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. 2021 Jan 6;16(1):e0244419.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244419. eCollection 2021.

COVID-19 and mental health deterioration by ethnicity and gender in the UK

Eugenio Proto  1   2   3 , Climent Quintana-Domeque  3   4   5
Affiliations

COVID-19 and mental health deterioration by ethnicity and gender in the UK

Eugenio Proto et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

We use the UK Household Longitudinal Study and compare pre-COVID-19 pandemic (2017-2019) and during-COVID-19 pandemic data (April 2020) for the same group of individuals to assess and quantify changes in mental health as measured by changes in the GHQ-12 (General Health Questionnaire), among ethnic groups in the UK. We confirm the previously documented average deterioration in mental health for the whole sample of individuals interviewed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we find that the average increase in mental distress varies by ethnicity and gender. Both women -regardless of their ethnicity- and Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) men experienced a higher average increase in mental distress than White British men, so that the gender gap in mental health increases only among White British individuals. These ethnic-gender specific changes in mental health persist after controlling for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Finally, we find some evidence that, among men, Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani individuals have experienced the highest average increase in mental distress with respect to White British men.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Average GHQ-12 in 2017-2019 and April 2020 among BAME and White British individuals by gender.
Authors’ elaboration using UKHLS data: wave 9 (2017-2019) and April 2020 COVID-19 wave. Observations are weighted using the survey sample weights (see S2 Appendix). 95% CI: 95% approximate confidence intervals (point estimate ± 1.96 times the standard error of the point estimate).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Average change in GHQ-12 between 2017-2019 and April 2020 among BAME and White British individuals by gender.
Authors’ elaboration using UKHLS data: wave 9 (2017-2019) and April 2020 COVID-19 wave. Observations are weighted using the survey sample weights (see S2 Appendix). 95% CI: 95% approximate confidence intervals (point estimate ± 1.96 times the standard error of the point estimate).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Average GHQ-12 in 2017-2019 and April 2020 among BIP, non-BIP and White British individuals by gender.
Authors’ elaboration using UKHLS data: wave 9 (2017-2019) and April 2020 COVID-19 wave. Observations are weighted using the survey sample weights (see S2 Appendix). 95% CI: 95% approximate confidence intervals (point estimate ± 1.96 times the standard error of the point estimate).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Average change in GHQ-12 between 2017-2019 and April 2020 among BIP, non-BIP and White British and White British individuals by gender.
Authors’ elaboration using UKHLS data: wave 9 (2017-2019) and April 2020 COVID-19 wave. Observations are weighted using the survey sample weights (see S2 Appendix). 95% CI: 95% approximate confidence intervals (point estimate ± 1.96 times the standard error of the point estimate).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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