Evidencing the detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health across Europe

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is harming population mental health worldwide, but the variability of this detrimental impact across different European countries is unknown. Varga and colleagues collated data from seven similar surveys that were conducted in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and the UK and compared patterns of loneliness, worries, anxiety, and COVID-related behaviours among more than 200,000 participants. Longitudinal analyses of population mental health during 2020 were reported previously from single countries, such as the UK, but this is the first published study to have investigated the phenomenon in multiple European nations. The temporal patterns observed in levels of anxiety and worry were mostly consistent across the four countries examined. Harmonised evidence-based continental strategies, aiming to better understand and effectively tackle the myriad damaging impacts of COVID-19, are urgently needed during this especially challenging epoch for Europe's public health leaders. This multinational investigation is therefore an important step forward.

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100052

Repository URI

http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/233206/