Understanding the Perceived Mental Health of Canadians During the COVID-19 Pandemic

While the physical health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are regularly publicly available, the mental health toll on Canadians is unknown. This article examines the self-perceived mental health of Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores associations with various concerns after accounting for socioeconomic and health factors.

The cross-sectional Canadian Perspectives Survey Series 1 collected information related to COVID-19 in late March and early April 2020 concerning labour market participation, behaviours, and health for the Canadian population 15 years and older living in the 10 provinces.

Socioeconomic and health characteristics of respondents as well as concerns about the impact of COVID-19 were examined to determine differences in experiencing excellent or very good compared to good, fair or poor perceived mental health.

Just over half of Canadians aged 15 and older (54%) reported excellent or very good mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several concerns were also associated with mental health. Notably, after considering the effects of socioeconomic and health characteristics, women, youth, individuals with a physical health condition and those who were very or extremely concerned with family stress from confinement were less likely to report excellent or very good mental health.

These findings point to particular risks for lower perceived mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results highlight various concerns of Canadians which may be associated with mental health, in particular, family stress in the home.