scholarly journals Are we all in this together? Longitudinal assessment of cumulative adversities by socioeconomic position in the first 3 weeks of lockdown in the UK

2020 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-214475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Wright ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Events ◽  
Socioeconomic Position ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Longitudinal Assessment ◽  
Adverse Experiences ◽  
University College London ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Over Time

BackgroundDespite media claims that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is uniting societies and countries in shared experience, there has been concern that the pandemic is in fact exposing and widening existing inequalities within societies. Data have shown these differences for cases and fatalities, but data on other types of adversities are lacking. Therefore, this study explored the changing patterns of adversity relating to the COVID-19 pandemic by socioeconomic position (SEP) during the early weeks of lockdown in the UK.MethodsData were from 12 527 UK adults in the University College London COVID-19 Social Study (a panel study that involves online weekly data collection from participants during the COVID-19 pandemic). We analysed data collected from 25 March to 14 April 2020. The sample was well-stratified and weighted to population proportions of gender, age, ethnicity, education and country of living. We used Poisson and logit models to assess 10 different types of adverse experiences depending on an index of SEP over time.ResultsThere was a clear gradient across the number of adverse events experienced each week by SEP. This was most clearly seen for adversities relating to finances (including loss of employment and cut in income) and basic needs (including access to food and medications) but less for experiences directly relating to the virus. Inequalities were maintained with no reductions in discrepancies between socioeconomic groups over time.ConclusionsThere were clear inequalities in adverse experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the early weeks of lockdown in the UK. Results suggest that measures taken to try to reduce such adverse events did not go far enough in tackling inequality.

scholarly journals Does thinking make it so? Differential associations between adversity worries and experiences and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. jech-2020-215598
Author(s):  
Liam Wright ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Adverse Events ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Cumulative Number ◽  
Adverse Experiences ◽  
Effect Regression ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Time Invariant

BackgroundThere is evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic is having adverse effects on mental health. It is vital to understand what is causing this: worries over potential adversities due to the pandemic, or the toll of experiencing adverse events.MethodsWe used panel data from 41 909 UK adults in the COVID-19 Social Study assessed weekly from 1 April 2020 to 12 May 2020 to study the association between adversities and anxiety and depressive symptoms. We studied six categories of adversity including both worries and experiences of: illness with COVID-19, financial difficulty, loss of paid work, difficulties acquiring medication, difficulties accessing food, and threats to personal safety. Anxiety and depression were measured using the 7-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire. We used fixed-effect regression models to account for time-invariant confounders.ResultsCumulative number of worries and experience of adversities were both related to higher levels of anxiety and depression. A number of worries were associated more with anxiety than depression, but number of experiences were equally related to anxiety and depression. There were clear associations between specific worries and poorer mental health. There was weak evidence that individuals of lower socio-economic position were more negatively affected psychologically by the adverse experiences.ConclusionMeasures over the first few weeks of lockdown in the UK appear to have been insufficient at reassuring people given that we see clear associations with mental health and cumulative worries. Interventions are required that seek to prevent adverse events (eg, redundancies) and reassure individuals and support adaptive coping strategies.

Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Herle ◽  
Andrea Smith ◽  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Eating Behavior ◽  
Eating Behaviors ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Multinomial Regression ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Trajectories Of Change ◽  
The Uk

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the implementation of stay-at-home and lockdown measures. It is currently unknown if the experience of lockdown leads to long term changes in individual’s eating behaviors.Objective: The objectives of this study were: i) to derive longitudinal trajectories of change in eating during UK lockdown, and ii) to identify risk factors associated with eating behavior trajectories. Design: Data from 22,374 UK adults from the UCL COVID-19 Social study (a panel study collecting weekly data during the pandemic) were analyzed from 28th March to 29th May 2020. Latent Class Growth Analysis was used to derive trajectories of change in eating. These were then associated with prior socio-economic, heath-related and psychological factors using multinomial regression models. Results: Analyses suggested five trajectories, with the majority (64%) showing no change in eating. In contrast, one trajectory was marked by persistently eating more, whereas another by persistently eating less. Overall, participants with greater depressive symptoms were more likely to report any change in eating. Loneliness was linked to persistently eating more (OR= 1.07), whereas being single or divorced, as well as stressful life events, were associated with consistently eating less (OR= 1.69). Overall, higher education status was linked to lower odds of changing eating behavior (OR= 0.54-0.77). Secondary exploratory analyses suggest that participants self-reported to have overweight were most common amongst the consistently overeaters, whereas underweight participants persistently ate less. Conclusion: In this study, we found that one third of the sample report changes in quantities eaten throughout the first UK lockdown period. Findings highlight the importance of adjusting public health programs to support eating behaviors in future lockdowns both in this and potential future pandemics. This is particularly important as part of on-going preventive efforts to prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases.

scholarly journals Longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement during and following the first national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Jessica K Bone ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Social Study ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Health Campaigns ◽  
Longitudinal Changes ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Public Health Campaigns ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts Engagement ◽  
Over Time

Aims: This study aimed to examine potential heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement during the first national lockdown and following gradual easing of restrictions in the UK. Further, it sought to explore factors that were associated with patterns of longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement. Methods: Data were from the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. The analytical sample consisted of 29,147 adults in the UK who were followed up for 22 weeks from 21st March to 21st August 2020. Data were analysed using growth mixture models. Results: Our analyses identified five classes of growth trajectories. There were two stable classes showing little change in arts engagement over time (64.4% in total), two classes showing initial increases in arts engagement followed by declines as restrictions were eased (29.8%), and one class showing slight declines during strict lockdown followed by an increase in arts engagement after the easing of restrictions (5.9%). A range of factors were found to be associated with class membership of these arts engagement trajectories, such as age, gender, education, income, employment status, and health. Conclusions: There is substantial heterogeneity in longitudinal changes in home-based arts engagement. For participants whose engagement changed over time, growth trajectories of arts engagement were related to changes in lockdown measures. These findings suggest that some individuals may have drawn on the arts when they needed them the most, such as during the strict lockdown period, even if they usually had lower levels of arts engagement before the pandemic. Overall, our results indicate the importance of promoting arts engagement during pandemics and periods of lockdown as part of public health campaigns.

scholarly journals Time-use and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a panel analysis of 55,204 adults followed across 11 weeks of lockdown in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Time Use ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Panel Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

There is currently major concern about the impact of the global COVID 19 outbreak on mental health. But it remains unclear how individual behaviors could exacerbate or protect against adverse changes in mental health. This study aimed to examine the associations between specific activities (or time use) and mental health and wellbeing amongst people during the COVID 19 pandemic. Data were from the UCL COVID 19 Social Study; a panel study collecting data weekly during the COVID 19 pandemic. The analytical sample consisted of 55,204 adults living in the UK who were followed up for the strict 11 week lockdown period from 21st March to 31st May 2020. Data were analyzed using fixed effects and Arellano Bond models. We found that changes in time spent on a range of activities were associated with changes in mental health and wellbeing. After controlling for bidirectionality, behaviors involving outdoor activities including gardening and exercising predicted subsequent improvements in mental health and wellbeing, while increased time spent on following news about COVID 19 predicted declines in mental health and wellbeing. These results are relevant to the formulation of guidance for people obliged to spend extended periods in isolation during health emergencies, and may help the public to maintain wellbeing during future pandemics.

scholarly journals Predictors of engaging in voluntary work during the Covid-19 pandemic: analyses of data from 31,890 adults in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hei Wan Mak ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Multivariate Logistic Regression ◽  
Voluntary Work ◽  
University College London ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Socio Economic Factors

Background. As the Covid-19 pandemic has grown internationally, there has been an increased need for volunteers. This study aimed to identify the predictors of volunteering including demographic backgrounds, socio-economic characteristics, personality and psychosocial factors.Methods. Data were analysed from 31,890 adults in the UK COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London; a longitudinal study focusing on the psychological and social experiences of adults living in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Tetrachoric factor analysis was applied to identify latent categories of voluntary work. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identity predictors for volunteering and change in volunteering behaviours since before lockdown.Results. Three types of volunteering during the pandemic were identified: formal volunteering, social action volunteering, and neighbourhood volunteering. Regression analysis showed that the pattern of voluntary work was structured by demographic backgrounds, socio-economic factors, personality and psychological factors.Conclusion. The predictors of volunteering during the pandemic may be slightly different from other non-emergency period.

scholarly journals Predictors of engaging in voluntary work during the COVID-19 pandemic: analyses of data from 31,890 adults in the UK

2021 ◽  
pp. 175791392199414
Author(s):  
HW Mak ◽  
D Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Factors ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Multivariate Logistic Regression ◽  
Voluntary Work ◽  
University College London ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The University ◽  
Socio Economic Factors

Aims: As the COVID-19 pandemic has grown internationally, there has been an increased need for volunteers. This study aimed to identify the predictors of volunteering including demographic backgrounds, socio-economic characteristics, personality, and psychosocial factors. Methods: Data were analysed from 31,890 adults in the UK COVID-19 Social Study run by the University College London – a longitudinal study focusing on the psychological and social experiences of adults living in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tetrachoric factor analysis was applied to identify latent categories of voluntary work. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identity predictors for volunteering and change in volunteering behaviours since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Three types of volunteering during the pandemic were identified as follows: formal volunteering, social action volunteering, and neighbourhood volunteering. Regression analysis showed that the pattern of voluntary work was structured by demographic backgrounds, socio-economic factors, personality, and psychosocial factors. Conclusion: The predictors of volunteering during the pandemic may be slightly different from other non-emergency period.

scholarly journals Loneliness during lockdown: trajectories and predictors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 35,712 adults in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feifei Bu ◽  
Andrew Steptoe ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Growth Trajectories ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Growth Mixture ◽  
Growth Mixture Modelling ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThere are increasing worries that lockdowns and “stay-at-home” orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a rise in loneliness, which is recognised as a major public health concern. But profiles of loneliness during the pandemic and risk factors remain unclear.Data from 35,712 UK adults in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study (a panel study collecting data weekly during the pandemic) were analysed from 21/03/2020-03/05/2020. The sample was well-stratified and weighted to population proportions of gender, age, ethnicity, education and geographical location. Growth mixture modelling was used to identify the latent classes of loneliness growth trajectories and their predictors.Analyses revealed four classes, with the baseline loneliness level ranging from low to high. In the first six weeks of lockdown, loneliness levels increased in the highest loneliness group, decreased in the lowest loneliness group, and stayed relatively constant in the middle two groups. Younger adults (OR = 2.17–6.81), women (OR = 1.59), people with low income (OR = 1.3), the economically inactive (OR = 1.3–2.04) and people with mental health conditions (OR = 5.32) were more likely to be in highest loneliness class relative to the lowest. Further, living with others or in a rural area, and having more close friends or greater social support were protective.Perceived levels of loneliness in the first few weeks of lockdown during COVID-19 were relatively stable in the UK, but for many people these levels were high with no signs of improvement. Results suggest that more efforts are needed to address loneliness, especially amongst young people.

scholarly journals Factors influencing self-harm thoughts and behaviours over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: longitudinal analysis of 49 324 adults

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Elise Paul ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Adverse Experiences ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
The Uk

Background There is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath will result in excess suicides by increasing known risk factors such as self-harm, but evidence on how pandemic-related risk factors contribute to changes in these outcomes is lacking. Aims To examine how different COVID-19-related experiences of and worries about adversity contribute to changes in self-harm thoughts and behaviours. Method Data from 49 324 UK adults in the University College London COVID-19 Social Study were analysed (1 April 2020 to 17 May 2021). Fixed-effects regressions explored associations between weekly within-person variation in five categories of adversity experience and adversity worries with changes in self-harm thoughts and behaviours across age groups (18–29, 30–44, 45–59 and 60+ years). Results In total, 26.1% and 7.9% of respondents reported self-harm thoughts and behaviours respectively at least once over the study period. The number of adverse experiences was more strongly related to outcomes than the number of worries. The largest specific adversity contributing to increases in both outcomes was having experienced physical or psychological abuse. Financial worries increased the likelihood of both outcomes in most age groups, and having had COVID-19 increased the likelihood of both outcomes in young (18–29 years) and middle-aged (45–59 years) adults. Conclusions Findings suggest that a significant portion of UK adults may be at increased risk for self-harm thoughts and behaviours during the pandemic. Given the likelihood that the economic and social consequences of the pandemic will accumulate, policy makers can begin adapting evidence-based suicide prevention strategies and other social policies to help mitigate its consequences.

scholarly journals Factors influencing self-harm thoughts and self-harm behaviours over the first 45 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK: a longitudinal analysis of 48,446 adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise Paul ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Social Consequences ◽  
Adverse Experiences ◽  
Related Risk ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
The Uk

BackgroundThere is concern that the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath will result in excess suicides by increasing known risk factors such as self-harm. However, evidence on how pandemic-related risk factors contribute to changes in these outcomes is lacking.AimsWe sought to examine how different adverse experiences and worries about adversity brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to changes in self-harm thoughts and behaviours over the first 45 weeks of the pandemic.MethodData from 48,446 UK adults in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study were analysed across the first 45 weeks (1 April to 7 February 2021) of the pandemic. Fixed effects regressions explored associations between weekly within-person variation in five categories of adversity experiences and adversity worries with changes in self-harm thoughts and behaviours across age groups (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, and 60+ years).ResultsMore adverse experiences were more strongly related to outcomes than worries. Specific categories of worries and adversities had stronger associations with outcomes than others. The largest contributing factor to increases in both self-harm thoughts (odds ratio (OR) range = 3.38 to 4.00) and behaviours (OR range = 3.72 to 6.82) was physical or psychological abuse amongst all ages. Having had COVID-19 and financial worries were associated with increased likelihood of both outcomes, the latter being more consistently associated with outcomes than actual financial adversity.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that a significant portion of UK adults may be at increased risk for self-harm thoughts and behaviours during the pandemic, which is concerning given the link between self-harm and suicide. Policies currently place to protect and reassure citizens may be insufficient in assuaging fears and anxieties. Given the likelihood that as time goes on, the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will accumulate, policy makers can begin adapting a variety of existing evidence-based suicide prevention strategies and other social policies to help mitigate its consequences.

scholarly journals Do predictors of adherence to pandemic guidelines change over time? A panel study of 21,000 UK adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam Wright ◽  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Social Study ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Specific Effects ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Social Motivations ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Predictors Of Adherence

AbstractIn the absence of a vaccine, governments have focused on behaviour change (e.g. social distancing and enhanced hygiene procedures) to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing research on the predictors of compliance with pandemic measures has often produced discrepant results. One explanation for this may be that the determinants of compliance are context specific. Understanding whether this is the case is important for designing public health messaging and for evaluating the generalisability of existing research. We used data from the UCL COVID-19 Social Study; a large weekly panel of UK adults from first five months of lockdown in the UK (n = 21,000). We tested whether the extent to which demographic, socio-economic position, personality traits, pro-social motivations, and the living environment predict compliance changed across the pandemic. Low compliance was strongly related to younger age and also to risk attitudes, empathic concern, and high income, among other factors. But the size of some of these associations was larger in later months when less stringent lockdown and household mixing measures were in place, suggesting context-specific effects. The results also showed that compliance fell faster across some groups, suggesting the importance that public health communications adopt a plurality of messages to maximize broad adherence.

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