Welcome

Welcome to this new newsletter providing results from the COVID-19 Social Study. With over 70,000 participants who have between them completed over 450,000 surveys across 14 weeks, this is the largest study of the psychological and social impact of the pandemic in the UK.

Below, we highlight some of the headline findings from the past month, provide links to media coverage the study has had, and discuss the work we are doing with policy makers and organisations across the UK.

We are currently looking for more participants who are happy to have a telephone interview with us so we can get a more detailed insight into their experiences. If you identify with any of the following groups and are happy to take part, please get in contact with Alex Burton as we'd love to hear how you've found the last few months:

• People living with schizophrenia or psychosis
• Men who are living with a mental health condition
• Older adults (aged 70+) or people living with a long-term physical health condition from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds 
• Black people who are living with a mental health condition

For those of you who have been participating in the study, a huge THANK YOU. Your time each week is immensely valuable in helping us to understand the effects of the pandemic on people and identify what support is most needed.

For more information or to take part, visit our website 

You are receiving this email as a member of the MARCH Network, or because you have requested updates on the Covid-19 Social Study. If you would prefer not to receive future newsletters, please unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of this email.

Key Findings 

Some insights into this month's findings…

To see more results and further detail of the findings and methods, visit our website and download our weekly reports.  

Research Updates 

We have now published 10 pre-prints and peer-reviewed scientific papers on the Covid-19 Social Study data. These cover topics including:

·        Trajectories of depression and anxiety across lockdown

·        Patterns of depression in vulnerable groups

·        Predictors of volunteering behaviours during lockdown

·        Risk factors for loneliness during lockdown

·        Trajectories of loneliness across lockdown

·        Experience of adversities by socio-economic position

·        The relationship between adversities and mental health during lockdown

·        The relationship between mental health and sleep during lockdown

·        Smoking as a risk factor for catching COVID-19

·        Patterns of life satisfaction across lockdown

These can be viewed here. Further papers are in preparation, under review, or in press and will be added shortly.

Impact 

To date, results from the Covid-19 Social study have featured in over 40 newspaper articles and 30 radio and television programmes. Some examples are below.

We have also been presenting results and providing data to a number of policy bodies including the World Health Organisation, governments across the UK, Cabinet Office, a number of All Party Parliamentary Groups on topics including suicide prevention, loneliness, compassionate politics and COVID-19, Public Health England, NHS England, local governments, and hundreds of community organisations across the UK. 

Please contact us if you would like us to connect with another group to support efforts relating to the pandemic.