Gender differences in the mental health impact of the COVID-19 lockdown: Longitudinal evidence from the Netherlands

Recent contributions highlighted gender differences in the mental health consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns. However, their cross-sectional designs cannot differentiate between pre-existing gender differences and differences induced by lockdowns. Estimating fixed-effects models using longitudinal data from the Lifelines biobank and cohort study with repeated mental health measurements throughout the lockdown, we overcome this caveat. Significant gender differences in mental health during the lockdown were found, where women experienced more depression symptoms and disorders and men experienced... Mehr ...

Verfasser: A. Vloo
R.J.M. Alessie
J.O. Mierau
Marike H. Boezen
Jochen O. Mierau
Lude Franke
Jackie Dekens
Patrick Deelen
Pauline Lanting
Judith M. Vonk
Ilja Nolte
Anil P.S. Ori
Annique Claringbould
Floranne Boulogne
Marjolein X.L. Dijkema
Henry H. Wiersma
Robert Warmerdam
Soesma A. Jankipersadsing
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Reihe/Periodikum: SSM: Population Health, Vol 15, Iss , Pp 100878- (2021)
Verlag/Hrsg.: Elsevier
Schlagwörter: I10 / Public aspects of medicine / RA1-1270 / Social sciences (General) / H1-99
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26800795
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100878

Recent contributions highlighted gender differences in the mental health consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns. However, their cross-sectional designs cannot differentiate between pre-existing gender differences and differences induced by lockdowns. Estimating fixed-effects models using longitudinal data from the Lifelines biobank and cohort study with repeated mental health measurements throughout the lockdown, we overcome this caveat. Significant gender differences in mental health during the lockdown were found, where women experienced more depression symptoms and disorders and men experienced more anxiety symptoms and disorders stemming from the lockdown. Policymakers need to keep in mind that the COVID-19 lockdowns have different effects on mental health for men and women.