first lockdown, some longitudinal investigations showed a persistent impact of the emergency period on sleep (Conte et al, 2021; and mental health among the Italian population during the second contagion wave. These results were consistent with the international literature confirming long-lasting repercussions on sleep features (Basishvili et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022;Trakada et al, 2022) and psychological measures (Benke et al, 2022;Chodkiewicz et al, 2021;Rus Prelog et al, 2022;Wetherall et al, 2022) during the second COVID-19 wave, suggesting the urgency of large-scale interventions to preserve the general well-being. In the last days of 2020, the administration of the first COVID-19 vaccine to the adult population was authorised by the European and Italian medicines agencies.…”

“…Specifically, younger people (Amicucci et al, 2021;Daly et al, 2020;Jahrami et al, 2022;Rossi et al, 2020) and women (Daly et al, 2020;Rossi et al, 2020;Salfi et al, 2020;Salfi, Lauriola, et al, 2021) reported higher rates of sleep disturbances and psychological symptoms. These results were confirmed by Italian and European studies (Benke et al, 2022;Chodkiewicz et al, 2021;Rus Prelog et al, 2022;Wetherall et al, 2022) addressing the effect of the second wave of COVID-19. Similarly, the evening chronotype was associated with more evident changes in sleep patterns and increased sleep and mental health problems both during the lockdown (Bottary et al, 2022;Merikanto et al, 2022;Salfi, Lauriola, et al, 2021) and the second contagion wave .…”

How long was it for you? Memories of the duration of the UK covid-19 lockdown

“…Changes in daily life have also been accompanied by significant changes in mental health and wellbeing during and after the pandemic. Analysis from cross-sectional, cohort and longitudinal studies indicates that for many, mental wellbeing deteriorated during the pandemic [30][31][32][33][34][35]. Specifically, during periods of lockdown there were increases in feeling of boredom, isolation, anxiety and depression for many [30][31][32][33][34][35].…”

“…Analysis from cross-sectional, cohort and longitudinal studies indicates that for many, mental wellbeing deteriorated during the pandemic [30][31][32][33][34][35]. Specifically, during periods of lockdown there were increases in feeling of boredom, isolation, anxiety and depression for many [30][31][32][33][34][35]. There were also significant increases in worry, and to a lesser extent rumination, during periods of lockdown throughout the first year [36].…”

“…This is because, the societal changes resulting from the pandemic have necessitated the learning of a significant number of new social rules, such as remembering to wear a mask and stay physically apart, and technical skills, such as online working tools and home schooling. Furthermore, there has also been significant emotional change as a result of the pandemic with incidences of depression, anxiety, eating disorder and stress increasing during the pandemic relative to before [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Therefore, according to Ornstein's [15] storage size model and Block and Reed [16] contextual change model, it is plausible that the pandemic may be remembered as longer than its actual duration because we made many new (albeit often unwanted) memories and experienced significant contextual and emotional change.…”