Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34600966›Full record

SynthesisJournal of affective disorders2022

A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies comparing mental health before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Eric Robinson, Angelina R Sutin, Michael Daly, Andrew Jones

Open access · greenAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of affective disorders, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 579 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
579citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
134.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

579 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,074 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Dissociative symptoms during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic situation in mental health patients.Borderline personality disorder and emotion dysregulation · 2026
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519 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Eric RobinsonDepartment of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK. Electronic address: eric.robinson@liv.ac.uk.
Angelina R SutinDepartment of Psychology, Maynooth University, Co., Kildare, Ireland.
Michael DalyDepartment of Psychology, Maynooth University, Co., Kildare, Ireland.
Andrew JonesDepartment of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Liverpool L69 7ZA, UK.
National University of Ireland, Maynooth · IEUniversity of Liverpool · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIncreases in mental health problems have been observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives were to examine the extent to which mental health symptoms changed during the pandemic in 2020, whether changes were persistent or short lived, and if changes were symptom specific.

methodsSystematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal cohort studies examining changes in mental health among the same group of participants before vs. during the pandemic in 2020.

resultsSixty-five studies were included. Compared to pre-pandemic outbreak, there was an overall increase in mental health symptoms observed during March-April 2020 (SMC = .102 [95% CI: .026 to .192]) that significantly declined over time and became non-significant (May-July SMC = .067 [95% CI: -.022 to .157]. Compared to measures of anxiety (SMC = 0.13, p = 0.02) and general mental health (SMC = -.03, p = 0.65), increases in depression and mood disorder symptoms tended to be larger and remained significantly elevated in May-July [0.20, 95% CI: .099 to .302]. In primary analyses increases were most pronounced among samples with physical health conditions and there was no evidence of any change in symptoms among samples with a pre-existing mental health condition. LIMITATIONS: There was a high degree of unexplained heterogeneity observed (I

conclusionsThere was a small increase in mental health symptoms soon after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that decreased and was comparable to pre-pandemic levels by mid-2020 among most population sub-groups and symptom types.

Indexed as

COVID-19PandemicsAnxietyCohort StudiesDepressionHumansLongitudinal StudiesMental HealthSARS-CoV-2AnxietyCoronavirusCOVID-19DepressionLongitudinalMental health

Identifiers

PMID34600966
PMCPMC8578001
OpenAlexW3203586449

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.