Psychological wellbeing in the English population during the COVID-19 pandemic: A series of cross-sectional surveys

Psychological distress has been elevated during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, few studies published to date have investigated distress after the first wave of infections (Spring – Summer 2020). We investigated distress and wellbeing between April 2020 and April 2022 in England through a series of cross-sectional online surveys. People aged 16 years or over living in the UK were eligible for the surveys; for this study we selected only those living in England due to differences in restrictions between UK nations. Distress was measured using the PHQ4 (n = 60,921 responses), while wellbeing was measured using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (n = 61,152 responses). Throughout, approximately 50%–60% of women and 40%–50% of men reported distress, higher than the 25%–30% of women, and 20%–25% of men reported in normative data. Wellbeing was also worse than population norms, with women reporting lower wellbeing than men. Rates of distress in the English population have been consistently high throughout the pandemic. Patterns of distress have broadly mirrored the pattern of restrictions and case numbers, but there are notable exceptions which indicate that other factors may play a part in population mental health.

新冠疫情期间，民众心理困扰水平显著上升。然而截至目前，已发表的相关研究中，针对第一波疫情感染（2020年春夏）后出现的心理困扰的探讨仍较为匮乏。本研究通过一系列横断面线上调查，对2020年4月至2022年4月间英格兰地区民众的心理困扰与心理健康状况展开了探究。本次调查的合格受试者为居住在英国的16岁及以上人群；鉴于英国各地区防疫限制政策存在差异，本研究仅筛选出居住在英格兰的参与者进行分析。心理困扰情况采用患者健康问卷4项版（PHQ4）进行评估，有效回收问卷共计60921份；心理健康状况则采用短版沃里克-爱丁堡心理健康量表（Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale）进行测量，有效回收问卷共计61152份。整体而言，约50%~60%的女性与40%~50%的男性报告存在心理困扰，这一比例显著高于常模数据中的25%~30%的女性及20%~25%的男性。受试者的心理健康状况也低于人群常模水平，且女性的心理健康水平低于男性。在整个疫情期间，英格兰人群的心理困扰发生率始终处于较高水平。心理困扰的变化趋势大体与防疫限制政策及新增感染人数的波动趋势相一致，但也存在若干显著例外，这表明其他因素或许也会对人群心理健康产生影响。