Journal
JOURNAL OF AFFECTIVE DISORDERS
Volume 294, Issue -, Pages 737-744Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.086
Keywords
Mental Health; Pandemic; Suicide; Depression; Loneliness; Anxiety; Domestic violence
Categories
Funding
- Nuffield Foundation [WEL/FR-000022583]
- MARCH Mental Health Network - Cross-Disciplinary Mental Health Network Plus initiative
- UK Research and Innovation [ES/S002588/1]
- Wellcome Trust [221400/Z/20/Z, 205407/Z/16/Z, 204813]
- Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, University of Bristol
- NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol, England
- Medical Research Council [MC_PC_17211]
- MRC [MC_PC_17211] Funding Source: UKRI
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The study found that Google Trends data are not accurate in assessing population mental health levels during a public health emergency, but may have some value as an indicator of loneliness.
Background: Google Trends data are increasingly used by researchers as an indicator of population mental health, but few studies have investigated the validity of this approach during a public health emergency. Methods: Relative search volumes (RSV) for the topics depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide, suicidal ideation, loneliness, and abuse were obtained from Google Trends. We used graphical and time-series approaches to compare daily trends in searches for these topics against population measures of these outcomes recorded using validated self-report scales (PHQ-9; GAD-7; UCLA-3) in a weekly survey (n = similar to 70,000) of the impact COVID-19 on psychological and social experiences in the UK population (21/03/2020 to 21/08/2020). Results: Self-reported levels of depression, anxiety, self-harm/suicidal ideation, self-harm, loneliness and abuse decreased during the period studied. There was no evidence of an association between self-reported anxiety, self-harm, abuse and RSV on Google Trends. Trends in Google topic RSV for depression and suicidal ideation were inversely associated with self-reports of these outcomes (p = 0.03 and p = 0.04, respectively). However, there was statistical and graphical evidence that self-report and Google searches for loneliness (p < 0.001) tracked one another. Limitations: No age/sex breakdown of Google Trends data available. Survey respondents were not representative of the UK population and no pre-pandemic data were available. Conclusion: Google Trends data do not appear to be a useful indicator of changing levels of population mental health during a public health emergency, but may have some value as an indicator of loneliness.
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