How Does The COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Population Mental Health? A Network Analysis of COVID Influences On Depression, Anxiety and Traumatic Stress in the UK Population

Background. The COVID-19 emergency has led to numerous attempts to assess the impact of the pandemic on population mental health. Findings indicate an increase in depression and anxiety but have been limited by the lack of specificity about which aspects of the pandemic (e.g. viral exposure or economic threats) have led to adverse mental health outcomes. Methods. Network analyses were conducted on data from wave 1 (N = 2025 recruited March 23rd – March 28th 2020) and wave 2 (N = 1406 recontacts, 22 April – 1 May 2020) of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium Study, an online longitudinal survey of a representative sample of the UK adult population. Our models included depression (PHQ-9), generalised anxiety (GAD-7) and trauma symptoms (ITQ) and also measures of Covid-specific anxiety, exposure to the virus in self and close others as well as economic loss due to the pandemic. Results. A mixed graphical model at wave 1 indicated that economic adversity impacted on anxiety symptoms via specific anxiety about the pandemic. There was no association between viral exposure and symptoms. Ising network models using clinical cut-offs for symptom scores at each wave yielded similar findings with the exception of a modest effect of viral exposure on trauma symptoms at wave 1 only. Anxiety and depression symptoms formed separate clusters at wave 1 but not wave 2. Conclusions. The psychological impact of the pandemic evolved in the early phase of lockdown. Adverse psychiatric outcomes were particularly associated with exposure to the economic consequences of the pandemic.