How have people been coping during the COVID-19 pandemic? Patterns and predictors of coping strategies amongst 26,016 UK adults

Background: Individuals face increased psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it’s unknown whether choice of coping styles are influenced by COVID-19 in addition to known predictors. Methods: Data from 26,016 UK adults in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study were analysed from 12/4/2020 15/5/2020. Regression models were used to identify predictors of coping styles (problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidant, and socially-supported): model 1 included sociodemographic variables, model 2 additionally included psychosocial factors, and model 3 further included experience of COVID-19 specific adverse worries or events. Results: Sociodemographic and psychosocial predictors of coping align with usual predictors of coping styles not occurring during a pandemic. However, even when controlling for the wide range of these previously known predictors specific adversities were associated with use of specific strategies. Experience of worries about finances, basic needs, and events related to Covid-19 were associated with a range of strategies, while experience of financial adversities was associated with problem-focused, emotion-focused and avoidant coping. There were no associations between coping styles and experiencing challenges in meeting basic needs, but Covid-19 related adversities were associated with a lower use of socially-supported coping. Conclusions: This paper demonstrates that there are not only demographic and social predictors of coping styles during the COVID-19 pandemic, but specific adversities are related to the ways that adults cope. Furthermore, this study identifies groups at risk of more avoidant coping mechanisms which may be targeted for supportive interventions

Predictors and patterns of gambling behaviour across the COVID-19 lockdown: Findings from a UK cohort study

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy has raised concerns about negative coping behaviours to offset financial losses. We used a subset of a longitudinal study of UK adults (N = 19,963) to examine a range of predictors of (i) gambling during the first strict lockdown, (ii) gambling more frequently during this strict lockdown compared to before lockdown, and (iii) continued increased frequency of gambling during the relaxation of restrictions. Results from logistic regressions indicated that amongst other factors, those with progressively lower levels of education, were stressed due to boredom, frequently drank alcohol, and had high risk-taking tendencies were more likely to gamble during strict lockdown. Individuals who were more likely to have increased their frequency of gambling during strict lockdown compared to before the lockdown were stressed by boredom, employed, frequently drank alcohol, and had depression and anxiety, whilst men and current smokers were less likely. As lockdown restrictions eased, individuals of ethnic minority backgrounds, who were current smokers, and with lower educational attainment were more likely to continue gambling more than usual. Findings contribute to knowledge of who is most at risk for increasing their gambling during the COVID-19 pandemic

Predictors and Impact of Arts Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analyses of Data From 19,384 Adults in the COVID-19 Social Study

Objectives. The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heavily affected the arts and creative industries due to the instigation of lockdown measures in the United Kingdom and closure of venues. However, it also provided new opportunities for arts and cultural engagement through virtual activities and streamed performances. Yet it remains unclear (i) who was likely to engage with the arts at home during lockdown, (ii) how this engagement differed from patterns of arts engagement prior to COVID-19, and (iii) whether home-based arts engagement was related to people’s ability to cope with their emotions during lockdown. This study was therefore designed to address these questions. / Methods. We used data collected in late May from the United Kingdom COVID-19 Social Study run by University College London. Multivariate regressions were used for the analysis (N = 19,384). Identified factors included demographic factors, socio-economic position, psychosocial wellbeing and health conditions, adverse events/worries, and coping styles. / Results. Four types of home-based arts engagement were identified during the COVID-19 pandemic: digital arts and writing, musical activities, crafts, and reading for pleasure. Our results show that the strongest predictors of the engagement were age, education attainment, social support, and emotion-focused or supportive coping styles. In particular, younger adults (aged 18–29), non-keyworkers, people with greater social support, people who had lost work, those who were worried about catching the virus, and those with an emotion-focused, problem-focused or supportive coping style were more likely to have increased arts engagement during lockdown. Arts activities were used as approach and avoidance strategies to help cope with emotions, as well as to help improve self-development. / Conclusion. Overall, our study suggests that while some people who engaged in the arts during the COVID-19 pandemic were those who typically engage under normal circumstances, the pandemic has also created new incentives and opportunities for others to engage virtually. Additionally, this study highlights the value of the arts as coping tools during stressful situations

Coping strategies and mental health trajectories during the first 21 weeks of COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom.

RATIONALE: The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health is well evidenced. However, there is little research on how individuals' coping strategies were related to changes in mental health over time. METHODS: The current study used data from the COVID-19 Social Study in the United Kingdom (N = 26,505) to explore whether coping strategies (problem-focused, emotion-focused, avoidant, and socially-supportive) were associated with (i) better mental health as lockdown was introduced, and (ii) faster recovery over time. RESULTS: People with greater use of problem-focused, avoidant, and supportive coping displayed more mental health symptoms, while greater use of emotion-focused coping was associated with fewer mental health symptoms. Symptoms decreased over time for all coping strategies, but only socially-supportive coping was associated with a faster decrease in anxiety and depressive symptoms, indicating a potential protective effect of social support on psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Problem-, avoidant- and emotion-focused coping strategies were not associated with faster improvements in mental health. Suggesting the adoption of one of these coping styles in itself is not necessarily a driver of improvements in mental health; rather, specific attributes of the behaviours expressed as part of this coping style appear to be important in and of themselves

Trajectories of eating behavior during COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal analyses of 22,374 adults

Background & aims: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the implementation of stay-at-home and lockdown measures. It is currently unknown if the experience of lockdown leads to long term changes in individual's eating behaviors. The objectives of this study were: i) to derive longitudinal trajectories of change in eating during UK lockdown, and ii) to identify risk factors associated with eating behavior trajectories. Method: Data from 22,374 UK adults from the UCL COVID-19 Social study (a panel study collecting weekly data during the pandemic) were analyzed from 28th March to 29th May 2020. Latent Class Growth Analysis was used to derive trajectories of change in eating. These were then associated with prior socio-economic, health-related and psychological factors using multinomial regression models. Results: Analyses suggested five trajectories, with the majority (64%) showing no change in eating. In contrast, one trajectory was marked by persistently eating more, whereas another by persistently eating less. Overall, participants with greater depressive symptoms were more likely to report any change in eating. Loneliness was linked to persistently eating more (OR ¼ 1.07), whereas being single or divorced, as well as stressful life events, were associated with consistently eating less (OR ¼ 1.69). Overall, higher education status was linked to lower odds of changing eating behavior (OR ¼ 0.54e0.77). Secondary exploratory analyses suggest that participants self-reported to have overweight were more commonly categorised into the group consistently eating more, whereas participants with underweigh persistently ate less. Conclusion: In this study, we found that one third of the sample report changes in quantities eaten throughout the first UK lockdown period. Findings highlight the importance of adjusting public health programs to support eating behaviors in future lockdowns both in this and potential future pandemics. This is particularly important as part of on-going preventive efforts to prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases

Factors associated with drinking behaviour during COVID-19 social distancing and lockdown among adults in the UK

Aim: To assess what factors were associated with reported changes to usual alcohol drinking behaviour during the start of lockdown in the UK. / Design: Online cross-sectional survey from 21st March to 4th April 2020. / Setting: UK. / Participants: 30,375 adults aged ≥ 18y. / Measurements: Changes in drinking over the past week, sociodemographic characteristics, diagnosed or suspected COVID-19, adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours, stress about COVID-19, finances or boredom, recent drop in household income, key worker status, and health conditions. / Findings: Of 22,113 drinkers (65.7% of analytic sample), 48.1% (95% CI=47.0-49.1%) reported drinking about the same as usual, 25.7% (24.8-26.6%) reported drinking less than usual, and 26.2% (25.4-27.1%) reported drinking more than usual over the past week. Drinking less than usual was independently associated with being younger (OR=0.88 [95% CI=0.83-0.93]), male (OR=0.76 [0.68-0.84]), of an ethnic minority (OR=0.76 [0.61-0.97]), low annual household income (OR=0.74 [0.66-0.83]), having diagnosed or suspected COVID-19 (OR=2.04 [1.72-2.41]), adhering to COVID-19 protective behaviours (OR=1.58 [1.08-2.32]), being significantly stressed about becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 (OR=1.26 [1.08-1.48]) and not being a key worker (OR=0.87 [0.76-0.99]). Drinking more than usual was independently associated with being younger (OR=0.73 [0.69-0.78]), female (OR=1.36 [1.22-1.51]), post-16 qualifications (OR=1.21 [1.04-1.40]), high annual household income (OR=1.43 [1.27-1.61]), being significantly stressed about catching (OR=1.22 [1.03-1.45]) or becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 (OR=1.28 [1.10-1.48]), being significantly stressed about finances (OR=1.43 [1.24-1.66]), and having a diagnosed anxiety disorder (OR=1.24 [1.05-1.46]). / Conclusions: In a representative sample of adults in the UK, about half of drinkers reported drinking the same amount of alcohol as usual during the start of the COVID-19 related lockdown, with a quarter drinking more and a quarter drinking less than usual. Drinking more than usual was associated with being younger, female, high socioeconomic position, having an anxiety disorder, and being stressed about finances or COVID-19. These groups may benefit targeted alcohol reduction support if there are further periods of lockdown. / Registration: The analysis plan was pre-registered on Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/pnrhq/)

Difference in predictors and barriers to arts and cultural engagement with age in the United States: A cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study

INTRODUCTION: Arts and cultural engagement are associated with a range of mental and physical health benefits, including promoting heathy aging and lower incidence of age-related disabilities such as slower cognitive decline and slower progression of frailty. This suggests arts engagement constitutes health-promoting behaviour in older age. However, there are no large-scale studies examining how the predictors of arts engagement vary with age. METHODS: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (2014) were used to identify sociodemographic, life satisfaction, social, and arts appreciation predictors of (1) frequency of arts engagement, (2) cultural attendance, (3) difficulty participating in the arts, and (4) being an interested non-attendee of cultural events. Logistic regression models were stratified by age groups [50-59, 60-69, ≥70] for the frequency of arts participation outcome and [50-69 vs ≥70] all other outcomes. RESULTS: Findings indicated a number of age-related predictors of frequent arts engagement, including gender, educational attainment, wealth, dissatisfaction with aging, and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL). For cultural event attendance, lower interest in the arts predicted lack of engagement across age groups, whereas higher educational attainment and more frequent religious service attendance became predictors in older age groups (≥ 70). Adults in both age groups were less likely to report difficulties engaging in the arts if they had lower neighbourhood safety, whilst poor self-rated health and low arts appreciation also predicted reduced likelihood of this outcome, but only in the younger (50-69) age group. Adults in the older (≥ 70) age group were more likely to be interested non-attendees of cultural events if they had higher educational attainment and less likely if they lived in neighbourhoods with low levels of safety. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that certain factors become stronger predictors of arts and cultural engagement and barriers to engagement as people age. Further, there appear to be socioeconomic inequalities in engagement that may increase in older ages, with arts activities overall more accessible as individuals age compared to cultural engagement due to additional financial barriers and transportation barriers. Ensuring that these activities are accessible to people of all ages will allow older adults to benefit from the range of health outcomes gained from arts and cultural engagement

Racial discrimination, low trust in the health system and COVID-19 vaccine uptake: a longitudinal observational study of 633 UK adults from ethnic minority groups.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether racial/ethnic discrimination predicts future COVID-19 vaccine refusal, and whether this association is explained by trust in government and the health system. DESIGN: Longitudinal observational study of racial/ethnic discrimination occurring since the start of the first lockdown (measured in July 2020) and later COVID-19 vaccine status. SETTING: UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). PARTICIPANTS: A total of 633 adults belonging to ethnic minority groups who took part in the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: COVID-19 vaccine refusal (vs. accepted/waiting/had at least one dose) between 23 December 2020 and 14 June 2021. RESULTS: Nearly 1 in 10 (6.69%) who had refused a COVID-19 vaccine had experienced racial/ethnic discrimination in a medical setting since the start of the pandemic and had experienced twice as many incidents of racial/ethnic discrimination than those who had accepted the vaccine. Structural equation modelling results indicated a nearly four fold (odds ratio = 3.91, 95% confidence interval = 1.40 to 10.92) total effect of racial/ethnic discrimination on refusing the vaccine which was mediated by low trust in the health system to handle the pandemic (odds ratio = 2.49, 95% confidence interval = 1.12 to 5.39). Analyses adjusted for a range of demographic and COVID-19 related factors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore the importance of addressing racial/ethnic discrimination and the role the National Health Service in regaining trust from ethnic minority groups to increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among ethnic minority adults

Moving singing for lung health online in response to COVID-19: experience from a randomised controlled trial

Introduction Singing for Lung Health (SLH) is a popular arts-in-health activity for people with long-term respiratory conditions. Participants report biopsychosocial benefits, however research on impact is limited. The ‘SHIELD trial’, a randomised controlled, single (assessor) blind, trial of 12 weeks SLH vs usual care for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (n=120) was set-up to help to address this. The first group (n=18, 9 singing and 9 controls) started face-to-face (5 sessions) before changing to online delivery (7 sessions) due to COVID-19 related physical distancing measures. As such, the experience of this group is here reported as a pilot study to inform further research in this area. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis regarding barriers, facilitators and key considerations for transitioning from face-to-face to online delivery. Pilot quantitative outcomes include attendance, pre and post measures of quality of life and disease impact (SF-36, CAT score), breathlessness (MRC breathlessness scale, Dyspnoea-12), depression (PHQ9), anxiety (GAD-7), balance confidence (ABC scale) and physical activity (clinical visit PROactive physical activity in COPD tool, combining subjective rating and actigraphy). Results Attendance was 69% overall, (90% of the face-to-face sessions, 53% online sessions). Analysis of semi-structured interviews identified three themes regarding participation in SLH delivered face-to-face and online, these where 1) perceived benefits; 2) digital barriers (online); 3) digital facilitators (online). Findings were summarised into key considerations for optimising transitioning singing groups from face-to-face to online delivery. Pilot quantitative data suggested possible improvements in depression (treatment effect -4.78 PHQ9 points, p< 0.05, MCID 5) and balance confidence (treatment effect +17.21 ABC Scale points, p=0.04, MCID 14.2). Discussion This study identifies key considerations regarding the adaptation of SLH from face-to-face to online delivery. Pilot data suggest online group singing for people with COPD may deliver benefits related to reducing depression and improved balance confidence