Locked down in distress: A quasi-experimental estimation of the mental-health fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

We use a large-scale longitudinal survey with a differences-in-differences research design to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the United Kingdom. We report substantial increases in psychological distress for the population overall during the first wave. These impacts were not uniformly distributed, with the mental health costs being more pronounced for females, younger cohorts, the black, Asian and minority ethnic community, and migrants. We also identified characteristics capable of predicting resilience to the mental health effects. We find that people with financial worries, loneliness or living in overcrowded dwellings experienced significantly worse mental health deterioration during the first wave.