Moreno-Agostino, Darío;
Gessa, Giorgio Di;
(2025)
Mental Health in Adults Aged 50+ Since the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are We (All) Back to ‘Normal’? Evidence From England.
Journal of Affective Disorders Reports
, Article 101012. 10.1016/j.jadr.2025.101012.
(In press).
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Abstract
Objectives: To understand how population mental health levels and inequalities in these are in the post-lockdown world compared to before the pandemic in adults aged 50 and older. // Methods: We used data from three Waves (2016-2017, n=7,191; 2018-2019, n=7,286; and 2021-2023, n=6,249) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Using linear and modified Poisson regression models, we investigated whether prevalence of high depressive symptomatology, anxiety, and loneliness, and quality-of-life levels changed across time points overall and by gender, living situation, and wealth quintiles. Models were adjusted for age group, gender, education, and long-standing illnesses. // Results: No significant differences were found between 2016-2017 and 2018-2019. However, compared to 2018-2019, prevalence of high depressive symptoms (RR2021-2023=1.23[95%CI 1.12;1.34], p<0.001), loneliness (RR2021-2023=1.32[1.22;1.42], p<0.001) and quality-of-life levels (B2021-2023=-1.84 [-2.21;-1.48], p<0.001) were worse by 2021-2023. Pre-existing inequalities by gender, living arrangements, and wealth were not significantly different after the pandemic, except for depression, where gaps were significantly smaller by gender (RR2021-2023*women=0.72[0.59;0.89], p=0.002) and, to a smaller extent, living situation (RR2021-2023*not_alone=1.22[1.02;1.47], p=0.026). // Conclusion: Population mental health levels in the population aged 50 and older seem to have declined after the pandemic, and inequalities within the population persist.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Mental Health in Adults Aged 50+ Since the COVID-19 Pandemic: Are We (All) Back to ‘Normal’? Evidence From England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jadr.2025.101012 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2025.101012 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2025 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | English Longitudinal Study of Ageing; depression; anxiety; loneliness; quality of life |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Epidemiology and Public Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10219374 |
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