Health, Psychological Distress, and Functioning During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Danish Adults with and Without a Preexisting Mental Illness

Per Vendsborg (), Nanna Schneekloth Jarlstrup, Sofie H. Hoffmann, Merete Nordentoft, Christoph U. Correll, Marco Solmi, Trevor Thompson, Andrés Estradé, Trine Toft Sørensen and Lau Caspar Thygesen
Additional contact information
Per Vendsborg: Danish Mental Health Fund (Psykiatrifonden), Hejrevej 43, DK-2400 Copenhagen, Denmark
Nanna Schneekloth Jarlstrup: Centre for Childhood Health, Islands Brygge 41, DK-2300 Copenhagen, Denmark
Sofie H. Hoffmann: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Studiestræde 6, DK-1455 Copenhagen, Denmark
Merete Nordentoft: CORE—Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, DK-2900 Copenhagen, Denmark
Christoph U. Correll: German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Marco Solmi: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Trevor Thompson: Centre for Chronic Illness and Aging, University of Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, UK
Andrés Estradé: Early Psychosis: Interventions and Clinical-Detection (EPIC) Lab, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology& Neuroscience, King’s College London, London WC2R 2LS, UK
Trine Toft Sørensen: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Studiestræde 6, DK-1455 Copenhagen, Denmark
Lau Caspar Thygesen: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Studiestræde 6, DK-1455 Copenhagen, Denmark

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: The aim of this paper was to evaluate health, psychological distress, and functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic among Danish adults with and without a history of mental illness. Data were drawn from three online surveys conducted in May 2020 (n = 3134), January 2021 (n = 1170), and January 2022 (n = 1174) as part of the Danish contribution to the Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT). The prevalence of mental and physical health issues, psychological distress (stress, sleep problems, loneliness, and boredom) and levels of functioning (self-care, interpersonal relationships, hobbies/leisure, and work/education) were evaluated at four different time points stratified by history of mental illness. Findings indicated that physical health was not differentially affected between people with and without prior mental illness. However, mental health declined significantly more among respondents with a history of mental illness. While levels of stress did not differ between the two groups, boredom was more pronounced in May 2020 among those with prior mental illness. Loneliness was significantly higher in this group in January 2021. Sleep disturbances were more pronounced for respondents with former mental illness during the whole period. A decline in functioning was observed in people both with and without a former mental illness. It seemed a little more pronounced for people with mental illness but seldom reached statistical significance. For all measures of health, distress, and functioning, 10–20% of respondents reported improvements in health, distress, and functioning during the pandemic, with stress showing the most improvement—one third of participants reported feeling less stressed. In most of the parameters measured, the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to decrease with time. However, the effects were not uniform, and more investigations are needed to understand the whole picture.

Keywords: mental health; mental illness; COVID-19; corona; pandemic; lockdown; distress; function (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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