Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Jun;218(6):326-333.
doi: 10.1192/bjp.2020.212.

Mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: longitudinal analyses of adults in the UK COVID-19 Mental Health & Wellbeing study

Rory C O'Connor  1 , Karen Wetherall  1 , Seonaid Cleare  1 , Heather McClelland  1 , Ambrose J Melson  1 , Claire L Niedzwiedz  2 , Ronan E O'Carroll  3 , Daryl B O'Connor  4 , Steve Platt  5 , Elizabeth Scowcroft  6 , Billy Watson  7 , Tiago Zortea  1 , Eamonn Ferguson  8 , Kathryn A Robb  2
Affiliations

Mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: longitudinal analyses of adults in the UK COVID-19 Mental Health & Wellbeing study

Rory C O'Connor et al. Br J Psychiatry. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Background: The effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the population's mental health and well-being are likely to be profound and long lasting.

Aims: To investigate the trajectory of mental health and well-being during the first 6 weeks of lockdown in adults in the UK.

Method: A quota survey design and a sampling frame that permitted recruitment of a national sample was employed. Findings for waves 1 (31 March to 9 April 2020), 2 (10 April to 27 April 2020) and 3 (28 April to 11 May 2020) are reported here. A range of mental health factors was assessed: pre-existing mental health problems, suicide attempts and self-harm, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, defeat, entrapment, mental well-being and loneliness.

Results: A total of 3077 adults in the UK completed the survey at wave 1. Suicidal ideation increased over time. Symptoms of anxiety, and levels of defeat and entrapment decreased across waves whereas levels of depressive symptoms did not change significantly. Positive well-being also increased. Levels of loneliness did not change significantly over waves. Subgroup analyses showed that women, young people (18-29 years), those from more socially disadvantaged backgrounds and those with pre-existing mental health problems have worse mental health outcomes during the pandemic across most factors.

Conclusions: The mental health and well-being of the UK adult population appears to have been affected in the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increasing rates of suicidal thoughts across waves, especially among young adults, are concerning.

Keywords: COVID-19; depression; general population; mental health; suicidal ideation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

R.C.O'C. reports grants from Samaritans, grants from Scottish Association for Mental Health, grants from Mindstep Foundation, during the conduct of the study; grants from National Institute for Health Research, grants from Medical Research Foundation, grants from Scottish Government, grants from NHS Health Scotland/Public Health Scotland, outside the submitted work; and he is co-chair of the Academic Advisory Group to the Scottish Government's National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group. He is also a member of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's guideline development group for their new self-harm guidelines. C.L.N. reports grants from Medical Research Council, during the conduct of the study. S.P. reports personal fees from Health Service Executive, Dublin, Ireland, personal fees from NHS Health Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, outside the submitted work. T.Z. reports being employed by the Scottish Government Scotland National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group, during the conduct of the study. Outside the submitted work, reports grants from NHS Scotland Endowment Funds; and is a co-chair of the Early Career Group of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. E.F. reports grants from Pfizer Limited and Versus Arthritis, grants from Versus Arthritis, grants from Football Association, grants from Medical Research Foundation, grants from U. S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, outside the submitted work. E.S. (Samaritans) and B.W. (Scottish Association for Mental Health) are employees of two of the funders of this research. K.W., S.C., H.McC., A.J.M., R.E.O'C., D.B.O'C. and K.A.R. have nothing to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of participants across waves.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Holmes EA, O'Connor RC, Perry VH, Tracey I, Wessely S, Arseneault L, et al. Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science. Lancet Psychiatry 2020; 7: 547–60. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hotopf M, Bullmore E, O'Connor RC, Holmes EA. The scope of mental health research during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Br J Psychiatry 2020; 217: 540–542. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cheung YT, Chau PH, Yip PSF. A revisit on older adults suicides and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Hong Kong. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2008; 23: 1231–8. - PubMed
    1. Yip PSF, Cheung YT, Chau PH, Law YW. The impact of epidemic outbreak the case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and suicide among older adults in Hong Kong. Crisis 2010; 31: 86–92. - PubMed
    1. Lee SM, Kang WS, Cho A-R, Kim T, Park JK. Psychological impact of the 2015 MERS outbreak on hospital workers and quarantined hemodialysis patients. Compre Psychiatry 2018; 87: 123–7. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types