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Women and young people are experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety caused by the coronavirus crisis, the preliminary results of a landmark study suggest.

Scientists are examining samples of people’s hair in a landmark study alongside questionnaires to discover how the huge variety of stresses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are impacting on their physical and emotional health.

Strands of hair contain the stress hormone cortisol, and researchers carrying out the study will test samples from participants during the first few weeks of lockdown and then again from samples 12 weeks later to examine if stress levels are sustained or heightened over the period of time or if people adapt to the crisis.

The aim is to get an understanding of how anxiety levels change during the pandemic and the impact of chronic stress on people’s health to allow greater planning for the future.

Almost 3,100 people have been recruited to the Covid Stress Study and scientists have analysed data from the first wave of the research which shows that people are experiencing significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression than would normally be seen in the UK population.

This is not altogether surprising given the multiple ways coronavirus has disrupted people’s lives and caused anxieties from experiencing bereavement to financial hardships, childcare issues and isolation triggered by social distancing and lockdown.

However, researchers have been surprised to find that the preliminary results show that participants who identify as key workers – who may be facing intensely stressful situations on a daily basis throughout the crisis – don’t seem to be experiencing higher levels of stress than other people.

Fifty per cent of the study’s participants identified as key workers, but their stress and anxiety levels were pretty much the same as people spending the majority of their time at home in lockdown.

“It might be that this suggests that even if you are in a stressful job on the frontline, if you are able to go out to work and feel you are doing something positive, maybe that counteracts what those who are not working or feel isolated at home are experiencing.” said Kavita Vedhara, professor of health psychology at the University of Nottingham who is leading the study.”

The initial findings of the study also reveal that younger people and women are affected most by feelings of stress during the pandemic.

The team of researchers will look at the factors most strongly associated with how people they are and their perceptions of how lonely they feel and their worries about getting Covid-19 and their experiences of positive moods to look at how interventions can be targeted to help people manage their stress during difficult times.

“Younger people have more to lose, are more likely to feel economic vulnerability and are more likely to be socially damaged by this pandemic.” explained Prof Vedhara. 

“The fact that women seem to be experiencing higher levels of stress could be down to the fact that they are more likely to be juggling homeschooling their children and maybe working from home and have other pressures, demands and worries.

“Women are also more likely to lose their jobs.”

Participants recruited to the study will take part in the second wave of the research in July by taking another sample of their hair and completing another questionnaire giving an insight into their emotional and physical wellbeing. Both hair samples will be tested to assess how levels of the hormone cortisol change.

Scientists will be looking at the difference in people’s stress levels between the two periods of the pandemic to see if people adapt and are able to manage their stress through the challenging climate.

Prof Vedhara said: “If we find higher stress levels over a sustained period of time, it would suggest that people are not adapting and it would be at this point that we would be concerned about the impact on people’s mental and physical health.”

She explained that cortisol does many things including regulating the immune system and that if levels of chronic stress lead to a sustained period of raised cortisol, it could affect people’s immune systems making them more vulnerable to illnesses – including Covid-19.

If it emerges that the emotional impact of the coronavirus pandemic affects the stress hormone cortisol and leads to physical changes, researchers want to be able to give people choices about what they can do to reduce the impact of stress.

Prof Vedhara told HuffPost UK: “The information we have got from this study is already informing the government as Public Health England have been in touch with us.

“The volunteers taking part in this study have already had some impact and the work they do ahead will be even more important.”

The Covid-19 Stress and Health Study is being carried out by experts at the University of Nottingham and King’s College London with the support of stress hormone testing company MyFertile.

Hair measuring one centimetre in length taken from the back of the head will allow researchers to analyse how much cortisol has been in circulation for the previous four weeks. Samples of hair taken at the two intervals of time will be tested.

Jennifer Adams, 30, is one of the participants who has volunteered for the trial. She told HuffPost UK that even though she is usually very positive, the coronavirus lockdown hit her hard, particularly as she lives alone.

Jennifer, a global programme manager, was used to travelling a lot with her work and working in an open plan office surrounded by people, as well as having a full and active social life with family and friends.

She admitted that after the first few weeks of lockdown, she felt stressed and panicked when the enormity of being stuck inside on her own for long periods of time sank in and she became worried about family members becoming ill.

Jennifer told HuffPost UK that even though we are still in lockdown, she feels a lot more positive.

However, she said that even though she is trying not to get stressed, she has had physical issues such as toothache and shingles.

“I spoke to the doctor as I have had shingles before and I was told it was probably stress related.” she said. “Even though I am trying not to get stressed and going for runs and spending time outside, I think my body is feeling stressed out.”

Jennifer is still working from home but experienced added work stress when her firm announced redundancies. “My position is fine, but some of my colleagues have their jobs up in the air.

“It is really difficult not being able to put your arm around them and support them in person.” 

Jennifer says that she often feels like she is on the telephone all day for work and by the end of it, she feels exhausted and sometimes feels too drained to talk to people in the evening as well.

However, she says the easing of lockdown allowing exercise more than once a day and permitting her to go on a socially distanced walk with someone else has made her feel happier and more positive.

“Things feel a bit easier and you no longer feel confined to being inside and it doesn’t feel as lonely as it did.” she said.

“All the little things you can now do make you feel a bit more normal. When you are in a park, talking to a friend, you can forget about coronavirus for a while.

“Life feels a little less scary than it initially did.”

Jennifer says she is interested to see what the outcome of the hair stress study will reveal and how stress levels changed throughout the pandemic.

“Hopefully, we can learn some lessons for the future from this study and about looking after people’s mental health. There have to be some positives come out of this crisis.”