ArticleHealth economics2021
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on socioeconomic inequality in psychological distress in the UK.
Article in Health economics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 0 citations in OpenAlex.
- Women's mental health and COVID-19: increased vulnerability and inequalities.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Pooled it
- Changes in anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in the European population: A meta-analysis of changes and associations with restriction policies.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2023Pooled it
- Young People's Subjective Wellbeing in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from a Representative Cohort Study in England.Social indicators research · 2026Article
- Valuation of health losses among Japanese workers with children during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic waves on adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in the Dutch general population: a population-based longitudinal cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the elderly in the United Kingdom: A review study.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2024Review
- The COVID-19 ambulance response assessment (CARA) study: a national survey of ambulance service healthcare professionals' preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic.British paramedic journal · 2024Article
- Residential mobility restrictions and adverse mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Food expenditure, income, and mental health: Outcomes from the UK Household Longitudinal Survey.PloS one · 2024Article
- Mental health in Ireland during the Covid pandemic: Evidence from two longitudinal surveys.PloS one · 2024Article
- Exploring the gender gap in young adult mental health during COVID-19: Evidence from the UK.PloS one · 2024Article
- The Impact of Culture-, Health- and Nature-Based Engagement on Mitigating the Adverse Effects of Public Health Restrictions on Wellbeing, Social Connectedness and Loneliness during COVID-19: Quantitative Evidence from a Smaller- and Larger-Scale UK Survey.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Coping Strategies, well-being and inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic period.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Educational inequalities in self-rated health and emotional exhaustion among workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2023Article
- The Consequences of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Smoking Behavior: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2023Article
- Changes in health communication in the age of COVID-19: A study on the dissemination of preprints to the public.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Economic expectations and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: a one-year longitudinal evaluation on Italian university students.Quality & quantity · 2023Article
- The relationship between mental health and violence toward women during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- COVID-19 and Indigenous health in the Brazilian Amazon.Economic modelling · 2022Article
- Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on depression in older adults: A panel data analysis.Health policy (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
We use data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) to compare measures of socioeconomic inequality in psychological distress, measured by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), before (Waves 9 and the Interim 2019 Wave) and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (April to July 2020). Based on a caseness measure, the prevalence of psychological distress increased from 18.5% to 27.7% between the 2019 Wave and April 2020 with some reversion to earlier levels in subsequent months. Also, there was a systematic increase in total inequality in the Likert GHQ-12 score. However, measures of relative socioeconomic inequality have not increased. A Shapley-Shorrocks decomposition analysis shows that during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic (April 2020) other socioeconomic factors declined in their share of socioeconomic inequality, while age and gender account for a larger share. The most notable increase is evident for younger women. The contribution of working in an industry related to the COVID-19 response played a small role at Wave 9 and the Interim 2019 Wave, but more than tripled its share in April 2020. As the first wave of COVID-19 progressed, the contribution of demographics declined from their peak level in April and chronic health conditions, housing conditions, and neighbourhood characteristics increased their contributions to socioeconomic inequality.
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