The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown are associated with increased depression and lower levels of life satisfaction – but primarily in specific demographic and socioeconomic groups, new research shows.
A survey of more than 72,000 individuals in the United Kingdom shows that young adults, Interestingly, anxiety increased during the lead-up to the lockdown for the overall group but decreased during the lockdown itself.
A second survey showed that the pandemic triggered poorer mental health among more than 1,400 patients with mental illness or their caregivers. However, individuals found ways of coping despite the increased stress.
Commenting on the findings, David Spiegel, MD, professor and associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Center on Stress and Health at Stanford (Calif.) University, noted that expectations of a “tidal wave” of mental health problems during the pandemic may have been wide of the mark.
Instead, the pandemic seems to have caused “an exacerbation” of preexisting mental health conditions, Dr. Spiegel said in an interview.
The studies were presented during a dedicated session at the European Psychiatric Association 2020 Congress, which was virtual this year because of COVID-19.
Underrepresented groups
The first presentation was given by Daisy Fancourt, PhD, associate professor of psychobiology and epidemiology, University College London. She described the COVID-19 Social Study, which included more than 72,000 individuals.
Participants were recruited via research databases, media communications, and “more targeted sampling at underrepresented groups, including people from low educational backgrounds and low-income households,” Dr. Fancourt noted.
The respondents took part in the study once a week. This resulted in more than 500,000 completed surveys at a rate of between 3,000 and 6,000 responses per day. Sixteen weeks of data have been gathered so far.
The samples were weighted so they “aligned with population proportions in the U.K. for demographic factors such as age, ethnicity, gender, geographical location, and educational attainment,” said Dr. Fancourt.
Results showed that mental health decreased in the lead-up to lockdown, with decreases in happiness and increases in fear, stress, and sadness.
At the start of lockdown, approximately 60% of people reported that they were stressed about COVID-19 itself, whether catching it or becoming seriously ill. During lockdown, there was little change in levels of depression, but anxiety decreased and life satisfaction increased during this period.
‘We’re not all in this together’
The lower stress level wasn’t surprising, “because people were at home much more. But what is particularly surprising is that it’s continued to drop even though lockdown easing has now been taking place for a number of weeks,” Dr. Fancourt said.
“A big question is: Has mental health been equally affected across this period? And our data seem to suggest that’s very much not the case,” she added.
After assessing different demographic and socioeconomic groups, the investigators found that participants aged 18-29 years had much higher levels of anxiety, depression, and thoughts of death or self-harm and much lower levels of life satisfaction than older participants.
A similar pattern was found for lower-income groups in comparison with those earning more and for individuals in Black, Asian, and minority ethnic groups, compared with White individuals.
For patients who had been diagnosed with a mental illness, levels of depression, anxiety, and thoughts of death or self-harm, as well as life satisfaction, generally ran parallel to those of the general population, although at a far worse level.
Overall, the results suggest that “we’ve not all been ‘in this together,’ as we heard in some of the media,” Dr. Fancourt said. “In fact, it’s been a very different experience, depending on people’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.”