Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms during enforced isolation due to COVID-19 in England: a longitudinal observational study

Fancourt, Daisy; Steptoe, Andrew; Bu, Feifei

doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30482-x

Cited by 934 publications

(1,147 citation statements)

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“…In this study, we sought the views of older adults about factors that threatened or protected their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although in previous research older adults statistically experienced better mental health than other age groups during the pandemic [30], our study identified a number of threats to wellbeing in this age group, including fears relating to the virus, the future, and their own mortality. However, older adults also described a range of activities and behaviours that helped to protect their mental health and could be used to explain their better levels of mental health and wellbeing relative to other age-groups.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

It makes you realise your own mortality: A qualitative study on mental health of older adults in the UK during COVID-19

Burton

2020

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Background: Older adults have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with high fatalities and health complications reported. Adults over the age of 70 in the UK were advised to self-isolate for 3 months early during the pandemic and it is unclear which factors influenced their experiences during this time. Objective: The aim of this qualitative study was to explore factors that threatened and protected the wellbeing of older adults living in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We undertook semi-structured interviews with 20 adults aged over 70. Purposive sampling methods were used to increase diversity within the group. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Participants were aged 72-93, 9 women and 11 men, 80% were White British, 40% lived alone. We identified 2 superordinate themes, including (1) Threats to wellbeing: mortality concerns, grief and loss of normal life, restricted health service access, COVID-19 concerns, and restricted access to activities that protect wellbeing. (2) Factors protective of wellbeing: slower pace of life, maintaining routine, socialising, and use of past coping skills. Many participants drew on their resilience and life experience to self-manage fear and uncertainty associated with the pandemic, using their time during lockdown to reflect or organise end-of-life affairs. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that while older adults experienced challenges, many were resilient against COVID-19 restrictions despite early concerns of mental health consequences. Our findings highlight the importance of maintaining access to essentials to promote feelings of normality and social support to help reduce uncertainty in times of pandemics.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 58%

It makes you realise your own mortality: A qualitative study on mental health of older adults in the UK during COVID-19

Burton

2020

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“…Indirectly, it is also possible that social support may have played a role in buffering against the negative effects of poor mental health on physical activity during the pandemic. There is a large literature showing how mental health was adversely affected during the first UK lockdown (Fancourt, Steptoe and Bu, 2021). Poor mental health is associated with lower physical activity engagement (Shor and Shalev, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The scores of each scale were summed to give a score ranging from 3 to 9 where higher scores indicated higher levels of loneliness. Researchers in the past have grouped people into categories (Steptoe et al ., 2013), score of 3-5 = not lonely and scores of 6-9 = lonely.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While social isolation refers to a lack of social contact with others, loneliness refers to the perception that one’s social contact is insufficient to meet one’s emotional needs (Smith et al ., 2020). Social isolation has been shown to have a negative effect on the amount of overall physical activity, with an increase in social isolation directly related to reduced physical activity (Steptoe et al ., 2013 Schrempft et al ., 2019). Loneliness has also been identified as an independent risk factor for a reduction in activity and discontinuation of physical activity (Hawkley, Thisted and Cacioppo, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social support & sustained physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hailey

Fisher

Hamer

2021

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COVID-19 lockdown introduced substantial barriers to physical activity, providing a unique natural experiment to understand the social factors associated with sustained physical activity. Longitudinal data from the COVID-19 Social Study was used to identify a sample of participants who maintained their physical activity despite lockdown. 16% were consistently active while 44% were completely inactive. After adjustment for multiple confounders high social support was associated with a 39% (95% CI, 12-74%) increased odds of sustaining physical activity. Association between physical activity and loneliness and social isolation were not found. This study supports previous research showing the importance of social support for the long-term maintenance of physical activity behaviour but shows that such effects extend to contexts of social restrictions.

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“…two waves show a pattern of gradual adaptation over time, particularly as lockdown restrictions eased (Daly & Robinson, 2021;Daly et al, 2020;Fancourt et al, 2021;Mergel & Schützwohl, 2021;Pierce et al, 2020Pierce et al, , 2021. Indeed, in one small longitudinal study, researchers discovered that mental health problems remained stable or even declined across the first two pandemic waves (Mergel & Schützwohl, 2021).…”

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confidence: 99%

Living in Uncertain Times: Pre-Pandemic Vulnerabilities as Predictors of Longitudinal Changes in Psychological Distress Across the First Two Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Bell¹,

Holmberg²

2021

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Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, people are facing heightened uncertainty about the future and increasing rates of psychological distress. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and perceived COVID-19 threat may be contributing to mental health problems. This study investigated changes in mental health problems prior to and during the first two pandemic waves in the U.S., and the extent to which IU and perceived COVID-19 threat predicted these problems. MTurk participants (n=192; 50% women) were recruited from a pre-pandemic study in December 2019/January 2020 for a follow-up study on COVID-19 experiences, across five timepoints between April and August 2020. IU, perceived COVID-19 threat, and mental health problems (i.e., worry, COVID-19 fear, and trauma symptoms) were assessed. On average, mental health problems were not elevated, relative to pre-pandemic levels, and remained stable across time. Heightened IU and perceived COVID-19 threat were associated with more mental health problems. Surprisingly, objective measures of COVID-19 threat (e.g., state case rates) showed no associations with IU, and were slightly negatively correlated with psychological distress and perceived threat. Pre-existing mental health symptoms, IU and perceived COVID-19 threat may foster vulnerability to mental health problems during the pandemic, more so than objective threat levels.

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Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms during enforced isolation due to COVID-19 in England: a longitudinal observational study

Cited by 934 publications

References 34 publications

It makes you realise your own mortality: A qualitative study on mental health of older adults in the UK during COVID-19

It makes you realise your own mortality: A qualitative study on mental health of older adults in the UK during COVID-19

Social support & sustained physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

Living in Uncertain Times: Pre-Pandemic Vulnerabilities as Predictors of Longitudinal Changes in Psychological Distress Across the First Two Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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