Business shutdowns and financial challenges. School and day care closures and lack of child care. Quarantine and household conflict. The pandemic’s stay-at-home orders intended to keep people safe from COVID-19, but did it have an adverse effect on their mental health?

On March 1, 2023, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) released a study in which researchers examine the association between economic hardship, household conflict, and mental health outcomes during the pandemic.

Though we know serious psychological distress and suicidal ideation among adults increased during the pandemic, UCLA CHPR Research Scientist Imelda Padilla-Frausto, PhD, MPH, shared data from the California Health Interview Survey on how mental health was further compromised among Californians whose livelihoods were disrupted and those who were struggling financially due to the pandemic.