Henseke, G;
Schoon, I;
(2025)
Revisiting the Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 on Young Adults in the UK: Long-Term Trends, Temporary Setbacks, and Recovery.
Social Indicators Research
10.1007/s11205-025-03616-8.
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Abstract
This study assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of 16- to 29-year-olds in the United Kingdom, using longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and its predecessor, covering the period from 2001 to 2023. The study identifies the causal effects of the lockdown (April 2020–March 2021) and the post-lockdown period (April 2021–March 2022) by estimating counterfactual mental health trajectories based on long-term trends. Unlike prior research, it accounts for potential reporting bias introduced by the UKHLS COVID-19 study. Mental ill-health among young adults had been rising for nearly two decades before the pandemic. During the lockdown period, the average General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) psychological distress score increased by 9% of its standard deviation, while the prevalence of clinically relevant psychological distress rose by 4.5% points. This impact was temporary, with mental health levels returning to predicted trends by April 2021, suggesting no lasting ‘scar’ on average mental health. The recovery coincided with declining feelings of loneliness and increased life satisfaction. The study also identifies variations in the pandemic’s mental health effects by gender, household income, age, and ethnicity. Women and young adults in the top third of the household income distribution experienced a more pronounced increase in psychological distress during lockdown. However, there is no evidence that the under-30 age group suffered, on average, more severe mental health effects than the rest of the adult population under 60 during the lockdown period. The findings challenge prevalent narratives by demonstrating the relative resilience of young adults in the face of the pandemic.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Revisiting the Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 on Young Adults in the UK: Long-Term Trends, Temporary Setbacks, and Recovery |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11205-025-03616-8 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-025-03616-8 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Psychological distress, COVID-19, Young adults, Longitudinal study, Survey design effects |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208700 |
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