Background and Objectives The Coronavirus Disease–2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is experienced differently across individuals, and older adults’ different life experiences lead to a variety of ways of coping. The present study explores older adults’ reports of what about the pandemic is stressful, and what brings joy and comfort in the midst of stress Research Design and Methods An online survey asked 825 U.S. adults aged 60 and older to complete questionnaires assessing three psychological well-being indicators: perceived stress, negative affect, and positive affect. Participants also responded to open-ended questions about what was stressful and what brought joy or comfort at the time of the survey. A mixed-method approach first qualitatively analyzed the open-ended responses, content analysis identified themes most frequently reported, and quantitative analysis examined the associations between various stressors and joys and the psychological well-being indicators Results Qualitative analysis revealed 20 stress categories and 21 joy/comfort categories. The most commonly reported stressors were confinement/restrictions, concern for others, and isolation/loneliness; the most commonly reported sources of joy/comfort were family/friend relationships, digital social contact, and hobbies. Demographic comparisons revealed variations in experience. Independent t-tests revealed stress from concern for others, the unknown future, and contracting the virus to be significantly associated with poorer psychological well-being; faith, exercise/self-care, and nature were associated with more positive psychological well-being Discussion and Implications Results are discussed in the context of stress and coping theory, highlighting the importance of understanding the unique stress experience of each individual for effective distress intervention

Objective The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic is appraised as a stressor influences perceived stress and psychological well-being during the event. Here, the association of older adults’ expectations concerning the pandemic’s duration and impact with perceived stress (PS) and negative affect (NA) are investigated. Based on the stress and coping framework, PS is expected to mediate the association between COVID-19 expectations and NA Method 714 residents of the US and aged 60 and older completed an anonymous online survey in late March 2020 reporting PS, NA, and expectations regarding the pandemic Results Regression analyses controlling for demographic factors revealed that more dire pandemic expectations significantly predicted PS and NA directly, and the effects on NA were significantly mediated by PS Discussion Findings provide evidence that expectations about a pandemic influence the extent to which older adults experience stress and NA in the midst of a pandemic event. Implications for mental health are discussed

The combination of good SQ and higher PA buffered the impact of stress on NA. The moderating impact of age suggests that sleep and stress play different roles across adulthood. Targeting intervention and prevention strategies to improve SQ and enhance PA could disrupt the detrimental relationship between daily stress and NA.

Exploring multiple stressors simultaneously provides insights into the diversity of stressor combinations across individuals--even those with similar levels of global perceived stress--and answers theoretical mandates to better understand the influence of stress by sampling from many domain and role stressors. Further, the unique influences of each predictor relative to the others inform theory and applied work. Finally, examples of equifinality and multifinality call for targeted interventions.

These results point to a differential function of ESE-that it serves a coping function for NA but enhances PA directly-in the day-to-day lives of older adults, shedding light on the nuanced role of religiousness and spirituality when it comes to coping with daily stress.

This study focuses on how daily religious coping mitigates daily stress, regulates emotional responses, and ultimately produces more optimal health outcomes. Participants were 267 community-dwelling older adults from the Later Life Cohort of the Notre Dame Study of Health & Well-being (mean age ϭ 72 years; 63% female). Daily diary data (56 days) were used to assess the effects of daily perceived stress, daily religious coping, and their interaction on daily negative affect. Multilevel modeling (MLM) results suggested that religious coping regulated the effects of stress on negative affect (␤ ϭ .02; p Ͻ .01). The intraindividual variability in these day-level effects represent specific dynamic aspects of the individual, referred to as dynamic characteristics. These person-level dynamic characteristics derived from the MLM were correlated with indicators of metabolic health and predicted healthier values. Most significant, the stress-buffering effects of religious coping predicted better metabolic health, as indicated by negative correlations with glucose tolerance (A1c; r ϭ Ϫ.32, p Ͻ .001) and the obesity composite variable (r ϭ Ϫ.23, p ϭ .01). Results demonstrate that the ability to use religious coping to regulate the effects of stress on negative affect may delay the onset of disorders associated with obesity and dysregulation in the metabolic system.

Results reveal that both purposeful exercise and non-exercise activity convey independent daily well-being benefits, and that for some aspects of daily well-being, duration does matter. Findings can be applied in the development of physical activity education or engagement programs for older adults.

Findings suggest that those in later life are better able to manage the impact that their cognitive and emotional responses to daily stressors have on depressive symptoms. The results also highlight the importance of examining daily variability-in addition to mean levels-in understanding the impact of daily events and appraisals on well-being.