The COVID-19 Stress and Health Study is being led by UoN Professor Kavita Vedhara and is being carried out in collaboration with King’s College London with the support of the stress hormone testing company MyFertile. The survey is UK-wide and will explore the emotional and physical impact of COVID-19 on the health of our nation.

Social distancing measures have been introduced to slow the spread of the virus and this new and constrained way of living, as well as the other challenges resulting from the pandemic, are already likely to be affecting emotional and physical well-being. The new study will examine these effects by taking repeated assessments of emotional well-being in a sample of the population using questionnaires and by collecting samples of hair which contains stress hormones.

The team will do this in two ways. Firstly, participants will be asked to complete a short online survey on three occasions; on entry into the study, 12 weeks later, and potentially again after a change in social distancing has been introduced.

Participants will also be asked to provide a small sample of hair for later measurement of the stress hormone cortisol.

Recruitment to the first phase of the study is only open for the month of April so that the team can capture the early effects of the pandemic. So please visit the study website for more information on how you can take part.

The University is updating our information, advice and FAQs about the developing Coronavirus Pandemic situation. If you have concerns or are worried make sure to regularly check our resources available here.