Monitoring the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population: an overview of the context, design and conduct of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study

Abstract

The COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study aims to assess and monitor the psychological and social impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the general population, using longitudinal surveys and mixed-methods studies in multiple countries. The first strand of the study, an internet-based panel survey, was launched in the UK in March 2020 during the earliest stages of the pandemic in that country (hereafter referred to as C19PRC-UKW1). This paper describes (1) the development, design and content for C19PRC-UKW1, which was informed by the extant evidence base on the psychosocial impact of previous global outbreaks of similar severe acute respiratory syndromes (e.g. SARS, H1N1, MERS); (2) the specific socio-economic and political context of the C19PRC-UKW1; (3) the recruitment of a large sample of UK adults aged 18 years and older (n=2025) via an internet-based panel survey; (4) the representativeness of the C19PRC-UKW1 sample compared to the UK adult population in terms of important sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. age, sex, household income, etc.); and (5) future plans for C19PRC Study including follow-up survey waves in the UK, supplementary non-survey based study strands linking from the C19PRC-UKW1 and the roll-out of the study to other countries.

Anxiety, depression, traumatic stress and COVID-19-related anxiety in the UK general population during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Subsequent checks ensured that the participants were also representative of the population in terms of voting history, number of people in household and other important demographic characteristics. 9 Participants were recruited from the four countries of the UK, proportional to their relative population sizes: England (86.9 %), Wales (3.1 %), Scotland (7.8 %), Northern Ireland (2.3 %). The mean age of the sample was 45.44 years (median = 45.00, s.d.…”

“…8 Here, we report initial findings from the first wave of a longitudinal, multi-wave survey of the social and psychological effects of COVID-19 on the UK population, conducted by researchers in seven UK and Irish universities (the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium). 9 Of note, in a mirror study with similar methodology, we recently reported the social and psychological effects of COVID-19 on the population of the Republic of Ireland. 10 The primary aim of this study was to assess the levels of anxiety, depression and traumatic stress, based on validated selfreport measures, in a large, representative community sample during an early stage of the pandemic, between 23 and 28 March 2020.…”

Anxiety and depression in the Republic of Ireland during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…The first UK survey took place a week prior to the Irish survey (7) and found that 22.1% (95% CI = 20.31, 23.93) of people screened positive for depression, 21.6% (95% CI = 19.83, 23.42) screened positive for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and 27.8% (95% CI = 25.80-29.71) screened positive for GAD or depression. Furthermore, screening positive for GAD or depression was associated with younger age, having more than one child in the home, reporting lower income levels in 2019, experiencing a loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, having an underlying health condition (lung disease, heart disease or diabetes), having a loved one with an underlying health condition (lung disease, heart disease or diabetes), having a confirmed or suspected infection of COVID-19 and having a moderate or high level of perceived risk of infection of COVID-19 over the next month (8).…”

Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 among College Students in Dessie Town, Amhara Region, Ethiopia; Cross-sectional Study

“…Moreover, the studies conducted across the globe have been investigated the psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic predominantly focused on health care workers and patients [26][27][28].…”