Anxiety symptoms and coping strategies used by older adults during COVID-19: A national e-study of linkages among and between them.

Abstract

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic older adults experienced a variety of symptoms of anxiety. They employed a number of different strategies to deal with these. The aim of this study was to create a blueprint of older Canadians’ symptoms of pandemic-related anxiety and coping strategies, and linkages among and between them. Particular attention was paid to identifying the most-pernicious symptoms and variables that might facilitate application of the most beneficial coping strategies. Methods An e-survey was conducted with 1,327 older Canadians in the Summer of 2022, when public health measures were lifting across Canada. Anxiety was measured using the Geriatric Anxiety Scale − 10. Participants also completed the Coping with Stress and Anxiety personal assessment tool. Network analysis permitted us to examine linkages among respondents’ self-reported symptoms, and between their most pernicious symptoms of anxiety and the strategies to cope with them. Results Findings revealed a troubling trio of anxiety symptoms of central importance to our respondents: feelings of restlessness, muscle tension and having no control over their lives. Restless and no control over my life were particularly pernicious because they explained between 64–68% of the variance in 8 other anxiety symptoms. Coping seemed to occur through trial and error. Some strategies appeared to work in tandem and others in opposition to each other. Responders remembering resilience and staying active functioned as bridges shielding older people from worry, restlessness, and tension through spurning other remedial actions. Discussion This study provides evidence of a stable and predictable network of anxiety symptoms containing three particularly pernicious symptoms. Coping strategies, some seemingly working in tandem and some in opposition, or as bridges to recovery speak to the complex and arduous nature of mentally healthy recovery work. A visual representation of how anxiety symptoms can operate as a network might help older people better understand their own symptom experiences. Combining the two networks offers a blueprint of what within-person recovery might look like and a visual teaching tool for practitioners and program developers; older people could gain added insight into their own recovery experience.