COVID-19 stressors, wellbeing and health behaviours: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Following the implementation of pandemic response measures, concerns arose regarding the impact for population health and wellbeing. Methods This study reports findings from a survey (N = 2510) conducted in Warwickshire (UK) during August and September 2020, and for the first time investigates behaviours which may worsen or mitigate the association between COVID-19-related stressors and wellbeing. Results Increased stressors were associated with lower mental wellbeing and higher loneliness. Participants with a mental health condition reported lower wellbeing, as did younger groups, women and participants not in employment. To cope with restrictions, more participants engaged in healthier behaviours over unhealthy behaviours, and relaxing reduced the association between stressors and poor wellbeing. Some participants reported increasing alcohol and unhealthy dietary behaviours to cope with restrictions, however, these behaviours did not mitigate the impact of COVID-19 stressors and were instead negatively associated with wellbeing. Around half of participants helped neighbours during the pandemic, a behaviour positively associated with wellbeing particularly among older adults. Conclusion These findings contribute understanding about how various positive and negative health behaviours may mitigate or worsen the impact of COVID-19 on wellbeing, and how public health interventions may effectively target behaviours and groups in similar populations.

Work and health during the COVID-19 crisis among Dutch workers and jobseekers with (partial) work disabilities: A mixed methods study

“…This is in line with studies providing evidence that social connectedness at work and support from co-workers and supervisors are important for mental health [27,28]. Those in search of work seemed to be especially affected by social isolation and loneliness, which has likewise been demonstrated in other studies [29,30]. In this study, barriers to participating in social life after a long period of social distancing were emphasized by unemployed individuals.…”

Exploring the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Health-Related Behaviours: A Person-Centred Analysis of Two British Longitudinal Cohort Studies

“…Despite previous findings indicating that adverse life events would be associated with increased adoption of risky HRBs through eliciting psychological distress (Bell et al, 2021), when the findings are placed in the context surrounding T2, the increases in alcohol consumption and BMI observed may be due to the increased availability as restrictions were eased, allowing people to seek support from friends to alleviate psychological distress. Indeed, social support has been found to help mitigate negative affect during the pandemic (Szkody et al, 2021), and pubs and restaurants provided a place to see loved ones with the restrictions still in place.…”

Through the Second Wave: Analysis of the Psychological and Perceptive Changes in the Italian Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The WEMWBS, instead, did not show a significant variation due to the pandemic, while positive emotional activation linearly increased, although with a quite flat slope, until the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic (PANAS Positive: 30.17 in the first wave, 32.05 in the second). Generally speaking, of the five well-being measures examined, three were strongly impacted in a negative sense [38,39]. The well-being worsening across the two waves in Italy may allow us also to better contextualize other Covid-19 related outcomes and phenomena, like vaccination hesitancy.…”