Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in two longitudinal UK population cohorts

British Journal of Psychiatry

Fecha de publicación: 24 de noviembre

Autores: Alex S. F. Kwong[Opens in a new window],Rebecca M. Pearson,Mark J. Adams[Opens in a new window],Kate Northstone,Kate Tilling,Daniel Smith,Chloe Fawns-Ritchie,Helen Bould,Naomi Warne[Opens in a new window],Stanley Zammit,David J. Gunnell,Paul A. Moran,Nadia Micali[Opens in a new window],Abraham Reichenberg,Matthew Hickman,Dheeraj Rai,Simon Haworth,Archie Campbell,Drew Altschul,Robin Flaig,Andrew M. McIntosh[Opens in a new window],Deborah A. Lawlor,David Porteous andNicholas J. Timpson

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2020.242

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in radical changes to societies globally. As the number of infected cases and deaths increased, many countries adopted public health measures, including lockdown, social distancing, self-isolation and school and business closures, resulting in an unprecedented impact on the global economy, which may also have a profound effect on mental health. However, the extent to which mental health is affected by COVID-19 and its management, and who is at greatest risk, is still unclear. Evidence from previous outbreaks such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic, and rapid COVID-19 cross-sectional surveys, suggest that depression, anxiety and lower well-being may increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.