IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i6p952-d1681238.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Pandemic’s Impact on Mental Well-Being in Sweden: A Longitudinal Study on Life Dissatisfaction, Psychological Distress, and Worries

Author

Listed:
  • Daniel Lindberg

    (Department of Social Work, School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, Örebro University, 70182 Örebro, Sweden)

  • Kent W. Nilsson

    (Center for Clinical Research, Central Hospital of Västerås, Uppsala University, 75310 Uppsala, Sweden
    Division of Public Health Sciences, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72134 Västerås, Sweden)

  • Jonas Stier

    (Division of Social Work, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72123 Västerås, Sweden)

  • Birgitta Kerstis

    (Division of Caring Sciences, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, 72134 Västerås, Sweden)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on society, including on physical and mental health. This study investigated changes in mental health parameters among a Swedish sample during and after the pandemic. Using a longitudinal study, we investigated the relationships among life dissatisfaction, psychological distress, and worries, with factors such as age, sex, education, severe illness, and job loss due to the pandemic among 588 men (mean age 54.9 years), and 653 women (mean age 52.9 years). The results reveal sex differences in life dissatisfaction and psychological distress; in addition, younger individuals reported more life dissatisfaction, and psychological distress compared with older groups. Women were 4.5 times more likely than men to report worries in 2021 and 2.3 times more likely in 2022, even after adjusting for age, education, severe illness, and job loss. This study shows how societal expectations and sex roles may exacerbate these differences in mental well-being during a time of crisis. The conclusions emphasize the importance of considering factors such as sex, age, education, and employment status when developing interventions and support systems during a global crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to affect society for a long time, indicating a need for ongoing research into population-level consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Lindberg & Kent W. Nilsson & Jonas Stier & Birgitta Kerstis, 2025. "The Pandemic’s Impact on Mental Well-Being in Sweden: A Longitudinal Study on Life Dissatisfaction, Psychological Distress, and Worries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(6), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:952-:d:1681238
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/952/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/952/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:952-:d:1681238. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.