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Background: Research suggests that there have been inequalities in the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and related non-pharmaceutical interventions on population mental health. We explored generational, sex, and socioeconomic inequalities during the first year of the pandemic using nationally representative cohorts from the UK. Methods: We analysed data from 26772 participants from five longitudinal cohorts representing generations born between 1946 and 2000, collected in May 2020, September–October 2020, and February–March 2021 across all five cohorts. We used a multilevel growth curve modelling approach to investigate generational, sex, and socioeconomic differences in levels of anxiety and depressive symptomatology, loneliness, and life satisfaction (LS) over time. Results: Younger generations had worse levels of mental and social wellbeing throughout the first year of the pandemic. Whereas these generational inequalities narrowed between the first and last observation periods for LS [−0.33 (95% CI −0.51 to −0.15)], they became larger for anxiety [0.22 (0.10, 0.33)]. Generational inequalities in depression and loneliness did not change between the first and last observation periods, but initial depression levels of the youngest cohort were worse than expected if the generational inequalities had not accelerated. Women and those experiencing financial difficulties had worse initial mental and social wellbeing levels than men and those financially living comfortably, respectively, and these gaps did not substantially differ between the first and last observation periods. Conclusions: By March 2021, mental and social wellbeing inequalities persisted in the UK adult population. Pre-existing generational inequalities may have been exacerbated with the pandemic onset. Policies aimed at protecting vulnerable groups are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Attending private school or a higher-status university is thought to benefit future earnings and occupational opportunities. We examined whether these measures were beneficially related to health and selected health-related behaviours in midlife.Methods: Data were from up to 9799 participants from the 1970 British birth Cohort Study. The high school attended (private, grammar or state) was ascertained at 16 years, and the university attended reported at 42 years [categorised as either higher (Russell Group) or normal-status institutions]. Self-reported health, limiting illness and body mass index (BMI) were reported at 42 years, along with television viewing, take-away meal consumption, physical inactivity, smoking and high risk alcohol drinking. Associations were examined using multiple regression models, adjusted for gender and childhood socioeconomic, health and cognitive measures.Results: Private school and higher status university attendance were associated with favourable self-rated health and lower BMI, and beneficially associated with health-related-behaviours. For example, private school attendance was associated with 0.56 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.48, 0.65] odds of lower self-rated health [odds ratio (OR) for higher-status university: 0.32 (0.27, 0.37)]. Associations were largely attenuated by adjustment for potential confounders, except for those of private schooling and higher-status university attendance with lower BMI and television viewing, and less frequent take-away meal consumption.Conclusions: Private school and higher-status university attendance were related to better self-rated health, lower BMI and multiple favourable health behaviours in midlife. Findings suggest that type or status of education may be an important under-researched construct to consider when documenting and understanding socioeconomic inequalities in health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined longitudinal pathways through three domains of adaptation from ages 4-5 to 14-15 (internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and academic competence) towards depressive symptoms at age 16-17. Participants were 6425 Canadian children followed bi-annually as part of the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth. Within-domain (i.e., stability) effects were moderate in strength. We found longitudinal cross-domain effects across one time point (i.e., one-lag cascades) between internalizing and externalizing in early childhood (positive associations), and between academic competence and externalizing in later childhood and adolescence (negative associations). We also found cascade effects over multiple time points (i.e., multi-lag cascades); lower academic competence at age 4-5 and greater internalizing at age 6-7 predicted greater age 12-13 externalizing, and greater age 6-7 externalizing predicted greater age 16-17 depression. Important pathways towards adolescent depression include a stability path through childhood and adolescent internalizing, as well as a number of potential paths involving all domains of adaptation, highlighting the multifactorial nature of adolescent depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal heavy alcohol use during pregnancy is harmful to offspring's health and adjustment. However, findings from studies on lower levels of prenatal drinking are mixed; a few even predict positive cognitive and psychosocial outcomes. Given that alcohol is a neurotoxin and teratogen, scholars question developmental benefits and point to residual confounding as a potential explanation, particularly as light drinkers are positively selected with respect to health and socioeconomic status. Using prospective, intergenerational data from the nationally-representative Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) in the United Kingdom, we studied associations between mother's drinking during pregnancy and children's cognitive and psychosocial outcomes at ages 3, 5, 7, 11, and 14 years (n = 10,454). We included early life confounders (e.g., maternal education, health, smoking) and mother's cognitive ability, and assessed robustness of relationships across outcomes and alternate drinking classifications. Results of a series of multivariable regression models found no association between light drinking and cognitive and psychosocial outcomes up to and including the age of 14, after controlling for key confounders. Light drinking during pregnancy was linked to higher socioeconomic advantages (e.g., mothers' higher education, professional/managerial occupation, home ownership, cognitive scores), which together accounted for positive associations between light drinking and children's outcomes. Mother's cognitive ability was an especially important confounder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]