COVID‐19‐related anxiety predicts somatic symptoms in the UK population
Open accessAbstract
This study aimed to estimate the association between anxiety associated with COVID‐19 and somatic symptoms, using data from a large, representative sample ( N = 2,025) of the UK adult population. Results showed that moderate to high levels of anxiety associated with COVID‐19 were significantly associated with general somatic symptoms and in particular with gastrointestinal and fatigue symptoms. This pattern of associations remained significant after controlling for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), pre‐existing health problems, age, gender, and income. This is the first evidence that anxiety associated with COVID‐19 makes a unique contribution to somatization, above and beyond the effect of GAD.
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The present findings are consistent with previous studies demonstrating significant links between anxiety and sleep disturbance and between anxiety and somatic symptoms.
“Our present findings are consistent with previous studies demonstrating significant links between anxiety and sleep disturbance [8,9,14], and between anxiety and somatic symptoms [28,29].”
From COVID-19-Related Anxiety Symptoms among Quarantined Adolescents and Its Impact on Sleep Pattern Changes and Somatic Symptoms (2022) · cites this paper as [29]
A study by Shevlin et al. (2020) determined that a state of anxiety during COVID-19 was associated with increased somatic symptoms within the UK general population.
“Similar to our results, a study by Shevlin et al. (2020) determined that a state of anxiety during COVID-19 was associated with increased somatic symptoms within the UK general population.”
From COVID-19-Related Anxiety Symptoms among Quarantined Adolescents and Its Impact on Sleep Pattern Changes and Somatic Symptoms (2022) · cites this paper as Shevlin et al. (2020)
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Cites
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“There is recent evidence that the levels of anxiety and depression in the UK population may be elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels (Shevlin et al., 2020), and this is consistent with research findings from other countries (Huang & Zhao, 2020).”
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Research works printed but not linked: 2
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Online-Learning due to COVID-19 Improved Mental Health Among Medical Students
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Somatic symptoms associated with mental distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review
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“As in other studies, COVID-19-related anxiety was assessed through the question: “How anxious are you about the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic?” (Bruno et al., 2020; Shevlin et al., 2020).”
BackgroundGendler, Y., & Blau, A. (2022) · Children · doi:10.3390/children9050735 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Similar to our results, a study by Shevlin et al. (2020) determined that a state of anxiety during COVID-19 was associated with increased somatic symptoms within the UK general population.”
ResultLi, Y., Liu, X., Guo, Z., Lai, L., Bryant, R. A., Zhang, T., Song, H., Mi, T., & Ren, Z. (2025) · Stress and Health · doi:10.1002/smi.70124
- Authors
- Shevlin, M., Nolan, E., Owczarek, M., McBride, O., Murphy, J., Gibson Miller, J., Hartman, T. K., Levita, L., Mason, L., Martinez, A. P., McKay, R., Stocks, T. V. A., Bennett, K. M., Hyland, P., & Bentall, R. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Ulster (GB)
- University of Sheffield UK
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- National University of Ireland, Maynooth (IE)
- ORCID
- Venue
- British Journal of Health Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-05-27
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 875-882
- ISSN
- 1359-107X (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8287
- PMC
- PMC7283836
- OpenAlex
- W3026634126
- Cited by
- 208
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 64 · 2020: 27
- FWCI
- 17.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- British Journal of Health Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Maynooth University ePrints and eTheses Archive (Maynooth University) (acceptedVersion)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Ulster University Research Portal (Ulster University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Lenus, The Irish Health Repository (Dr Steevens Hospital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council (MR/S006613/1)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/V004379/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety, somatic symptoms, somatization, gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue, generalized anxiety disorder, psychological stress, UK adults
- MeSH terms
- Medically Unexplained Symptoms, Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Pneumonia, Viral, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics
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