Findings from the 2020 Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health (SCMH) suggested that the positive mental health of adults in Canada was lower during the second wave of the pandemic (fall 2020) than in 2019. With 2021 SCMH data from winter/spring 2021, we find in the current study that average life satisfaction and the prevalence of high self-rated mental health, high community belonging and perceptions of stable/improved mental health were even lower during the third wave of the pandemic as compared to the second wave in the overall adult population and in most sociodemographic groups.
D’après les résultats de l’Enquête sur la COVID-19 et la santé mentale (ECSM) de 2020, la santé mentale positive chez les adultes au Canada était plus faible pendant la deuxième vague de la pandémie (automne 2020) qu’en 2019. Grâce aux données de l’hiver et du printemps 2021 de l’ECSM analysées dans cette étude, nous avons pu constater que la satisfaction moyenne à l’égard de la vie et la prévalence d’un niveau élevé de santé mentale autoévaluée, d’un fort sentiment d’appartenance à la communauté et d’une santé mentale perçue comme stable ou meilleure étaient encore plus faibles pendant la troisième vague de la pandémie que pendant la deuxième vague , à la fois dans l’ensemble de la population adulte et au sein de la plupart des groupes sociodémographiques.
Keywords: COVID-19; Canadian adults; community belonging; coronavirus; life satisfaction; mental health; public health.
Fewer adults in Canada reported high self-rated mental health in winter/spring 2021 (51.5%) compared to fall 2020 (59.9%). Fewer adults reported high community belonging in winter/spring 2021 (57.3%) compared to fall 2020 (63.7%). Rated from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied), average life satisfaction was lower in winter/spring 2021 (6.9) compared to fall 2020 (7.2). Fewer adults in winter/spring 2021 (58.1%) compared to fall 2020 (66.5%) reported that their mental health was better or about the same compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.