Associations between dimensions of behaviour, personality traits, and mental-health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

Adam Hampshire; Peter J. Hellyer; Eyal Soreq; Mitul A. Mehta; Konstantinos Ioannidis; William Trender; Jon E. Grant; Samuel R. Chamberlain

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-24365-5

Associations between dimensions of behaviour, personality traits, and mental-health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

Adam Hampshire^*, Peter J. Hellyer, Eyal Soreq, Mitul A. Mehta, Konstantinos Ioannidis, William Trender, Jon E. Grant, Samuel R. Chamberlain

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

72 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic (including lockdown) is likely to have had profound but diverse implications for mental health and well-being, yet little is known about individual experiences of the pandemic (positive and negative) and how this relates to mental health and well-being, as well as other important contextual variables. Here, we analyse data sampled in a large-scale manner from 379,875 people in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2020 to identify population variables associated with mood and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate self-perceived pandemic impact in relation to those variables. We report that while there are relatively small population-level differences in mood assessment scores pre- to peak-UK lockdown, the size of the differences is larger for people from specific groups, e.g. older adults and people with lower incomes. Multiple dimensions underlie peoples’ perceptions, both positive and negative, of the pandemic’s impact on daily life. These dimensions explain variance in mental health and can be statistically predicted from age, demographics, home and work circumstances, pre-existing conditions, maladaptive technology use and personality traits (e.g., compulsivity). We conclude that a holistic view, incorporating the broad range of relevant population factors, can better characterise people whose mental health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Original language	English
Article number	4111
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	12
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24365-5
Publication status	Published - Dec 2021

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title = "Associations between dimensions of behaviour, personality traits, and mental-health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom",

abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic (including lockdown) is likely to have had profound but diverse implications for mental health and well-being, yet little is known about individual experiences of the pandemic (positive and negative) and how this relates to mental health and well-being, as well as other important contextual variables. Here, we analyse data sampled in a large-scale manner from 379,875 people in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2020 to identify population variables associated with mood and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate self-perceived pandemic impact in relation to those variables. We report that while there are relatively small population-level differences in mood assessment scores pre- to peak-UK lockdown, the size of the differences is larger for people from specific groups, e.g. older adults and people with lower incomes. Multiple dimensions underlie peoples{\textquoteright} perceptions, both positive and negative, of the pandemic{\textquoteright}s impact on daily life. These dimensions explain variance in mental health and can be statistically predicted from age, demographics, home and work circumstances, pre-existing conditions, maladaptive technology use and personality traits (e.g., compulsivity). We conclude that a holistic view, incorporating the broad range of relevant population factors, can better characterise people whose mental health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.",

author = "Adam Hampshire and Hellyer, {Peter J.} and Eyal Soreq and Mehta, {Mitul A.} and Konstantinos Ioannidis and William Trender and Grant, {Jon E.} and Chamberlain, {Samuel R.}",

note = "Funding Information: S.R.C. previously consulted for Promentis. He receives honoraria for journal editorial work from Elsevier. J.E.G. has received research grants from the T.L.C. Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, Biohaven, Promentis and Avanir Pharmaceuticals. M.A.M. has received grant income from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson and Lundbeck. A.H. is owner and founder of Future Cognition Ltd. and H2 Cognitive Designs Ltd., which develop custom cognitive assessment software for other university-based research groups. P.J.H. is the owner and co-founder of H2 Cognitive Designs Ltd. The authors report no other conflicts of interest. Funding Information: This study was conducted in collaboration with BBC2 Horizon. The study was supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute and Biomedical Research Centre at Imperial College London. Technology development was supported by EU-CIG EC Marie‐Curie CIG and NIHR grant II-LB-0715-20006 to A.H. E.S.{\textquoteright}s role was supported by MRC grant MR/R005370/1 to A.H. W.T. is supported by the EPSRC Center for Doctoral Training in Neurotechnology under supervision of A.H. This research was funded in part by Wellcome [110049/Z/15/Z and 110049/Z/15/A] (Grant to S.R.C.). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. M.A.M. is in part supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King{\textquoteright}s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. We would like to acknowledge COST Action CA16207 {\textquoteleft}European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet{\textquoteright}, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), and the support of the National UK Research Network for Behavioural Addictions (NUK-BA). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41467-021-24365-5",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Nature Communications",

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T1 - Associations between dimensions of behaviour, personality traits, and mental-health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

AU - Hampshire, Adam

AU - Hellyer, Peter J.

AU - Soreq, Eyal

AU - Mehta, Mitul A.

AU - Ioannidis, Konstantinos

AU - Trender, William

AU - Grant, Jon E.

AU - Chamberlain, Samuel R.

N1 - Funding Information: S.R.C. previously consulted for Promentis. He receives honoraria for journal editorial work from Elsevier. J.E.G. has received research grants from the T.L.C. Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, Biohaven, Promentis and Avanir Pharmaceuticals. M.A.M. has received grant income from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson and Lundbeck. A.H. is owner and founder of Future Cognition Ltd. and H2 Cognitive Designs Ltd., which develop custom cognitive assessment software for other university-based research groups. P.J.H. is the owner and co-founder of H2 Cognitive Designs Ltd. The authors report no other conflicts of interest. Funding Information: This study was conducted in collaboration with BBC2 Horizon. The study was supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute and Biomedical Research Centre at Imperial College London. Technology development was supported by EU-CIG EC Marie‐Curie CIG and NIHR grant II-LB-0715-20006 to A.H. E.S.’s role was supported by MRC grant MR/R005370/1 to A.H. W.T. is supported by the EPSRC Center for Doctoral Training in Neurotechnology under supervision of A.H. This research was funded in part by Wellcome [110049/Z/15/Z and 110049/Z/15/A] (Grant to S.R.C.). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. M.A.M. is in part supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. We would like to acknowledge COST Action CA16207 ‘European Network for Problematic Usage of the Internet’, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), and the support of the National UK Research Network for Behavioural Addictions (NUK-BA). Publisher Copyright: © 2021, The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/12

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N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic (including lockdown) is likely to have had profound but diverse implications for mental health and well-being, yet little is known about individual experiences of the pandemic (positive and negative) and how this relates to mental health and well-being, as well as other important contextual variables. Here, we analyse data sampled in a large-scale manner from 379,875 people in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2020 to identify population variables associated with mood and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate self-perceived pandemic impact in relation to those variables. We report that while there are relatively small population-level differences in mood assessment scores pre- to peak-UK lockdown, the size of the differences is larger for people from specific groups, e.g. older adults and people with lower incomes. Multiple dimensions underlie peoples’ perceptions, both positive and negative, of the pandemic’s impact on daily life. These dimensions explain variance in mental health and can be statistically predicted from age, demographics, home and work circumstances, pre-existing conditions, maladaptive technology use and personality traits (e.g., compulsivity). We conclude that a holistic view, incorporating the broad range of relevant population factors, can better characterise people whose mental health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AB - The COVID-19 pandemic (including lockdown) is likely to have had profound but diverse implications for mental health and well-being, yet little is known about individual experiences of the pandemic (positive and negative) and how this relates to mental health and well-being, as well as other important contextual variables. Here, we analyse data sampled in a large-scale manner from 379,875 people in the United Kingdom (UK) during 2020 to identify population variables associated with mood and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate self-perceived pandemic impact in relation to those variables. We report that while there are relatively small population-level differences in mood assessment scores pre- to peak-UK lockdown, the size of the differences is larger for people from specific groups, e.g. older adults and people with lower incomes. Multiple dimensions underlie peoples’ perceptions, both positive and negative, of the pandemic’s impact on daily life. These dimensions explain variance in mental health and can be statistically predicted from age, demographics, home and work circumstances, pre-existing conditions, maladaptive technology use and personality traits (e.g., compulsivity). We conclude that a holistic view, incorporating the broad range of relevant population factors, can better characterise people whose mental health is most at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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DO - 10.1038/s41467-021-24365-5

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Associations between dimensions of behaviour, personality traits, and mental-health during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

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