Socio-economic inequalities in the breadth of internet use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults in England

Abstract

Understanding digital exclusion in older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic could help tailor responses to future outbreaks. This cohort study used data from older adults aged 60+ years in England who participated in wave nine (2018/2019) of the main English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) survey, and/or wave one of the ELSA COVID-19 sub-study (June/July 2020). Using latent class analysis and latent transition analysis, we aimed to identify distinct subgroups of older adults characterised by different patterns of internet use pre- and intra-pandemic, explore the extent to which individuals remained in the same subgroup or transitioned to a different subgroup during the COVID-19 pandemic, and examine longitudinal associations of socio-economic factors (education, occupational class, and wealth) with latent class membership. Preliminary tests showed that the types of internet activities differed between men and women; therefore, subsequent analyses were stratified by biological sex. Three clusters (low, medium, and high) were identified in male participants at both timepoints. Among female participants, three clusters were distinguished pre-pandemic and two (low versus high) during the pandemic. The latent classes were characterised by participants’ breadth of internet use. Higher education, occupational class, and wealth were associated with greater odds of membership in the medium and/or high classes, versus the low class, in men and women. A high degree of stability in latent class membership was observed over time. However, men experienced a stark decrease in online health information-seeking. Our results highlight that inequality regarding the range of functional and social opportunities provided by the internet prevailed during the pandemic. Policymakers should ensure that digital access and upskilling initiatives are equitable for all.

The Effect of the COVID Pandemic on Clinical Psychology Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…In the years examined prior to the COVID pandemic (2015 and 2018), there were nearly twice as many research articles published that examined mental health in women than in men. Although the COVID pandemic exacerbated many pre-existing disparities in other areas of society (e.g., [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 33 ]), the values in Table 1 show that the number of published research articles that examined mental health in women and men remained at an approximately two-fold difference in the years examined after the start of the COVID pandemic (2020 and 2022).…”

“…After people had experienced the virus for some time and felt the influence of it in other parts of their lives [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], the ego network for COVID-19 in 2022 shows that COVID-related research expanded beyond anxiety , depression , and stress to include some of the more fundamental topics of Clinical Psychology for both men and women, such as eating disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder , and to fundamental topics found only for research in men (e.g., gay and bisexual men ) and to fundamental topics found only for research in women (e.g., pregnancy ). Further, the ego network for COVID-19 in 2022 ( Figure 6 ) shows a number of research topics that may have been exacerbated by the quarantines and lockdowns experienced in many countries around the world during the pandemic (e.g., alcohol use , substance use , intimate partner violence , loneliness , and physical activity ).…”

“…The WHO declared an end to the Public Health Emergency in May 2023 [ 2 ]. In addition to the hundreds of millions of cases of and millions of deaths from COVID-19 world-wide [ 3 ], the disease and measures to contain its spread had widespread effects on social, political, economic (e.g., labor markets and supply chains), and educational institutions in countries around the world [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ]. The disease and measures to contain its spread also affected various psychological and physical behaviors (e.g., eating, sleeping, and exercise) of individuals around the world [ 13 , 14 ].…”