Sørensen, Trine Toft, Okholm, Gunhild Tidemann, Vendsborg, Per, Nordentoft, Merete, Correll, Christoph U., Solmi, Marco, Thompson, Trevor ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9880-782X, Estradé, Andrés and Thygesen, Lau Caspar (2026) Health related behaviour patterns in Denmark during the first COVID 19 wave. Discover Public Health, 23:352. ISSN 3005-0774 (Online) (doi:10.1186/s12982-026-01687-7)

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Abstract

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns about how lockdowns affected health-related behaviours. This study aimed to identify patterns of health-related risk behaviours in Danish adults during the first pandemic wave.
Methods: We used data from the Danish part of the Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT), collected in May 2020 with recruitment through social media and newsletters. Responses were weighed against a Danish representative 2021 sample. Self-reported health-related behaviours were dichotomised into high-risk or not, and Latent Class Analysis was used to identify behavioural subgroups based on sedentary behaviour, media use, substance use, and harmful behaviours. We also examined pre- to during-pandemic changes in behaviour and subgroup demographics.
Results: Five behavioural subgroups were identified. The largest group (53%) reported low to modest levels of high-risk behaviours. Two medium-sized groups included one (23%) with high media use, tobacco use, and aggression/self-harm, and another (18%) with low levels of most high-risk behaviours but moderate cannabis use and relatively high aggression. Two smaller high-risk groups included one (3%) with aggression, alcohol use, and physical inactivity, and another (2%) with smoking, cannabis, and gaming. Increases from pre-pandemic levels were most common in social media use (47%), TV viewing (46%), and internet use (41%).
Conclusions: These findings suggest the pandemic intensified pre-existing risk behaviours rather than introducing new ones. Public health strategies should consider behaviour clustering to better support vulnerable subgroups. While limited by a cross-sectional, retrospective design, the study contributes valuable insight into behaviour patterns during societal disruptions.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	COVID-19, health, anxiety, depression
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	23 Mar 2026 15:49
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/52721

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