COVID-19 Global Mental Health Consortium (CGMHC)
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges for global mental health. With support from the National Institute of Mental Health, CGMHC brings together longitudinal cohorts worldwide to identify modifiable risk and resilience factors for mental health outcomes using innovative analytic approaches.
Scientific Mission
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous challenges for global mental health, with diverse studies documenting worsening trends in psychiatric symptoms. The substantial mental health burden associated with the pandemic has been thought to be driven in large part by the confluence of factors related to social determinants of health (SDoH). In August 2020, we established the COVID-19 Mental Health Working Group within the International HundredK+ Cohorts Consortium (IHCC). Over the last 18 months, we have engaged 23 cohorts comprising close to 2.8 million individuals with pre- and post-pandemic assessments. This application addresses the need to analyze modifiable targets uniquely or robustly implicated in the pandemic and relevant to new and worsening mental illness.
Global Data Assembly & Harmonization
Assemble longitudinal mental health and social determinants data from 23 international cohorts across low-, middle-, and high-income countries (N = 2.8M participants). Individual-level data from 8 cohorts will be integrated into Dementias Platform UK (DPUK), while 15 cohorts will maintain data locally.
Mental Health Trajectories & Policy Impact
Characterize pandemic mental health trajectories—including anxiety, depression, suicidality, cognitive impairment, and substance use—and evaluate temporal trends alongside risk and resilience factors. Using randomized trial emulation methods, we will estimate the causal impact of social distancing policies on mental health outcomes by leveraging subnational policy variation. We will identify moderators such as social determinants of health and estimate joint effects of multiple policies using exposure mixture methods.
Consortium Development & Sustainability
Establish and formalize the COVID Global Mental Health Consortium (CGMHC) as a platform for ongoing collaborative research on the pandemic's mental health impact. We will create a public-facing CGMHC Portal featuring a Consortium Data Matrix, Directory, and interactive tools for identifying cohorts and data resources.
Join the Consortium
Are you leading a longitudinal cohort with pre- and post-pandemic mental health data? We welcome new collaborations from cohorts around the world, particularly from low- and middle-income countries.
Get in TouchInternational evaluation of modifiable social determinants of health on COVID-related mental health outcomes
Supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) | Grant #1RF1MH134638
View on NIH Reporter