Ontario Adults' Mental Health, Wellbeing, and Prosocial Behaviour During the First 16 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study
Abstract
The overall purpose of this dissertation was to provide a detailed assessment of the mental health, wellbeing, and prosocial behaviour of Ontario adults aged 30–59 (those at highest risk for losing years of healthy life due to chronic disease) during the first 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020–August 2021). To address this dissertation’s purpose specifically, four distinct yet thematically connected articles were written. Article 1 provides the starting point of this program of research via an overview of Ontario adults’ inter-related health behaviours (i.e., physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and dietary intake) and outcomes including, mental health, and wellbeing during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic (April–July 2020) along with differences between physical activity status and wellbeing, mental health, and dietary intake. Article 2 presents a cross-sectional overview of the same adults’ prosocialness—inclusive of kindness—during the identical timeframe as Article 1 and, given the disparate risks associated with living locales at the time, also explored whether prosocial behaviour differed among those living in urban versus rural settings. To assess the longer term patterns of mental health, wellbeing, and prosocial behaviour as the pandemic continued, the specific purposes of Articles 3 and 4 were to quantitatively assess participants’ mental health and wellbeing (Article 3) and their prosocial behaviour (inclusive of kindness), while also qualitatively exploring their lived experiences of prosocial behaviour (Article 4) over the first 16 months of the pandemic.
The findings from Article 1 indicated that during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, in general, individuals’ (n = 2,156) mental health and wellbeing were poor. The average score for participants’ mental health was concerning and indicative of experiencing some mental health problems during this timeframe. With respect to wellbeing, participants’ scores were below the “normative” range for means in Western populations in several of the domains (i.e., satisfaction with their physical and mental health, respectively, as well as their satisfaction with feeling part of their communities and their future security). Further analysis revealed that participants who engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during the initial stages of the pandemic reported significantly higher levels of positive mental health and wellbeing, compared to those who did not engage in MVPA.
The results from Article 2 revealed that participants (N = 2,188) scored high on prosocial behaviour, as well as on the three kindness-related questions pertaining to their awareness of kindness around them, engagement in deliberate acts of kindness, and view of kindness as crucial to their pandemic experience, during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, there was no statistically significant difference in participants’ prosocialness based on geographic location (urban vs. rural).
The findings from Article 3 identified that participants’ (N = 2,188) mental health significantly improved over the first 16 months of the pandemic, though their average scores at each time point indicated that they still may have been experiencing mental health problems throughout this timeframe. Statistically significant changes in participants’ wellbeing were noted on several domains. Specifically, participants’ satisfaction with their standard of living, physical health, mental health, personal relationships, and spirituality/religion significantly decreased over time, while their satisfaction with their safety, community connectedness, and future security significantly decreased during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased thereafter.
The results from Article 4 revealed that participants’ (N = 2,188) prosocialness significantly increased over time, while their awareness of kindness around them, engagement in deliberate acts of kindness, and view of kindness as crucial to their pandemic experience significantly decreased. Additionally, participants described their experiences receiving, giving, and witnessing kindness, their perspectives on how prosocial behaviour shifted throughout the pandemic, their experiences of prosocial burnout, and they provided several examples of how they engaged in prosocial behaviours, and continued to do so, throughout the ongoing pandemic.
Based on the findings presented in this dissertation, it can be concluded that during the early stages of the pandemic, Ontario adults’ mental health and wellbeing were, in general, poor, while they reported high levels of prosocialness. As the pandemic continued, findings revealed that participants’ mental health and prosocial behaviour improved, while their wellbeing declined in several domains. Participants’ improvement in mental health may be explained, in part, by their high levels of prosocialness. These findings are particularly important as prosocial behaviour might be an approach worthy of further investigation as a mental health and wellbeing support during and following the pandemic.