Project overview
The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on many aspects of life. The direct and indirect psychological and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are pervasive and include negative consequences on individuals’ mental health and life satisfaction. However, little is known about the medium- and long-term impacts on these topics. There is even less research on how pre-pandemic psychosocial factors, as well as the COVID-19-related factors, are associated with changes in life satisfaction and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About the study
ZEPSOM-Wellbeing is a project to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic influences life satisfaction and mental health over time. We will have two follow-ups of the existing Zone d’epidemiologie Psychiatrique du Sud-Ouest de Montreal (ZEPSOM) cohort to assess changes in mental health and life satisfaction related to the pandemic. We will address the medium and long-term impacts of the pandemic on life satisfaction and mental health and test the roles of pre-pandemic psychosocial factors (social support, socioeconomic status, coping strategies, pre-pandemic stressors) in life satisfaction/ mental health after the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition, we will analyze how the COVID-19-related exposures in the associations between these psychosocial factors and life satisfaction/ mental health after the COVID-19 outbreak.
Two data collections are planned, and the first data collection is to start in 2022 summer.
Significance and Impact: This project has a unique opportunity to provide a holistic and comprehensive understanding of how pandemic and psychosocial attributes before the pandemic impact life satisfaction and mental health after the COVID-19 outbreak that cannot be easily addressed by cross-sectional or short-term prospective cohort designs. This project will also provide robust evidence about the medium and long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on life satisfaction and mental health. The findings could enhance current health promotion programs by helping to better target and support the general population that is most affected, given the limited resources available, but also better equip (current and future) health professionals with new programs, tools, and campaigns that can rapidly and effectively respond to the intermediate and long-term effects of the pandemic on mental health and life satisfaction relevant for the current as well as potential future pandemics.
Funding
This research project received a research Fund from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Conducted at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, this study is part of the whole ZEPSOM cohort study
