The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives and livelihoods, and people already experiencing mental ill health may have been especially vulnerable.

Quantify mental health inequalities in disruptions to healthcare, economic activity and housing.

We examined data from 59 482 participants in 12 UK longitudinal studies with data collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within each study, we estimated the association between psychological distress assessed pre-pandemic and disruptions since the start of the pandemic to healthcare (medication access, procedures or appointments), economic activity (employment, income or working hours) and housing (change of address or household composition). Estimates were pooled across studies.

Across the analysed data-sets, 28% to 77% of participants experienced at least one disruption, with 2.3–33.2% experiencing disruptions in two or more domains. We found 1 s.d. higher pre-pandemic psychological distress was associated with (a) increased odds of any healthcare disruptions (odds ratio (OR) 1.30, 95% CI 1.20–1.40), with fully adjusted odds ratios ranging from 1.24 (95% CI 1.09–1.41) for disruption to procedures to 1.33 (95% CI 1.20–1.49) for disruptions to prescriptions or medication access; (b) loss of employment (odds ratio 1.13, 95% CI 1.06–1.21) and income (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.06 –1.19), and reductions in working hours/furlough (odds ratio 1.05, 95% CI 1.00–1.09) and (c) increased likelihood of experiencing a disruption in at least two domains (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.18–1.32) or in one domain (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.07–1.16), relative to no disruption. There were no associations with housing disruptions (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.97–1.03).

People experiencing psychological distress pre-pandemic were more likely to experience healthcare and economic disruptions, and clusters of disruptions across multiple domains during the pandemic. Failing to address these disruptions risks further widening mental health inequalities.

Adolescent mental health difficulties are increasing over time. However, it is not known whether their adulthood health and socio-economic sequelae are changing over time.

Participants (N = 31 349) are from two prospective national birth cohort studies: 1958 National Child Development Study (n = 16 091) and the 1970 British Cohort Study (n = 15 258). Adolescent mental health was operationalised both as traditional internalising and externalising factors and a hierarchical bi-factor. Associations between adolescent psychopathology and age 42 health and wellbeing (mental health, general health, life satisfaction), social (cohabitation, voting behaviour) and economic (education and employment) outcomes are estimated using linear and logistic multivariable regressions across cohorts, controlling for a wide range of early life potential confounding factors.

The prevalence of adolescent mental health difficulties increased and their associations with midlife health, wellbeing, social and economic outcomes became more severe or remained similar between those born in 1958 and 1970. For instance, a stronger association with adolescent mental health difficulties was found for those born in 1970 for midlife psychological distress [odds ratio (OR) 1970 = 1.82 (1.65–1.99), OR 1958 = 1.60 (1.43–1.79)], cohabitation [OR 1970 = 0.64 (0.59–0.70), OR 1958 = 0.79 (0.72–0.87)], and professional occupations [OR 1970 = 0.75 (0.67–0.84), OR 1958 = 1.05 (0.88–1.24)]. The associations of externalising symptoms with later outcomes were mainly explained by their shared variance with internalising symptoms.

The widening of mental health-based inequalities in midlife outcomes further supports the need to recognise that secular increases in adolescent mental health symptoms is a public health challenge with measurable negative consequences through the life-course. Increased public health efforts to minimise adverse outcomes are needed.

To examine the use of vitamin D supplements during infancy among the participants in an international infant feeding trial.

Longitudinal study.

Information about vitamin D supplementation was collected through a validated FFQ at the age of 2 weeks and monthly between the ages of 1 month and 6 months.

Infants (n 2159) with a biological family member affected by type 1 diabetes and with increased human leucocyte antigen-conferred susceptibility to type 1 diabetes from twelve European countries, the USA, Canada and Australia.

Daily use of vitamin D supplements was common during the first 6 months of life in Northern and Central Europe (>80 % of the infants), with somewhat lower rates observed in Southern Europe (>60 %). In Canada, vitamin D supplementation was more common among exclusively breast-fed than other infants (e.g. 71 % v. 44 % at 6 months of age). Less than 2 % of infants in the USA and Australia received any vitamin D supplementation. Higher gestational age, older maternal age and longer maternal education were study-wide associated with greater use of vitamin D supplements.

Most of the infants received vitamin D supplements during the first 6 months of life in the European countries, whereas in Canada only half and in the USA and Australia very few were given supplementation.