The COVID-19 pandemic presents challenges for many Americans. The economic and public health impacts have garnered a lot of focus and attention, but the pandemic has also taken a significant toll on mental health.
In our April 19 survey, we asked respondents how COVID-19 has impacted their overall mental health. Since the pandemic began, 41% of respondents experienced “increased levels of stress or anxiety” more than half of the time. Additionally, more than half (55%) of respondents say the pandemic has a “mild negative” or “significant negative” impact on their mental health.
Our latest results reveal that COVID-19 has a disproportionately negative impact on men’s mental health: 61% of men and 47% of women indicate that the pandemic has an overall negative effect on their mental health. However, we find that specific mental health challenges impact women more than men. Specifically, we observe that 8% more women have experienced loneliness and 10% more reported difficulty sleeping (“almost all the time” to “about half of the time”).
Last updated on April 30, 2021. Please check back for updates.
Results based on surveys of 208 respondents from April 16, 2021 through April 18, 2021. All surveys were conducted online from respondents in the United States.
For more information about our survey techniques, click here to visit our Methods page.