Tracking the mental health of home-carers during the first COVID-19 national lockdown: evidence from a nationally representative UK survey

Whitley, Elise; Reeve, Kelly S; Benzeval, Michaela

doi:10.1101/2021.01.25.21250437

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…While Klaus and Ehrlich [31] only provide descriptive results, their findings are confirmed by our results. Yet, Whitley et al [33] found gender differences only at the very beginning of the pandemic and Todorovic et al [32] found no significant differences, while our results indicate a significant gender difference in the second wave during the pandemic. Regarding the findings from Todorovic et al [32], these differences in results may be due to their study not accounting for confounders and analyzing a small convenience sample.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 84%

“…Previous research from during the pandemic, which came primarily from international studies, was less consistent. Our findings add to results from studies from China [28], Italy [29], the USA [5], the UK [33], and Serbia [32], which also found poorer mental health among female caregivers. While Klaus and Ehrlich [31] only provide descriptive results, their findings are confirmed by our results.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Results from Serbia [32] indicate lower mental and physical health among female compared to male caregivers during the pandemic, however, this difference was not significant. Poorer mental health was found in female caregivers compared to male caregivers in the UK as well, from before to during the first pandemic wave, but this gender difference was no longer found after the first wave (during summer 2020) [33]. A longitudinal representative Dutch study [34] analyzed caregiving burden.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender Differences in Mental Health, Quality of Life, and Caregiver Burden among Informal Caregivers during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: A Representative, Population-Based Study

2022

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Introduction: This study aimed to compare the mental health, quality of life, and caregiving burden between male and female informal caregivers of older adults (≥60 years) during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Methods: The sample consisted of 301 female and 188 male informal caregivers of older adults in need of care (≥60 years). Data were used from a cross-sectional study in March 2021 that questioned a representative sample of adults aged 40 years and older from Germany. Information on informal care provision, mental health (depressive and anxiety symptoms), caregiving burden, and quality of life was assessed for the period between December 2020 and March 2021. Regression analyses, adjusted for (1) the sociodemographic background and health of the caregivers, (2) the caregiving time and caregiving tasks, and (3) the perception of impairment and danger posed by the pandemic, were conducted. Results: Findings of the fully adjusted model indicated a higher level of anxiety and lower quality of life among female caregivers, compared to male caregivers. Gender differences in depression and caregiver burden were not significant in analyses that controlled for care tasks and time. Moderator analyses indicated that gender differences in caregiver’s anxiety levels were influenced by the danger perceived to be posed by the pandemic: among men the danger to the care recipient, and among women the danger to themselves, increased anxiety. Conclusion: Female informal caregivers were more negatively affected than male informal caregivers during the pandemic, as indicated by higher levels of anxiety and lower quality of life. Gender differences in anxiety depended on the perceived danger posed by the pandemic. Thus, policy and pandemic measures should focus on gender-specific support of female caregivers who seem to be particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. More caregiver-specific support and information around protecting themselves and their care recipients are recommended. Also, further research on gender differences in care performance and their relation to psychosocial health outcomes is recommended.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Gender Differences in Mental Health, Quality of Life, and Caregiver Burden among Informal Caregivers during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: A Representative, Population-Based Study

2022

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“…People living alone are particularly at risk [41, 20, 6, 45, 44], which makes sense given the association between loneliness and depressive symptoms during the pandemic [19]. People in poor partner relationships [67 (Dickerson et al, 2020) and with young children [17, 6] have also experienced worse mental health, particularly early on in the March 2020 lockdown for those caring for young children [68]. Those caring for adult children experienced a sustained increase in anxiety until July 2020 [68].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…People in poor partner relationships [67 (Dickerson et al, 2020) and with young children [17, 6] have also experienced worse mental health, particularly early on in the March 2020 lockdown for those caring for young children [68]. Those caring for adult children experienced a sustained increase in anxiety until July 2020 [68]. Living with children has also been linked to increased alcohol consumption [69].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adult mental health in the UK: A rapid systematic review

Batteux

Taylor

Carter

2021

Preprint

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Background. There is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of the UK population, but this needs synthesising to guide effective policy recommendations and ensure support is targeted to populations most at risk. We conducted a rapid systematic review of the evidence of the impact of COVID-19 and associated restrictions on the mental health of UK adults, including risk and protective factors. Method. A range of databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Studies were eligible if they reported primary quantitative or qualitative research on the mental health of UK adults between March 2020 and March 2021. Journal publications and pre-prints were included. Reviews, position papers, protocol papers and studies published in languages other than English were excluded. The study authors screened papers for eligibility and included 102 papers in the analysis. Results. The evidence from this review indicates that the mental health of UK adults has declined since the start of the pandemic, with different populations being unequally affected. Populations particularly affected are women, young adults, ethnic minorities, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, people with pre-existing conditions and people who have had COVID-19. Other risk factors include having to isolate and time spent watching pandemic related news. Protective factors include social contact and maintaining healthy behaviours, such as physical activity. Conclusions. Policy should aim to discourage risky behaviours while ensuring support is available for people to engage in protective behaviours. Interventions should be directed towards populations that have been most adversely affected. Addressing the decline in mental health across the UK population since the COVID-19 pandemic will require increasing mental health provision and ensuring equitable access to support.

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Social support and mental well-being among people with and without chronic illness during the Covid-19 pandemic: evidence from the longitudinal UCL covid survey

Aksoy,

Wu,

Aksoy

et al. 2024

BMC Psychol

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Purpose An immediate research priority recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic is well-being among some of our most vulnerable—people with chronic illness. We studied how mental health changed among people with and without chronic illness throughout the pandemic and the mediating role of social support. Methods We used the 3-waves of COVID-19 survey within the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, age 19, N = 5522) and MCS Parent (MCSP, age > > 19, N = 7479) samples, with additional pre-pandemic measures of some outcomes and exposure. Using Structural Equation Panel Models with Full Information Maximum Likelihood estimation to address missing data, we studied differences between respondents with a chronic illness and without, regarding depressive symptoms and mental well-being, with social provision, social support, and loneliness as potential mediators. Results Mental well-being (SWEMWBS) and psychological distress (Kessler-6) worsened significantly during the pandemic relative to baseline for people with and without chronic illness, while the latter group had substantially better well-being at all waves and the baseline regarding both outcomes. When the lockdown was lifted during wave-2, mental well-being temporarily rebounded, and distress waned among people without chronic illness but continued to worsen among people with chronic illness. Social support partially mediated the link between chronic illness and mental well-being. Conclusions The large mental well-being gap between people with and without chronic illness persisted during the pandemic. However, social support and provision can partially narrow this gap, hence should be employed in future pandemic management.

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Tracking the mental health of home-carers during the first COVID-19 national lockdown: evidence from a nationally representative UK survey

Cited by 4 publications

References 13 publications

Gender Differences in Mental Health, Quality of Life, and Caregiver Burden among Informal Caregivers during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: A Representative, Population-Based Study

Gender Differences in Mental Health, Quality of Life, and Caregiver Burden among Informal Caregivers during the Second Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany: A Representative, Population-Based Study

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adult mental health in the UK: A rapid systematic review

Social support and mental well-being among people with and without chronic illness during the Covid-19 pandemic: evidence from the longitudinal UCL covid survey

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