ArticlePsychiatry research2021
Effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on mental health, wellbeing, sleep, and alcohol use in a UK student sample.
Article in Psychiatry research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 123 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
123 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Alcohol Consumption During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Critical Review.Human psychopharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of longitudinal risk and protective factors for loneliness in youth.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2024Pooled it
- A narrative systematic review of changes in mental health symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.Psychological medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19 mitigations on anxiety and depression amongst university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of global health · 2023Pooled it
- Changes in sleep quality and sleep disturbances in the general population from before to during the COVID-19 lockdown: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Changes in alcohol use during COVID-19 and associations with contextual and individual difference variables: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2022Pooled it
- Post-secondary Student Mental Health During COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Evaluation and Future Challenges in a Self-Guided Web-Based Intervention With and Without Chat Support for Depression and Anxiety Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2024Trial
- A Multi-site, longitudinal investigation of emerging adult mental health across multiple stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Longitudinal associations between sense of belonging, imposter syndrome, and first-year college students' mental health.Journal of American college health : J of ACH · 2025Article
- The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Global Crisis: Aspects of University Students' Well-Being During the Quarantine in Greece.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- In its very early phases, COVID-19 shifts the associations between alcohol consumption and psychological symptoms in young adults.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
- Exploring the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Mental Health: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Poor mental health and its impact on academic outcomes in university students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: analysis of routine service data.BJPsych open · 2025Article
- Terminating pandemics with smartwatches.PNAS nexus · 2025Article
- Effects of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Alcohol Consumption, Hangovers and Smoking Among Young Adults (n = 140) in Germany: An On-Line Study.Human psychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Impact of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of university students and recommendations for the post-pandemic period: A systematic review.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Review
- Article
- Mental health and sleep in the post-COVID-19 era among Thai undergraduate students.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
63 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions imposed by governments worldwide have had profound social and psychological effects, particularly for young adults. This study used longitudinal data to characterise effects on mental health and behaviour in a UK student sample, measuring sleep quality and diurnal preference, depression and anxiety symptoms, wellbeing and loneliness, and alcohol use. Self-report data was collected from 254 undergraduates (219 females) at a UK university at two-time points: autumn 2019 (baseline, pre-pandemic) and April/May 2020 (under 'lockdown' conditions). Longitudinal analyses showed a significant rise in depression symptoms and a reduction in wellbeing at lockdown. Over a third of the sample could be classed as clinically depressed at lockdown compared to 15% at baseline. Sleep quality was not affected across the sample as a whole. The increase in depression symptoms was highly correlated with worsened sleep quality. A reduction in alcohol use, and a significant shift towards an 'evening' diurnal preference, were also observed. Levels of worry surrounding contracting COVID-19 were high. Results highlight the urgent need for strategies to support young people's mental health: alleviating worries around contracting COVID, and supporting good sleep quality, could benefit young adults' mental health as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds.
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