Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

June 4, 2020

Trajectories of Depression and Anxiety during Enforced Isolation Due to COVID-19 Longitudinal Analyses of 59318 Adults in the UK with and without Diagnosed Mental Illness

Category:

Topic:

  • [pre-print, not peer reviewed] Fancourt et al. conducted a nationwide study exploring anxiety and depression over the first two months of lockdown in the UK. In total 24% of the population had moderate-severe anxiety (GAD-7 score ≥10), and 31% had moderate or severe depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 score ≥10) at first wave of data collection. There was a slight decrease in anxiety levels and depression levels between weeks 3-6 that then increased again in weeks 7-8. 
  • The sustained high levels of anxiety and depression during stay-at-home orders may indicate a need for a response to mental health challenges during the pandemic. 

Fancourt et al. (June 4, 2020). Trajectories of Depression and Anxiety during Enforced Isolation Due to COVID-19 Longitudinal Analyses of 59318 Adults in the UK with and without Diagnosed Mental Illness. Pre-print downloaded June 4 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.03.20120923