28% of Adults Struggle with Post-Pandemic Mental Health

Nearly one in three people have reported serious difficulties in psychologically adapting to life after the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study led by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire has found.

Published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, the research sheds light on the emotional and cognitive factors that affect people's ability to return to pre-pandemic routines and what can be done to support vulnerable groups.

Tracking 343 UK adults over a six-month period during the final lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the study found that nearly 28% were identified as "poor adjusters"—reporting significant struggles transitioning to post-pandemic life.

The research focused on obsessive-compulsive (OC) tendencies—patterns of thinking or behavior that resemble symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder but may not meet the full criteria for a clinical diagnosis, and cognitive flexibility—the ability to adapt to changing situations.

Results showed people with higher OC-like behaviors struggled more to adapt, partly because they also experienced higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Although OC symptoms like checking and washing reduced over time, deeper personality traits related to perfectionism and rigidity remained unchanged.

Researchers say these "trait-level" tendencies may increase long-term vulnerability, even in people without diagnosed mental health disorders.

The Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift Task—a test used to assess cognitive flexibility—revealed poor adjusters had difficulty with reversal learning, that is, changing their behavior when the rules or conditions are switched.

The researchers said helping people with emotional regulation, that is, managing their emotions better, could also improve their ability to adapt to future crises.

First author Aaron T Clarke, of the University of Hertfordshire, said, "Our findings were in line with an earlier study showing the prominence of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, making it hard for people to adjust. Compared to that study, our results suggest that these obsessive-compulsive symptoms have become more noticeable and have played an even bigger role in adjustment difficulties this time.

"We also found that people's own reports of compulsive behavior and tasks measuring mental flexibility appeared to reflect a common vulnerability—a lack of adaptability.

"This was made worse by emotional symptoms like depression and anxiety, leading to what looked like a syndrome of post-pandemic adjustment difficulties.

"Even though compulsive traits and emotional symptoms remained stable over the six months we looked at, OC symptoms appeared to ease up over time.

"But overall, the end of lockdown did not bring immediate relief—there was, in fact, a prolonged strain on individuals' mental health."

The researchers said what makes the study unique is its longitudinal approach, tracking both self-reported and cognitive factors over time and distinguishing between short-term symptoms and long-standing personality traits.

Unlike many earlier studies, it included cognitive tests to measure different aspects of flexibility.

Senior author Keith Laws, Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychology at the University of Hertfordshire, said, "Our findings suggest that helping people improve emotional regulation and cognitive flexibility could be key to building resilience—not just for now, but in future crises.

"By identifying early risk markers like OC traits and cognitive rigidity, policymakers and clinicians can create better strategies for intervention and support, particularly for those who may not even realize they are struggling."

It is estimated around 750,000 people are living with OCD at any given time, representing 1.2% of the UK population.

The findings come amid growing evidence that the pandemic has worsened symptoms for individuals with OCD, and exacerbated symptoms for those without the disorder.