AN OPINION survey carried out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) has shown that more than 70 per cent of people interviewed were worried about the effect the Coronavirus was having on their lives.

The second set of results published by NISRA are based on 1,785 interviews with members of the public between April 21 and July 23, 2020.

The levels of worry did fall over time, with 77 per cent interviewed up to May 31 saying they were worried about the effect of the virus on their lives, compared to 67 per cent who felt the same way from June 1 to July 23.

The results also showed higher levels of worry amongst people with a longstanding illness. More than three-quarters of such people (77 per cent) were worried about the effect COVID-19 was having on their lives.

This was significantly higher than the proportion of those without a longstanding illness (70 per cent).

The average (mean) wellbeing ratings for “life satisfaction” (7.54) was significantly lower (in a statistical sense) than those reported by NISRA for the same indicator in the latest published figures for 2018-19 (7.89).

The average (mean) wellbeing rating for “anxiety” (3.33) was significantly higher (in a statistical sense) than that reported by NISRA for 2018-19 (2.83).

There were no significant differences observed in the wellbeing ratings of people interviewed in Phases 1 and 2 in terms of feeling what they do in life is ‘worthwhile’ and ‘happiness’ when compared with that reported by NISRA for 2018/19.

Feelings of “life satisfaction”, what you do in life is “worthwhile”, and “happiness” were significantly higher for people aged 65 and older when compared to other age groups.

However, there were no significant differences observed between people aged 16-44 and 45-64 for these measures.

Similarly, feelings of ‘anxiety’ for people aged 65 and older were significantly lower than for those aged 45-64.

Females reported a higher “anxiety” score (3.57) on average than males (3.08), which is indicative of poorer wellbeing in this measure.

People with a longstanding illness reported significantly lower wellbeing averages for “life satisfaction”, “worthwhile” and “happiness” than those without a longstanding illness.