O’Connor, DB, Wilding, S orcid.org/0000-0002-7977-7132, Ferguson, E et al. (12 more authors) (2023) Effects of COVID-19-related worry and rumination on mental health and loneliness during the pandemic: longitudinal analyses of adults in the UK COVID-19 mental health & wellbeing study. Journal of Mental Health, 32 (6). pp. 1122-1133. ISSN 0963-8237
Abstract
Background
The lasting effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic are likely to be significant.
Aims
This study tracked worry and rumination levels during the pandemic and investigated whether periods with higher COVID-related worry and rumination were associated with more negative mental health and loneliness.
Methods
A quota survey design and a sampling frame that permitted recruitment of a national sample were employed. Findings for waves 1 (March 2020) to 6 (November 2020) are reported (N = 1943).
Results
Covid-related worry and rumination levels were highest at the beginning of the first lockdown, then declined but increased when the UK returned to lockdown. Worry levels were higher than rumination levels throughout. High levels of COVID-related worry and rumination were associated with a five- and ten-fold increase in clinically meaningful rates of depression and anxiety (respectively) together with lower well-being and higher loneliness. The effects of COVID-related worry on depression and anxiety levels were most marked and clinically meaningful in individuals living with a pre-existing mental health condition.
Conclusions
Psychological interventions should include components that specifically target COVID-related worry and rumination. Individuals with pre-existing mental health conditions should be prioritised as we emerge from the current pandemic and in any future public health crises.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
Keywords: | Wellbeing; depression; anxiety; perseverative cognition; inequalities; repetitive thought |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Jul 2022 13:44 |
Last Modified: | 22 May 2024 13:11 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/09638237.2022.2069716 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:188469 |