UNSW and Monash to study the toll of COVID-19 on mental health

Two universities have announced research to track the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health.

The UNSW global study will examine the effect of COVID-19 isolation, particularly for pregnant women and adolescents.

As concerns rise that recession and social disruption caused by the coronavirus will take a terrible toll on mental health, two universities have announced research to track the phenomenon.

A global study led by UNSW Sydney psychologists will investigate “existential threat and social isolation”, with a focus on adolescents and pregnant women.

It plans to enlist more than 3000 online participants, aged 11 to 65, in the next six months and will monitor cognitive function and social networks. “We’re particularly interested in younger people because they are at a time of social reorientation away from the family towards their peers, which is all of a sudden being disrupted by social distancing,” chief investigator Susanne Schweizer said.

The concern for pregnant women is the social isolation could exacerbate the sense of threat from living with a pandemic.

Last week Monash University researchers launched a three-year international study to understand the mental health and cognitive effects of COVID-19 on people who have been diagnosed with the virus, as well as on the general community.

“Given significant evidence for stress and/or illness to alter cognition and mental health, as well as evidence of the psychological impact of pandemics in recent times including SARS, it is anticipated that COVID-19 will have significant consequences, both immediate and over time,” head of interventional neuropsychology Kate Hoy said. Aims include developing an understanding of pos­sible long-term health outcomes of COVID-19 patients and “raising awareness for managing risk during catastrophes and epidemics”.