Tracking the mental health of home-carers during the first COVID-19 national lockdown: evidence from a nationally representative UK survey.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Unpaid carers who look after another member of their household (home-carers) have poorer mental health than the general population. The first COVID-19 national lockdown led to an increasing reliance on home-carers and we investigate the short- and longer-term impacts of lockdown on their mental health.

Methods

Data from 9737 adult participants (aged 16+) from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (Understanding Society) were used to explore changes in 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) score between (a) pre-pandemic (2019) and early lockdowns (April 2020) and (b) early and later (July 2020) lockdowns.

Results

GHQ-12 scores among home-carers were higher pre-lockdown and increased more than for non-carers from 2019 to April 2020 with further increase

SUBMITTER: Whitley E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8245331 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature