Changes in mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among Danes from 2019 to 2021.

Numerous studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic had large influence on mental health during the first lockdown, but fewer studies have focused on the long-term influence on mental health. In a national longitudinal study, we examined mental well-being measured just before (fall 2019) and twice during (falls of 2020 and 2021) the COVID-19 pandemic. We utilized the Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey with questionnaires collected in 2019, 2020 and 2021 among the same study population consisting of 8179 persons. The outcome was mental well-being measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). Linear regression models were conducted to evaluate change in SWEMWBS from 2019 to 2021. The SWEMWBS distribution was similar in 2019, 2020 and 2021, although the distribution moved to lower scores in 2020 compared to 2019 and moved slightly to higher scores in 2021 compared to 2020. Mean SWEMWBS decreased from 24.8 (95%CI 24.7-25.0) in 2019 to 24.1 (24.0-24.2) in 2020 and increased to 24.4 (24.3-24.6) in 2021 (p < 0.001). The mean decrease from 2019 to 2020 and increase from 2020 to 2021 was strongest among women, persons below age 75 years, persons without depression and among persons with higher education and with employment. In conclusion, we find that mental well-being decreased from 2019 to 2020 and slightly increased from 2020 to 2021 without reaching the pre-pandemic level. These changes are statistically significant but small and support that COVID-19 may only have had a small long-term influence on mental health in the general population.

Mental wellbeing among Danish employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a longitudinal study on the role of industry and working environment.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on working life. Previous studies have primarily focused on the mental health and wellbeing of healthcare workers and are mostly based on cross-sectional data from non-representative samples. The aim of this study was to investigate mental wellbeing trajectories among employees from different industries, and to longitudinally identify factors that affect mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, including job insecurity, fear of COVID-19, working from home or being discharged with wage compensation and management quality. METHODS: Baseline data were obtained from the Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey in 2019 (September-December), with follow-up in September-November 2020. We included 1995 respondents, who completed the questionnaire in both waves and were employed in 2020 and measured mental wellbeing using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale. RESULTS: Mental wellbeing declined among employees in all industries. Employees working from home and employees unsatisfied with management experienced a greater decline in mental wellbeing. We found no differences in mental wellbeing trajectories in relation to fear of infecting others or contracting COVID-19, job insecurity and being discharged with wage compensation. CONCLUSIONS: Mental wellbeing declined among employees in all industries with no difference between industries. Employees working from home may have been particularly vulnerable, and the analyses show that managers play a key role in mitigating the negative consequences of the pandemic by ensuring adequate information and involvement of employees.

Mental well-being, health, and locus of control in Danish adults before and during COVID-19.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the possible impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on general health, mental well-being, and experiences of control compared to pre-pandemic populations. Our hypotheses were that we would observe a significantly lower level of psychological well-being and general health in the 2020 sample compared to the pre-pandemic samples, and that we would observe younger age groups to be the most affected. METHOD: Two representative Danish populations (2016, n = 1656) and (2017, n = 3366) were compared to a representative Danish population (2020, n = 1538) sampled during the first lockdown in May 2020. Two-tailed tests of proportions were used to investigate possible differences between samples in proportions reporting poorer mental well-being measured by 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index, general health, and internal locus of control. RESULTS: Younger men (aged 18-24) and younger women (aged 18-44) as well as elderly women (aged 65-74) reported lower mental well-being during the early phase of the pandemic compared to the population from 2016. Both women and men in 2020 reported significantly lower levels of internal locus of control compared to the 2017 sample. This was especially true for younger men and women. There were no statistically significant differences in general health between populations. DISCUSSION: This study partly supports the hypothesis that the Covid-19 pandemic affected mental well-being negatively among younger persons. However, longitudinal studies are needed to investigate possible long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health and well-being. Further, qualitative studies are needed to investigate the in-depth consequences of Covid-19.

Decreasing mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among Danes before and during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on people's lives and may influence mental health in the general population. In a unique representative Danish longitudinal study, we examined mental well-being measured just before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Danish Health and Wellbeing Survey is the Danish contribution to the European Health Interview Survey. In this study, we included the wave from autumn 2019, which we re-invited in the autumn 2020. The study population consisted of 4,234 persons. The main outcome was mental well-being measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS). Linear and logistic regression models were conducted to evaluate change in SWEMWBS between 2019 and 2020. The SWEMWBS distribution was similar in 2019 and 2020, although the distribution moved to lower scores in 2020 compared to 2019. Mean SWEMWBS decreased significantly from 25.5 in 2019 to 24.6 in 2020 corresponding to a mean change of -1.0 (95%CI, -1.1. to -0.8). The proportion with low SWEMWBS increased from 16.5% in 2019 to 20.1% in 2020 (p < 0.001). The mean change was similar for men and women and for different age groups. The most negative development was observed among persons without depression or long-standing illnesses at baseline and among persons with higher educational level. Among persons with depression SWEMWBS increased. As expected, mental well-being significantly decreased in the adult Danish population during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, somewhat more unexpectedly, the decrease was most pronounced among persons without depression or long-standing illnesses and among higher educated groups.