Data Access Register - full project summary

In recent years there has been a steep increase in the number of people experiencing anxiety and depression, particularly among young adults and women and notably during the COVID-19 pandemic, when mental health problems increased but access to primary care was limited.

This project will use data from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) and the Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study. The project aims to examine the agreement between data on anxiety and depression from self-reported questionnaire-based data and from medical record data. We will determine whether this agreement differed prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, we will analyse pairs of twins to estimate the genetic and environmental influences on each of these types of reports. This will allow us to examine whether they are influenced by the same or unique genetic and environmental factors.

This project could have implications for mental health research that uses these measures of anxiety and depression. Understanding the quality and the relationship between coded health data and participants’ reported lived experiences informs wider interpretation of mental health data in COVID-19 research. Importantly, it could provide insight into mental health and access to support during the COVID-19 pandemic.