Understanding Psychological Distress and Protective Factors Amongst Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sams, Nichole; Fisher, Dylan; Mata-Greve, Felicia; Johnson, Morgan; Pullmann, Michael D.; Raue, Patrick J.; Renn, Brenna N.; Duffy, Jaden; Darnell, Doyanne; Fillipo, Isabell Griffith; Allred, Ryan; Huynh, Kathy; Friedman, Emily; Areán, Patricia A.

doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2021.03.005

Cited by 39 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…A study conducted in the USA reported that 26% of individuals aged 60 and over experienced loneliness. 45 Although all these results support to some degree the results obtained from the present study, contrary to the present study's results, one study reported that 57% of people over 70 years of age who were hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced loneliness. 46 On the dates during which the study was conducted, the institution was completely closed to visitors within the scope of the restrictive measures applied to nursing homes.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 67%

“… 19 Psychological resilience refers to an individual's ability to successfully overcome adverse conditions and adapt to a new situation. 36 While loneliness, negative feelings, and mental illness negatively affect resilience, 45 , 49 , 50 well-being, social networking, and positive feelings positively affect resilience. 49 , 50 The moderate level of psychological resilience seen in this study corresponded with the older adults’ mean MMSE scores of 24 and above, their moderate fear of COVID-19 and low levels of loneliness, and the negative circumstances they faced during the pandemic, such as separation from loved ones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effects of fear of COVID-19, loneliness, and resilience on the quality of life in older adults living in a nursing home

et al. 2021

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This study aimed to evaluate the fear of COVID-19, loneliness, resilience, and quality of life levels in older adults in a nursing home during the pandemic, and the effects of these variables and descriptive characteristics on their quality of life. Data were collected using a participant information form, the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), the Brief Resilience Scale, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), the Loneliness Scale for Elderly (LSE), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF Turkish Version (WHOQOL-BREF-TR). Regarding the WHOQOL-BREF-TR scale, being male, history of chronic disease, MMSE score, and the changes in sleep pattern significantly affected the physical dimension (R 2 =0.353, p<0.01) while age, and MMSE and LSE scores significantly affected the psychological dimension (R 2 =0.364, p<0.01). Also, the MMSE, FCV-19S, and LSE scores significantly affected the social relations dimension (R 2 =0.234, p<0.01) while MMSE, FCV-19S, and LSE scores significantly affected the environmental dimension (R 2 =0.351, p<0.01).

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of fear of COVID-19, loneliness, and resilience on the quality of life in older adults living in a nursing home

et al. 2021

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“…Among the community‐dwelling older adults, 32 out of 67 were living alone. Our results regarding the sociodemographic characteristics were similar with other studies conducted in Turkey and other countries 25–28 …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…There were conflicting studies for older adults' mental health in early stages of the pandemic and a considerable amount of studies have reported that there was no significant change in the mental health levels of older adults in that period 28,36,37 . Older people have greater resilience than younger ones, which has been found to be associated with strong coping styles and optimism against stressful events, and also lower levels psychological distress 38,39 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health and factors related to life satisfaction in nursing home and community‐dwelling older adults during COVID‐19 pandemic in Turkey

et al. 2021

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Background The geriatric population is supposed to be at high risk for psychological distress as well as adverse outcomes and mortality during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the levels of depression, anxiety, death anxiety and life satisfaction levels and factors related to life satisfaction in individuals aged 65 years and older during the pandemic and to compare these variables between nursing home (NH) and community‐dwelling older adults. Method This study has a cross‐sectional and descriptive design, and a total of 133 nursing NH and community‐dwelling older adults were enrolled in the study. Turkish death anxiety scale (TDAS), life satisfaction scale (SLS) and depression anxiety stress scale‐21 (DASS‐21) were used for the assessment. Results The majority of the older adults had no or mild depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in spite of the prolonged confinements, and were slightly satisfied with their lives. However, depression, anxiety, stress and TDAS levels were higher in participants aged 80 years and older. Residents of NHs had higher TDAS, depression and anxiety levels and lower SLS levels than community‐dwelling older adults. Participants who were meeting their children and/or grandchildren less than 2 h a week, were found to have significantly lower SLS and higher depression scores. The increase in depression and TDAS scores predicted a decrease in SLS scores in older adults. Conclusions As NH resident older adults have higher psychological distress and decreased life satisfaction due to the social isolation caused by the prolonged confinements, NH staff should be regularly informed on both preventive measures and mental health consequences of the pandemic, and should be trained for basic therapeutic interventions. Older adults should be supported to use telecommunication technologies to contact their families and friends, and participate in safe and accessible person‐centred activity programs.

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“…Even though the highest levels of COVID-19-related emotional distress are evident among younger adults [32], elderly people are also affected, reflected by our findings of an increase in anxiety and worrying regardless of age during the first weeks of the outbreak. After three months of social distancing due to COVID-19 in the US, about 25% of 500 older adults responding to an online survey reported psychological distress, and participants with poor psychical health, low socioeconomic status, and low resiliency were at greatest risk [44]. On the other hand, a study following 776 adults on daily stressors for one week during the initial outbreak revealed that despite similar levels of perceived stress, older adults between 60-91 years reported less negative and more positive effect than younger ones [45], whereas participants older than 60 years reported the lowest level over time of anxiety and depressive symptoms in the UCL COVID-19 social study [40].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age and Emotional Distress during COVID-19: Findings from Two Waves of the Norwegian Citizen Panel

Berge

Gedde

Husebø

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Older adults face the highest risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. We investigated a one-year change in emotions and factors associated with emotional distress immediately after the onset of the pandemic, with emphasis on older age. Methods: The online Norwegian Citizen Panel includes participants drawn randomly from the Norwegian Population Registry. Emotional distress was defined as the sum score of negative (anxious, worried, sad or low, irritated, and lonely) minus positive emotions (engaged, calm and relaxed, happy). Results: Respondents to both surveys (n = 967) reported a one-year increase in emotional distress, mainly driven by elevated anxiety and worrying, but we found no difference in change by age. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression comparing older age, economy-, and health-related factors showed that persons in their 60s (ß −1.87 (95%CI: −3.71, −0.04)) and 70s/80s (ß: −2.58 (−5.00, −0–17)) had decreased risk of emotional distress relative to persons under 60 years. Female gender (2.81 (1.34, 4.28)), expecting much lower income (5.09 (2.00, 8.17)), uncertainty whether infected with SARS-Cov2 (2.92 (1.21, 4.63)), and high self-rated risk of infection (1.77 (1.01, 2.53)) were associated with high levels of emotional distress. Conclusions: Knowledge of national determinants of distress is crucial to tailor accurate public health interventions in future outbreaks.

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Understanding Psychological Distress and Protective Factors Amongst Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 39 publications

References 46 publications

The effects of fear of COVID-19, loneliness, and resilience on the quality of life in older adults living in a nursing home

The effects of fear of COVID-19, loneliness, and resilience on the quality of life in older adults living in a nursing home

Mental health and factors related to life satisfaction in nursing home and community‐dwelling older adults during COVID‐19 pandemic in Turkey

Age and Emotional Distress during COVID-19: Findings from Two Waves of the Norwegian Citizen Panel

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