Mental health during COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom.

Pieh, Christoph; Budimir, Sanja; Delgadillo, Jaime; Barkham, Michael; Fontaine, Johnny R J; Probst, Thomas

OBJECTIVE The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic and related lockdown measures have raised important questions about the impact on mental health. This study evaluated several mental health and well-being indicators in a large sample from the United Kingdom (UK) during the COVID-19 lockdown where the death rate is currently the highest in Europe. METHODS A cross-sectional online survey with a study sample that mirrors general population norms according to sex, age, education, and region was launched four weeks after lockdown measures were implemented in the UK. Measures included mental health-related quality of life (WHO-QOL BREF psychological domain), well-being (WHO-5), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), perceived stress (PSS-10), and insomnia (ISI). ANOVAs, Bonferroni-corrected post-hoc tests, and t-tests were applied to examine mental health indicators across different sociodemographic groups (age, sex, employment, income, physical activity, relationship status). RESULTS The sample comprised N=1,006 respondents (54% women) from all regions of the UK. Approximately 52% of respondents screened positive for a common mental disorder, and 28% screened positive for clinical insomnia. Mean scores and standard deviations were as follows: PHQ-9: M=9.0±7.7; GAD-7: M=8.0±6.5; ISI: M=10.4±7.0; PSS-10: M=17.7±7.9; WHO-QOL BREF: M=58.6±21.4; WHO-5 score M=13.0±6.0. Statistical analyses consistently indicated more severe mental health problems in adults under 35 years, women, people with no work, and low income (all p-values <.05). Mental health indices also varied across UK regions. CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of depressive-, anxiety-, and insomnia symptoms is significantly higher in the UK, relative to pre-pandemic epidemiological data. Further studies are needed to clarify the causes for these high rates of mental health symptoms.