The global health emergency of COVID-19 in early 2020 placed much of the population under quarantine. Interstitial Lung Disease in childhood (chILD) was recommended to be a pediatric clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) group in April 2020 for shielding due to the unknown health consequences of COVID-19 in children with chronic respiratory conditions. This qualitative longitudinal research study explores how chILD parents in the UK experienced COVID-19 lockdown from over two interview time points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Relatively little is known about the lived experiences of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. We systematically review the international literature to understand the lived experiences of older adult's experiences during the pandemic.
Design And Methodology: This study uses a meta-ethnographical approach to investigate the included studies.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the psychological wellbeing of some people, there is evidence that many have been much less affected. The Ecological Model of Resilience (EMR) may explain why some individuals are not resilient whilst others are. In this study we test the EMR in a comparison of UK survey data collected from the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) longitudinal study of a representative sample of the United Kingdom (UK) adult population and data from an Italian arm of the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInterstitial lung disease in childhood (chILD) is rare and no longer purely a childhood issue as many survive into adulthood, and so have to transition from pediatric to adult healthcare services. Transition is a significant life event that has the potential to impact on physical and mental health outcomes. The European Respiratory Society (ERS) statement on chILD transition highlighted the lack of standardised transition services for chILD transition resulting in a haphazard process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Literature showed that the link between right-wing attitudes and ethnocentric attitudes gets stronger under existential threats, but the role exerted by an impersonal threat - as COVID-19 - on right-wing attitudes is still unclear. This study aimed to highlight the role of anxiety exerted by the impersonal COVID-19 threat on the relationship between right-wing attitudes and ethnocentric attitudes, as nationalism and anti-immigrants' sentiments. As part of an international project to evaluate the impact of COVID-19, this study administered an online survey to a representative sample (n 1038).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The sense of belonging is a fundamental human need. Enacting it through face-to-face social activities was no longer possible during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we investigate how the sense of belonging, and how it is enacted, changed longitudinally amongst older adults in the UK.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic impacted people's lives all over the world, requiring health and safety measures intended to stop the virus from spreading. This study explores whether an unintended consequence of these measures is a new form of ageism. We explore, using qualitative methods, the experiences of older adults living through the pandemic in the United Kingdom and Colombia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Established in March 2020, the C19PRC Study monitors the psychological and socio-economic impact of the pandemic in the UK and other countries. This paper describes the protocol for Wave 6 (August-September 2021).
Methods: The survey assessed: COVID-19 related experiences; experiences of common mental health disorders; psychological characteristics; and social and political attitudes.
Age influences the experience of widowhood and the likelihood of adverse outcomes. This review synthesizes 13 qualitative studies that explored adjustment following the death of a partner at a younger age, within a Western-cultural context. Thematic synthesis identified six analytical themes: unique challenges; identity changes; levels of distress; coping; support; and adapting following the loss.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim: Despite the significant mental health challenges the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated government measures have presented, research has shown that the majority of people have adapted and coped well. The aim of this study was i) to determine the proportion of people with mental stability and volatility during the pandemic in a North West England city region sample and ii) to establish group differences in psychosocial variables. Mental stability and volatility refer to the extent to which individuals reported change in levels of common mental health symptoms over the course of 12 weeks.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study was established in March 2020 to monitor the psychological and socio-economic impact of the pandemic in the UK and other countries. This paper describes the protocol for Wave 5 (March-April 2021).
Methods: The survey assessed: COVID-19 related experiences; experiences of common mental health disorders; psychological characteristics; and social and political attitudes.
Objective: Given the highly infectious nature of COVID-19, social distancing practices are key in stemming the spread of the virus. We aimed to assess the complex interplay among psychological factors, socio-demographic characteristics and social distancing behaviours within the framework of the widely used Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model.
Design: The present research employed network psychometrics on data collected during the first UK lockdown in April 2020 as part of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study.
Two theoretical perspectives have been proffered to explain changes in alcohol use during the pandemic: the 'affordability-availability' mechanism (i.e., drinking decreases due to changes in physical availability and/or reduced disposable income) and the 'psychological-coping' mechanism (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper serves to alert IJPDS readers to the availability of a major new longitudinal survey data resource, , which is being released for secondary use via the Open Science Framework. The C19PRC Study is a rich and detailed dataset that provides a convenient and valuable foundation from which to study the social, political, and health status of European adults during an unprecedented time of change as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit. Here, we provide an overview of the C19PRC Study design, with the purpose of stimulating interest about the study among social scientists and maximising use of this resource.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) are self-report measures of major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. The primary aim of this study was to test for differential item functioning (DIF) on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 items based on age, sex (males and females), and country.
Method: Data from nationally representative surveys in UK, Ireland, Spain, and Italy (combined N = 6,054) were used to fit confirmatory factor analytic and multiple-indictor multiple-causes models.
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on all aspects of daily life and triggered a swell of anxiety across the world. Some suggest this emotional response to the pandemic can be explained through death anxiety (DA), a transdiagnostic dimension associated with numerous psychological disorders. However, it remains unclear as to whether DA is a unidimensional or multidimensional construct.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This paper outlines fieldwork procedures for Wave 4 of the COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study in the UK during November-December 2020.
Methods: Respondents provided data on socio-political attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours, and mental health disorders (anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress). In Phase 1, adults (N = 2878) were reinvited to participate.
Brain Behav Immun Health
October 2021
Background: Caring for sick or disabled relatives is a key model for understanding the effects of chronic stress on immunity/inflammation; biomarkers which are part of an index of allostatic load. Here, we examine whether caring and allostatic load are predictive of future illness/disability and if the association between caring and illness/disability is mediated by allostatic load.
Method: Using data from the Understanding Society Wave 2 (2011) and Wave 9 (2017-2019) datasets in the UK, a sample of 471 of caregivers and 2,151 non-caregivers (all initially healthy) were compared on allostatic load and future illness/disability.
Despite the severe psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, some individuals do not develop high levels of psychological distress and can be termed resilient. Using the ecological resilience model, we examined factors promoting or hindering resilience in the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 1034 participants (49.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Methods Psychiatr Res
September 2021
Objectives: The COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium (C19PRC) Study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the adult population in multiple countries. This paper describes the third wave of the UK survey (the 'parent' strand of the Consortium) during July-August 2020.
Methods: Adults (N = 2025) who participated in the baseline and/or first follow-up surveys were reinvited to participate in this survey, which assessed: (1) COVID-19 related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours; (2) the occurrence of common mental disorders; as well as the role of (3) psychological factors and (4) social and political attitudes, in influencing the public's response to the pandemic.
Background: Health and social care professionals' ability to address the needs of patients and their relatives at end of life is likely to have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aim: To explore health and social care professionals' experiences of providing end of life care during the COVID-19 pandemic to help inform current/future clinical practice and policy.
Design: A qualitative interview study.
Background: Meeting the needs of relatives when a family member is dying can help facilitate better psychological adjustment in their grief. However, end of life experiences for families are likely to have been deleteriously impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. Understanding how families' needs can be met during a global pandemic will have current/future relevance for clinical practice and policy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Feelings of loneliness are likely to exacerbate risk of depression in people living with cancer during COVID-19.
Design And Methods: Five hundred and eighteen people with cancer with data extracted from two waves (2017-19 and April 2020) of the Understanding Society UK dataset participated.
Findings: An increased risk of depression was observed for cancer of the breast, prostate, blood, but not other cancers (e.