*2.1. Participants*

This study employed a longitudinal prospective follow-up survey design. Participants were recruited through national media outlets, social media, and professional networking websites in Ireland, during the first period of public 'Level 5 Lockdown' in Ireland (27 March to 8 June 2020), to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 [9]. Participants were asked to follow a link to access the study information sheet, consent, and questions via Qualtrics. Once consent was obtained, participants completed the outcome measures. This study received approval from the host research ethics committee.

Of the cohort who completed the cross-sectional aspect of this study, *n* = 450 participants consented to be contacted prospectively via email for follow-up and *n* = 231 provided contact details for follow-up. These data were collected during a repeated 'Level 5 Lockdown' in Ireland (January 2021), with the same government restrictions in place as when original data was collected. The inclusion criteria for the study were being over the age of 18 and living in Ireland. The final sample consisted of N = 231 (88% female), consistent with the gender distribution of the original cross-sectional study [9,23], with participants aged between 20 and 76 years. Approximately 54% of participants earned within €25,000–74,999, with 85% having completed a university degree. 50% of sample were married, 35% in committed relationships, 9% were engaged, and 6% single. Overall, 41% of the sample had children.
