New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) Women’s mental and physical health took a severe toll than men during the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, finds a study.

The study, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, showed that psychological distress increased for both women and men during the pandemic, with women experiencing a greater rise.

The link between health behaviours and mental health weakened for women during the pandemic, with a healthy lifestyle no longer showing a significant connection to mental health.

In contrast, these relationships remained consistent for men. Before the pandemic, health behaviours offered greater protective benefits for women’s mental health, but during the pandemic, this protective effect became stronger for men, revealed researchers from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

“We found that women reported poorer overall changes in health behaviours than men during the pandemic. Specifically, women reported fewer days of fruit consumption and smaller reductions in alcohol intake. We also found that psychological distress increased for both women and men during the pandemic, with women experiencing a greater rise,” said Professor Paul McNamee, who led the research at the University of Aberdeen.

To understand whether the pandemic had differing effects on the health behaviours of women and men, the team analysed national data from January 2015 to March 2023 to compare results pre- and post-pandemic.

They found that women were more negatively affected by the pandemic than their male counterparts.

“The adverse changes in women’s health behaviours compared to men persist through to May 2023, suggesting longer-term effects were likely worsened by financial pressures during this period. It’s important we keep tracking these trends,” said Dr. Karen Arulsamy from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, who was also part of the study.

The research called for targeted interventions as during times of heightened stress, women from lower socio-economic backgrounds with caregiving responsibilities have limited ability to maintain levels of social engagement and face more challenges in engaging in healthier behaviours.

–IANS

rvt/