ArticleBJPsych open2025
The mental health impact of repeated COVID-19 enforced lockdowns in England: evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study.
Article in BJPsych open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Difficulties in adherence to social distancing and quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from a longitudinal study comparing migrants and non-migrants in a city in Norway.BMC public health · 2026Article
- What drives emotional escalation in crisis talk? Collectivenism, topics, and LLM-assisted measurement on Zhihu.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Using machine-assisted topic analysis to expedite thematic analysis of free-text data: Exemplar investigation of factors influencing health behaviours and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.British journal of health psychology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundResearch shows initial COVID-19 lockdowns increased population mental distress. Yet, the mental health impact of repeated lockdowns in England remains unknown.
aimsTo: (a) explore changes in population mental health symptoms over the COVID-19 pandemic period (March 2020 to March 2021) in England, comparing this with trends from a decade before (2009-2019) as well as after (2021-2023); (b) compare the mental health impact of each of the three lockdowns in England with periods of eased restrictions, determining who was most affected; (c) examine the impact of demographics and distinct time periods on the prevalence of mental health symptoms.
methodA secondary analysis of a national longitudinal cohort study, utilising data from Waves 1-13 of the UK Household Longitudinal Study and from Waves 1-9 of the COVID-19 Survey. Mental health was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Student
resultsThere was a significant increase in the prevalence of self-reported symptoms of mental health during England's pandemic period, encompassing three lockdowns, compared with the average of rates from 10 years before. Rates of reported mental health symptoms were not significantly different across each lockdown, but were significantly higher than pre-pandemic rates, declining with eased restrictions. Rates from the end of lockdown to May 2023 revealed elevated mental health symptoms compared with pre-pandemic. Elevated symptoms were observed for women, people homeworking, those with health conditions, individuals aged 30-45 years and those experiencing loneliness.
conclusionRepeated lockdowns in England had a substantial impact on mental health, indicating requirements for ongoing mental health support.
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