Understanding the impact of demographic and environmental factors on mental health during COVID-19 An empirical study of Norwegian mental health data from November and December 2020.

Abstract

The research question looks at the role that gender, age, education, economic situation, unemployment, and singlehood play on the probability of having considerable mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have used a multiple logistic regression model on a dataset from November and December 2020 from FHI, to answer the research question. The dataset limits us to a population of Oslo, Agder, Nordland and Vestland. To summarize the research question; gender, age, economic situation, unemployment, and singlehood all play a role on the probability of having considerable mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being a woman, being in the younger age groups, having economic challenges, unemployment and being single are all associated with a higher probability of having considerable mental health problems during the pandemic. Knowing what role the explanatory factors play on the probability of having considerable mental health problems may also be valuable for policy decisions if we were to find ourselves in a similar situation in the future. By seeing the prevalence of mental health problems in the different groups during the pandemic, policy makers should try to ensure that these exposed groups receive proper consideration before decisions are made. We hope that this thesis can inspire future research on what we believe to be an immensely important subject. The economic cost of these problems is extensive, and more importantly - the human cost is unaffordable.