Impact of lockdown relaxation and implementation of the face-covering policy on mental health: A United Kingdom COVID-19 study

Table 4 Changes in mental health indices by cut-off dates, control variables from regression discontinuity design regression models

Policy change dates in 2020	Population sub-groups	GAD-7, changes (95%CI)	P value	IESR, changes (95%CI)	P value
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Total sample	-0.513 (-0.913, -0.112)	0.081	-2.620 (-4.279, -0. 961)	0.464
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Total sample	-1.148 (-1.800, -0.496)		-3.449 (-5.725, -1.172)
	Key worker
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Not a key worker	-0.910 (-1.810, -0.011)	0.062	-3.546 (-6.235, -0.857)	0.708
	Health	0.017 (-0.602, 0.637)		-1.643 (-3.914, 0.628)
	Non-health	-0.756 (-1.877, 0.365)		-1.704 (-5.115, 1.708)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Not a key worker	-1.191 (-2.259, -0.123)	0.064	-3.877 (-7.410, -0.343)	0.843
	Health	-0.986 (-1.584, -0.387)		-1.693 (-4.376, 0.991)
	Non-health	-1.421 (-3.454, 0.613)		-5.458 (-9.144, -1.772)
	Gender
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Female	-0.496 (-0.983, -0.010)	0.817	-2.606 (-4.445, -0.767)	0.936
	Male	-0.622 (-1.652, 0.409)		-2.461 (-5.929, 1.007)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Female	-1.013 (-1.778, -0.248)	0.382	-3.369 (-5.789, -0.948)	0.926
	Male	-1.739 (-2.993, -0.485)		-3.112 (-6.985, 0.762)
	Age group
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Under 21	-5.482 (-9.526, -1.437)	0.029	-19.319 (-41.541, 2.902)	0.260
	21-24	-0.103 (-1.975, 1.770)		-3.715 (-8.350, 0.920)
	25-34	-0.314 (-1.346, 0.717)		-2.653 (-4.900, -0.406)
	35-44	-0.640 (-1.646, 0.366)		0.545 (-2.309, 3.399)
	45-54	0.179 (-0.663, 1.021)		-1.871 (-4.785, 1.043)
	55-64	-0.911 (-2.117, 0.294)		-5.390 (-9.419, -1.361)
	65 and over	-0.923 (-2.330, 0.484)		-2.633 (-8.466, 3.199)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Under 21	-0.983 (-5.502, 3.536)		-3.941 (-23.634, 15.753)
	21-24	-0.830 (-6.322, 4.661)		-2.354 (-14.469, 9.761)
	25-34	-1.928 (-3.272, -0.584)		-7.306 (-11.582, -3.029)
	35-44	-0.722 (-2.406, 0.962)		-0.469 (-5.717, 4.780)
	45-54	-0.641 (-1.940, 0.658)		-2.386 (-5.752, 0.980)
	55-64	-0.997 (-1.971, -0.023)		-1.930 (-5.331, 1.472)
	65 and over	-1.447 (-2.952, 0.057)	0.995	-4.192 (-9.646, 1.261)	0.795
	Ethnicity
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Non-white	1.302 (0.085, 2.518)		3.185 (-2.139, 8.510)
	White	-0.657 (-1.129, -0.185)	0.018	-3.044 (-4.830, -1.259)	0.035
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Non-white	-0.104 (-1.715, 1.506)		-0.380 (-6.308, 5.548)
	White	-1.243 (-1.957, -0.529)	0.348	-3.567 (-5.888, -1.246)	0.410
	Religion
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Non-Christian	-0.369 (-0.934, 0.195)	0.522	-2.500 (-4.563, -0.437)	0.904
	Christian	-0.652 (-1.298, -0.006)		-2.679 (-4.909, -0.449)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Non-Christian	-1.298 (-2.290, -0.306)	0.578	-3.473 (-6.483, -0.464)	0.957
	Christian	-0.928 (-1.630, -0.226)		-3.354 (-6.289, -0.420)
	Education
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	A-level or less	-1.363 (-1.929, -0.797)	0.007	-3.958 (-6.641, -1.275)	0.221
	Higher degree	-0.080 (-0.512, 0.352)		-1.955 (-3.408, -0.502)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	A-level or less	-1.421 (-2.058, -0.783)	0.460	-4.109 (-6.780, -1.438)	0.561
	Higher degree	-0.876 (-1.712, -0.041)		-2.667 (-5.356, 0.022)
	Accommodation
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Rented	-0.369 (-1.449, 0.712)	0.796	-1.933 (-5.935, 2.068)	0.675
	Own	-0.517 (-0.919, -0.114)		-2.719 (-4.784, -0.653)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Rented	-1.837 (-3.056, -0.618)	0.197	-4.387 (-9.165, 0.391)	0.571
	Own	-0.782 (-1.419, -0.144)		-2.820 (-4.892, -0.748)
	Require shielding by government
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Not required	-0.322 (-0.750, 0.107)	0.241	-2.212 (-3.717, -0.706)	0.560
	Required shielding, but not shielding	-1.243 (-2.295, -0.191)		-4.136 (-8.303, 0.032)
	Required shielding and shielding	-0.655 (-2.023, 0.713)		-3.447 (-8.512, 1.619)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Not required	-0.978 (-1.721, -0.234)	0.393	-3.175 (-5.683, -0.668)	0.956
	Require shielding, but not shielding	-1.045 (-2.351, 0.261)		-3.730 (-10.106, 2.647)
	Require shielding and shielding	-3.064 (-4.686, -1.442)		-4.742 (-10.111, 0.628)
	Experience of COVID-19
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	No	-0.559 (-1.279, 0.161)	0.892	-1.999 (-4.771, 0.774)	0.657
	Yes	-0.490 (-0.961, -0.018)		-2.795 (-4.666, -0.924)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	No	-1.927 (-2.904, -0.951)	0.156	-6.223 (-10.542, -1.905)	0.131
	Yes	-0.875 (-1.621, -0.129)		-2.462 (-4.509, -0.416)
	Pre-existing mental health condition
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	No	-0.343 (-0.729, 0.043)	0.551	-2.308 (-3.782, -0.834)	0.788
	Yes	-0.649 (-1.582, 0.284)		-2.772 (-6.246, 0.702)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	No	-0.687 (-1.194, -0.181)	0.239	-1.407 (-3.154, 0.340)	0.056
	Yes	-1.576 (-3.163, 0.012)		-6.239 (-10.192, -2.286)
	Drinking alcohol
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	Never	-1.025 (-2.463, 0.412)		-3.091 (-7.778, 1.596)
	Monthly or less	-0.582 (-1.779, 0.615)		-3.020 (-6.621, 0.581)
	2-4 times a month	-0.243 (-0.901, 0.415)		-2.017 (-4.434, 0.401)
	2-3 times a week	-0.050 (-0.543, 0.443)		-1.782 (-3.882, 0.319)
	4 times or more a week	-1.165 (-2.178, -0.151)	0.401	-3.784 (-7.229, -0.340)	0.828
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	Never	-1.309 (-3.955, 1.337)	0.835	2.636 (-2.839, 8.111)	0.607
	Monthly or less	-1.240 (-2.787, 0.306)		-2.619 (-5.693, 0.455)
	2-4 times a month	-1.251 (-2.243, -0.259)		-6.981 (-10.394, -3.568)
	2-3 times a week	-1.140 (-1.694, -0.587)		-4.444 (-7.173, -1.715)
	4 times or more a week	-0.601 (-2.269, 1.067)		-1.616 (-6.815, 3.583)
	Taking drugs
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	No	-0.504 (-0.890, -0.118)	0.542	-2.522 (-4.160, -0.883)	0.955
	Yes	0.631 (-3.023, 4.286)		-2.827 (-12.067, 6.412)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	No	-1.114 (-1.669, -0.558)	0.875	-3.571 (-5.538, -1.604)	0.222
	Yes	-1.470 (-6.338, 3.398)		5.805 (-11.429, 23.039)
	Suicidal thoughts ever
July 4, 2020 (Lockdown relaxation date)	No	-0.173 (-0.599, 0.252)	0.039	-0.941 (-2.482, 0.600)	0.003
	Yes	-1.232 (-1.983, -0.481)		-5.938 (-8.759, -3.118)
July 24, 2020 (Face-covering start date)	No	-0.831 (-1.343, -0.319)	0.337	-2.520 (-4.065, -0.975)	0.511
	Yes	-1.588 (-3.487, 0.310)		-4.256 (-9.486, 0.974)

Note: To capture the effects of lockdown easing and compulsory face-covering on different groups, separate OLS regressions were run for all demographics, lifestyle change type, and pre-existing health condition (listed above) using the Regression Discontinuity Design model. Cluster/date/trend adjusted 95% confidence intervals are in parentheses. P values are shown to indicate whether changes in mental health scores are different among those listed groups. CI: Confidence intervals; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; GAD-7: Generalised anxiety disorder-7; IES-R: Impact of events scale-revised.