COVID-19 anxiety: The impact of older adults’ transmission of negative information and online social networks

Dong, Linying; Yang, Lixia

doi:10.1016/j.ahr.2023.100119

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…With respect to the least popular strategy of unplugging, in the first year of the pandemic, news for public consumption about older peoples' heightened risk for physical health harms was hardly lacking 60 . However, negative pandemic‐related news can fuel in some older people an appetite for sharing 69 and for continuing to access such news 27 . Not unplugging might therefore stem from a need to know and to speak to others about the potential impacts of moving into opened spaces on age‐peers' health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentally healthy living after pandemic social distancing: a study of older Canadians reveals helpful anxiety reduction strategies

Low,

Gutman,

Gao

et al. 2024

Psychogeriatrics

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BackgroundThroughout the COVID‐19 pandemic, older Canadians were the most at risk of severe physical harm, including death, and their return to post‐COVID life was expected to be especially anxiety‐provoking. A study was conducted to obtain nationally representative evidence of older Canadians' self‐perceived anxiety levels and their strategies to manage or mitigate it as public health restrictions were lifting.Materials and MethodsThis study had a cross‐sectional descriptive design. An e‐survey was used to collect data from 1327 Canadians aged 60+ stratified by age, sex, and education to resemble the larger general population. Participants completed the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS‐10) and indicated which of the 16 Centre for Addictions and Mental Health's (2022) Coping with Stress and Anxiety strategies they were using to manage or mitigate their anxiety when social distancing was lifting. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis were used to explore the data.ResultsWhile, on average, older Canadians were mildly anxious, nearly one‐quarter of responders rated their anxiety as severe. Age, sex, perceived health, were statistically significant correlates of anxiety. Six coping strategies were associated with significantly lower anxiety scores. Moreover, accepting some fear and anxiety as normal, challenging worries and anxious thoughts, and practising relaxation/meditation appeared to increase anxiety.ConclusionOlder Canadians used multiple strategies to manage or mitigate their anxiety, and seemingly, with more successful than detrimental tries. Practitioners have much to learn and understand about older people's mental health promotion efforts after social distancing, now and for future pandemics.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mentally healthy living after pandemic social distancing: a study of older Canadians reveals helpful anxiety reduction strategies

Low,

Gutman,

Gao

et al. 2024

Psychogeriatrics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Due to these stringent measures, older adults were forced to self-isolate, and as a result, had to cut off their routine off-line social engagements (e.g., family visits, and outdoor social gatherings) [7], which seriously affects the health of the elderly.…”

Section: Contact and Dissemination Between Different Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis And Research on The Influence of The Social Network on Public Opinion and The Transmission Path of The Epidemic

Jiang,

Liu,

Wang

et al. 2023

HBEM

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Social networks, a connection of social interactions and personal relationships by nodes, are becoming a vital part of the 21st century. Nearly all human beings have sorts of connections with social network, including but not limiting to personal relationships, electronic gadgets, as well as social media. However, human beings never thought about how important this social network has been to us. As an unprecedented COVID-19 wave hit the world in 2020, the roles of social networks never fail to elicit topics and highlights. Some claim that the social network creates negative impacts such as agony and rumors while others claim that it benefits our lives more than we actually thought. In this paper, my group and I investigate the relationship of social network and how it helps us to understand the COVID-19. To this end, we’ve gathered data and graphs showing the effect of COVID-19 and how social network mitigates the problem. Our findings indicate that social network brings both positive and negative impacts to our understanding of COVID-19. On the other hand, it helps us to understand the problem more, as well as the alleviation of such hazards. What’s more, for different groups, classifying as different age groups as well as different job groups, social network has a variety of impacts on them either.

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“…Mundane practices like essential shopping were frightening (MHRC, 2021). Continuing to hear negative news about COVID-19 was also frightening (Dong & Yang, 2023). Older Canadians have been also the most likely age-group to adhere to public health measures (Gutman et al, 2021;Statistics Canada, 2021), and to harbor more fears than younger adults (75% versus 63% among younger adults, respectively) over lingering health threats after the COVID-19 pandemic ends (Mental Health Research Canada (MHRC], 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Content Analysis of Perceived Social Isolation Remedies Shared in a National E-Survey (Preprint)

Low,

von Humboldt,

Gloria

et al. 2024

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Older people are experts on what a quality social life looks like while living most at risk for COVID-19-related health harms. Older Canadians have helped raise awareness of the physical and mental detriments of social isolation. Remedial initiatives that build on older people’s lived experiences are also important initiatives. OBJECTIVE When public health restrictions were lifted in the Summer of 2022, we aimed to collect evidence grounded in older people’s everyday lived experiences about transitioning into open spaces while COVID-19 still lingered. METHODS This study was part of a larger e-survey project about mentally healthy living among 1,327 community-dwelling persons 60+ years of age. A sample stratified by age, sex, and education to approximate the Canadian population was asked: With COVID-19 public health measures lifting, based on your own experience, what would you suggest other older Canadians do to reduce social isolation? They responded as they saw fit. RESULTS Content analysis of 1,189 open-text messages revealed four calls to action: 1) Cultivating community; 2) Making room for what’s good; 3) Don’t let your guard down; and 4) Voiced out challenges. All four remedies were similarly endorsed, regardless of messengers’ age, sex, gender identity, and perceived health. Making room for what’s good seemed more amiable for those navigating newly open spaces without a chronic illness. Education level was linked with endorsing guarded social transitions. CONCLUSIONS While COVID-19 is no longer a global health risk, a worrisome proportion of older people still live more isolated lives. We encourage health and social care practitioners and older people themselves to share the messages identified in this study with more isolated others.

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COVID-19 anxiety: The impact of older adults’ transmission of negative information and online social networks

Cited by 12 publications

References 41 publications

Mentally healthy living after pandemic social distancing: a study of older Canadians reveals helpful anxiety reduction strategies

Mentally healthy living after pandemic social distancing: a study of older Canadians reveals helpful anxiety reduction strategies

Analysis And Research on The Influence of The Social Network on Public Opinion and The Transmission Path of The Epidemic

Content Analysis of Perceived Social Isolation Remedies Shared in a National E-Survey (Preprint)

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