Table 2.
Health behaviours (before the pandemic and during May and September 2020) by mental health status
| Psychological distress (prior to pandemic) |
Psychological distress (during May lockdown) |
Anxiety/depression (during May lockdown) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health behaviours: | Whole sample (%) | Low (%) | High (%) | Diff high v. low (%) | Low (%) | High (%) | Diff high v. low (%) | Low (%) | High (%) | Diff high v. low (%) |
| Adverse sleep (<7 or >9 h/night) | ||||||||||
| Pre pandemic | 31.5 | 29.2 | 40.3 | 11.1 | 29.5 | 38.9 | 9.4 | 30.0 | 41.0 | 11.0 |
| May 2020 | 35.9 | 33.2 | 51.2 | 18.0 | 31.2 | 56.3 | 25.1 | 32.5 | 58.6 | 26.1 |
| September 2020 | 39.8 | 37.0 | 52.3 | 15.3 | 36.7 | 53.5 | 16.8 | 38.1 | 51.8 | 13.7 |
| Change in risk: pre to May | 4.4 | 4.0 | 10.9 | 6.9 | 1.7 | 17.4 | 15.7 | 2.5 | 17.6 | 15.1 |
| Change in risk: pre to September | 8.3 | 7.8 | 12.0 | 4.2 | 7.2 | 14.6 | 7.4 | 8.1 | 10.8 | 2.7 |
| Physical inactivity (<5 days/week) | ||||||||||
| Pre pandemic | 70.6 | 70.1 | 74.5 | 4.4 | 69.2 | 77.2 | 8.0 | 69.5 | 77.2 | 7.7 |
| May 2020 | 64.2 | 63.3 | 73.2 | 9.9 | 62.3 | 72.5 | 10.2 | 62.9 | 72.6 | 9.7 |
| September 2020 | 71.2 | 70.4 | 76.9 | 6.5 | 70.1 | 76.4 | 6.3 | 70.4 | 77.1 | 6.7 |
| Change in risk: pre to May | −6.4 | −6.8 | −1.3 | 5.5 | −6.9 | −4.7 | 2.2 | −6.6 | −4.6 | 2.0 |
| Change in risk: pre to September | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.1 | 0.9 | −0.8 | −1.7 | 0.9 | −0.1 | −1.0 |
| High alcohol intake (>14 drinks/week, or >4/day) | ||||||||||
| Pre pandemic | 19.1 | 19.6 | 17.7 | −1.9 | 19.1 | 19.4 | 0.3 | 19.0 | 19.3 | 0.3 |
| May 2020 | 16.9 | 16.7 | 18.7 | 2.0 | 16.5 | 18.7 | 2.2 | 16.5 | 19.2 | 2.7 |
| September 2020 | 20.7 | 20.9 | 20.6 | −0.3 | 21.2 | 19.1 | −2.1 | 21.1 | 18.5 | −2.6 |
| Change in risk: pre to May | −2.2 | −2.9 | 1.0 | 3.9 | −2.6 | −0.7 | 1.9 | −2.5 | −0.1 | 2.4 |
| Change in risk: pre to September | 1.6 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 2.1 | −0.3 | −2.4 | 2.1 | −0.8 | −2.9 |
| Low fruit/veg intake (<5 portions day) | ||||||||||
| Pre pandemic | 68.5 | 67.4 | 71.6 | 4.2 | 67.7 | 73.0 | 5.3 | 67.7 | 75.0 | 7.3 |
| May 2020 | 67.5 | 66.5 | 71.3 | 4.8 | 66.7 | 72.2 | 5.5 | 66.8 | 74.5 | 7.7 |
| September 2020 | 69.2 | 68.0 | 73.9 | 5.9 | 68.6 | 72.4 | 3.8 | 68.7 | 72.2 | 3.5 |
| Change in risk: pre to May | −1.0 | −0.9 | −0.3 | 0.6 | −1.0 | −0.8 | 0.2 | −0.9 | −0.5 | 0.4 |
| Change in risk: pre to September | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 0.9 | −0.6 | −1.5 | 1.0 | −2.8 | −3.8 |
Estimates are weighted to account for survey non-response. High psychological distress levels of symptoms are those above the clinical cut-off for the respective scales.