Scottish COVID-19 Mental Health Tracker Study: Wave 4 Report

Wave 4 findings (data collected between 4 February and 9 March 2021.) indicate that young adults, women, people with physical and/or mental health conditions, and people in a lower socio-economic group are more likely to report experiencing poor mental health.


Annex 1: SCOVID Tracker study quotas and sample information

Table A: Wave 1 - Sample in each age by sex quota
Age Target Achieved
18 to 24 male 200 176
18 to 24 female 200 221
25 to 34 male 200 186
25 to 34 female 200 226
35 to 54 male 374 373
35 to 54 female 395 399
55 to 69 male 264 305
55 to 69 female 280 290
70+ male 168 235
70+ female 219 193
Total 2,500 2604
Table B: Wave 1 - Sample in each tenure quota
Tenure Target Achieved
Owned Outright or Mortgaged 1553 1651
Social Rent 585 525
Private Rent 362 428
Table C: Wave 1 - Sample in each highest qualification quota
Highest Qualification Target Achieved
No Qualifications 388 144
Level 1 Standards or 2 Highers 877 900
Level 3 HNC/D or Level 4 Degree/prof or other 1235 1560
Table D: Sex and age breakdown of Wave 4 sample, unweighted Wave 4 Sample
Age group Men (n, %) Women (n, %) All adults (n, %)
18-29 75 (5.8%) 104 (8.1%) 180 (14.0%)
30-59 289 (22.5%) 310 (24.1%) 598 (46.5%)
60+ 306 (23.8%) 201 (15.6%) 508 (39.5%)
All adults 670 (52.1%) 615 (47.9%) 1286a (100%)

a In the Wave 4 survey, n=2 people did not indicate their sex assigned at birth

Table D1: Sex and age breakdown of Wave 1 sample, unweighted Wave 1 sample
Age group Men (n, %) Women (n, %) All adults (n, %)
18-29 264 (10.2%) 316 (12.2%) 580 (22.4%)
30-59 553 (21.3%) 615 (25.1%) 1204 (46.4%)
60+ 448 (17.3%) 362 (14.0%) 810 (31.2%)
All adults 1265 (48.8%) 1329 (51.2%) 2594 (100%)
Table E: Wave 4 breakdown of sample by the different grouping variables used in the main analysis, with weights on and off
Group   Weighted (n=2500) % Unweighted (n=1288) %
Sex a Men 48.1 47.9
Women 51.9 52.1
Age 18-29 years 22.3 14.1
30-59 years 47.1 46.4
60+ years 30.6 39.5
Socioeconomic group b Lower half 36.7 32.6
Higher half 63.3 67.4
Pre-existing mental health condition c No MH 87.0 89.0
Yes MH 13.0 11.0
Pre-existing physical health condition d No PH 78.1 77.2
Yes PH 21.9 22.8
Access to outside space No access 8.1 6.8
Access 91.9 93.2
Unpaid carer e No 82.1 81.1
Yes 17.9 18.9
Key worker No 76.1 78.0
Yes 23.9 22.0
Change of working status f No 57.4 60.2
Yes 42.6 39.8
Dependents under 5 years No 90.2 91.8
Yes 9.8 8.2

Note:*data are weighted to more accurately reflect the Scottish population a Sex assigned at birth, b SEG categories A, B, C1= higher SEG; categories C2, D, E= lower SEG, c No MH = no pre-existing long-standing (>12 months) mental health condition; Yes MH = pre-existing long-standing (>12 months) mental health condition, d No PH = no pre-existing long-standing (>12 months) physical health condition; Yes PH = pre-existing long-standing (>12 months) physical health condition, e Unpaid caring responsibilities, f working from home, furloughed, reduction in paid employment

Table F: Rates of attrition from Wave 1 to Wave 4 for the subgroups within the longitudinal sample
Group Wave 1 sample (n= 2604), n (%) Wave 4 sample (n= 1022), n (%) % of original sample completed Wave 4
Age group 18-29 586 (22.5%) 56 (5.5%) 9.6%
30-59 1206 (46.3%) 506 (49.5%) 42.0%
60+ 812 (31.2%) 460 (45.0) 56.7%
Sex a Women 1329 (51.2%) 471 (46.1%) 35.4%
Men 1265 (48.8%) 550 (53.9%) 43.5%
Ethnicity b White 2483 (95.4%) 1002 (98.0%) 40.4%
Ethnic minorityc 121 (4.6%) 20 (2.0%) 16.5%
Socioeconomic grouping Higher half 1673 (64.2%) 710 (69.5%) 42.4%
Lower half 931 (35.8%) 312 (30.5%) 33.1%
Pre-existing mental health condition No MH 2281 (87.6%) 915 (89.5%) 40.1%
Yes MH 323 (12.4%) 107 (10.5%) 33.1%
Rural vs. Urban Rural 562 (21.6%) 255 (25.0%) 45.4%
Urban 2042 (78.4%) 767 (75.0%) 37.6%
Unpaid carer: any No 2140 (82.2) 847 (83.6%) 39.6%
Yes 448 (17.2) 166 (16.4%) 37.1%
Key worker No 2084 (80.0%) 830 (81.2%) 39.8%
Yes 520 (20.0%) 192 (18.8%) 36.9%
Dependents under 16 years No 1978 (76.0%) 821 (80.3%) 41.5%
Yes 626 (24.0%) 201 (19.7%) 32.1%
Pre-existing physical health condition No 2088 (80.2%) 796 (77.9%) 38.1%
Yes 516 (19.8%) 226 (22.1%) 43.8%

a At Wave 1 n=10 respondents did not indicate their sex; b Ethnicity was dropped from the analysis due to attrition; c In previous wave reports, the term BAME was used, however this terminology has been changed to reflect current Scottish Government guidelines.

Table G: Weighted and unweighted demographic characteristics of the sample who have completed all waves of data (Wave 1 to Wave 4)
Characteristic Weighted* (n=2500) % Unweighted (n=1022) %
Sexa
Men 48.2% 53.9%
Women 51.8% 46.1%
Age
18-29 years 21.4% 5.5%
30-59 years 47.6% 49.5%
60+ years 31.1% 45.0%
Ethnicity
White 97.9% 98.0%
Asian 1.3% 1.2%
Black 0.0% 0.0%
Mixed 0.6% 0.5%
Other/prefer not to say 0.2% 0.3%
Relationship status
Married/living with partner 60.8% 65.3%
Single 25.9% 20.3%
Separated/ divorced/widowed 12.9% 14.1%
Other/prefer not to say 0.4% 0.4%
Sexuality
Heterosexual 91.3% 93.0%
Gay or bisexual 7.8% 6.0%
Other/prefer not to say 0.9% 1.0%
Table G: continued - Weighted and unweighted demographic characteristics of the sample who have completed all waves of data (Wave 1 to Wave 4)
Characteristic Weighted* (n=2500) % Unweighted (n=1022) %
Highest Qualification
No Qualifications 15.5% 6.5%
Secondary school education 35.1% 33.7%
HNC/D or Degree/ other 49.4% 59.8%
Key worker role 23.5% 18.8%
Carer roleb 15.2% 16.4%
Socioeconomic group (SEG)c
High 66.1% 69.5%
Low 33.9% 30.5%
Housing tenure
Own (including mortgage) 62.1% 74.1%
Private rent 14.5% 10.2%
Council rent 19.0% 13.2%
Other 4.4% 2.5%
Property type
House 72.5% 76.9%
Apartment or flat in block 26.1% 22.1%
Shared house/ Student Halls 0.0% 0.0%
Residential home 0.7% 0.4%
Other 0.7% 0.6%

Note:*data are weighted to more accurately reflect the Scottish population a Sex assigned at birth, b Unpaid caring responsibilities, c SEG categories A, B, C1= higher SEG; categories C2, D, E= lower SEG

Table H1: Wave 4 sample weighting compared to NRS Scottish Population 2019 data covering people aged 18+ [20]
Characteristic Weighted* (n=2500) % Unweighted (n=1022) % NRS data
Sexa
Men 48.1% 47.9% 48.2%
Women 51.9% 52.1% 51.8%
Age
18-29 years 22.3% 14.1% 19.1%
30-59 years 47.1% 46.4% 49.5%
60+ years 30.6% 39.5% 31.3%

Note:*data are weighted to more accurately reflect the Scottish population

Table E3: Wave 4 sample weighting compared to NRS Scottish Population 2011 data covering people aged 16 to 64 living in households in Scotland [21]
Socioeconomic group (SEG) Weighted* (n=2500) % Unweighted (n=1703) % ONS data
High 63.3% 67.4% 50%
Low 36.7% 32.6% 50%

Note: *data are weighted to more accurately reflect the Scottish population, SEG measure categories AB-C1-C2-DE. Higher SEG (i.e., top-half): AB = Higher & intermediate managerial, administrative, professional occupations, C1 = Supervisory, clerical & junior managerial, administrative, professional occupations. Lower SEG (i.e., bottom-half): C2 = Skilled manual occupations, DE = Semi-skilled & unskilled manual occupations, unemployed and lowest grade occupations (ONS, 2001).

Contact

Email: socialresearch@gov.scot

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