COVID-19 disruptions to daily life and physical health may not impact wellbeing for older adults as much as it does for younger individuals, a small study suggests. Researcher used Facebook ads to recruit a total of 166 community-dwelling adults ranging in age from 18 to 79 years (mean 35.7 years) to complete online surveys examining the impact of COVID-19 disruptions on their wellbeing and health. Most participants were emerging adults 18-24 (33.1%), young adults 25-29 (28.9%), or middle aged adults 40-59 (28.3%); only 13 participants (7.8%) were ages 60-79. Overall, there wasn't a significant association between age and COVID-19 disruption, the survey found. Among people over 50, scores for stress and negative affect were similar regardless of whether COVID-19 was a low or high disruption in their life. But younger participants who rated COVID-19 as a high disruption were significantly more likely to report high perceived levels of stress and negative affect. Even so, older people are more likely to die from COVID-19, feel anxious about the risk of infection, be seriously ill as a result of infection or other conditions which receive less treatment due to the pandemic (which affects their mental and emotional wellbeing), to lose a spouse or have a spouse who is seriously ill, and to experience even more social isolation than many of them already do, Peter Lloyd-Sherlock of University of East Anglia in the UK, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "There is some evidence that older people may in some situations and contexts have somewhat more emotional and psychological resilience than people at younger ages, if they are confronting the same objective conditions," Lloyd-Sherlock said. "This is not the case with COVID-19, since the stressors are on average much more severe for older adults," Lloyd-Sherlock noted. "This is particularly the case in poorer countries, where around 70 per cent of deaths are people aged 60 and over." One limitation of the study is that only 7.8% of the participants were older adults, researchers note in The Gerontologist. Another drawback is that results from the convenience sample may not be generalizable. Lead study author Amy Knepple Carney of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh declined to comment. "As the authors themselves point out, it is based on very limited data and much more substantial studies are required to clarify these issues," Lloyd-Sherlock said. Beyond this, many older people experienced mental health conditions, such as depression, before the pandemic that might have made them less likely to engage with online technology or respond to requests to participate in studies, Lloyd-Sherlock said. Many older adults may also suffer bereavement due to the death of a spouse, and experience related negative effects of this loss on emotional and mental wellbeing. "I would not want clinicians to infer that older people are less in need of interventions such as counseling and support for mental or emotional wellbeing than people at other ages," Lloyd-Sherlock said. —Lisa Rapaport Source
