Can remote social contact replace in‐person contact to protect mental health among older adults?

Covid-19-related social-distancing measures have dramatically limited physical social contact between individuals of all ages. We wondered how these new societal conditions would impact the choices of individuals of different ages and if social distancing measures would have a differential emotional impact on older individuals. Early media reports suggested that older adults were more likely to ignore social distancing guidelines. We conducted two online studies to examine temporal discounting of monetary, health, and social rewards, COVID-19 beliefs, social distancing behaviors, and mental health symptoms. We used the initial study (N = 233) to form our hypotheses about social distancing behaviors and we ran the second, pre-registered study (N = 243) to determine if these relationships replicated. We found that although older adults were more likely to prefer smaller, sooner (i.e., temporal discount) social and health-related rewards in decision-making tasks, there were no adult age differences in social distancing behavior. The increased motivation for immediate social contact in older age appears to be balanced by a similarly increased motivation for physical health. Although older adults reported being more likely to contract Covid-19 and experience more severe health consequences, they experienced fewer overall Covid-19-related mental health symptoms compared to younger adults. These data contradict media anecdotes and suggest that older adults are not only similarly compliant with distancing guidelines, but also are faring relatively better emotionally during the pandemic while overall mental health issues are higher than normal in the population.

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Multi-Year Spatial Variability of the Impact of Sociodemographic, Behavioural, and Health Factors on Depression of Older Adults

Proceedings of the ICA ◽

10.5194/ica-proc-4-106-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Tian Tian ◽

Eun-Kyeong Kim

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

South Korea ◽

Social Contact ◽

Critical Issue ◽

Local Regression ◽

Contact Frequency ◽

Health Related ◽

Health Studies ◽

The Impact

Abstract. The mental health of older adults has become a critical issue with the rising suicide rate in older adults in South Korea. Various factors related to depression can make heterogeneous impacts in different regions. Yet, such spatial perspectives have been rarely integrated with the mental health studies in South Korea. This study aims to explore 1) how differently each factor of sociodemographic characteristics, social interactions, and health-related behaviors is associated with depression of older adults throughout different regions in South Korea, and 2) how those relationships change across five survey years (2008–2016) for a long term. Spatially local regression and small-multiple map visualization were applied to analyze a longitudinal panel survey dataset named KLoSA, collected in South Korea. It is found that age, marital status, in-person social contact frequency, and perceived physical health are significantly correlated with depression in more regions than other variables. The local regression coefficients and significance vary by region and year.

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Prior Social Contact and Mental Health Trajectories during COVID-19: Neighborhood Friendship Protects Vulnerable Older Adults

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18199999 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (19) ◽

pp. 9999

Author(s):

Daniel R. Y. Gan ◽

John R. Best

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Latent Profile Analysis ◽

Profile Analysis ◽

Social Contact ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Subjective Memory ◽

Social Organizations ◽

Health Trajectories ◽

Prior Contact

Social networking protects mental health during a crisis. Prior contact with social organizations, friends, and non-friend neighbors may be associated with better trajectories of loneliness, depression and subjective memory during COVID-19. Regression analysis was conducted using longitudinal data from a representative sample of n = 3105 US adults aged ≥55 in April–October 2020. Latent profile analysis was also conducted. Prior contact with friends (B = −0.075, p < 0.001), neighbors (B = −0.048, p = 0.007), and social organizations (B = −0.073, p < 0.001) predicted for better mental health during COVID-19. Three profiles were identified: Profile 1 had the best outcomes, with prior contact with social organizations (B = −0.052, p = 0.044) predicting decreasing loneliness. For Profile 2, prior ‘meeting’ contact with friends predicted decreasing loneliness (B = −0.075, p < 0.001) and better subjective memory (B = −0.130, p = 0.011). Conversely, prior contact with neighbors (B = −0.165, p = 0.010) predicted worsening loneliness among Profile 3. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a differential impact on the mental health trajectories of aging adults with social ties of different strengths. Stronger neighborhood networks are important to mitigate poor mental health outcomes among vulnerable older adults during a crisis. Older adults who are living alone and had relied on non-friend neighbors for social connectedness require additional community supports. Policy interventions are required to mitigate the mental health impact of future pandemics.

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Refining the push and pull framework: identifying inequalities in residential relocation among older adults

Ageing and Society ◽

10.1017/s0144686x15001026 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 90-112 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

AN-SOFIE SMETCOREN ◽

LIESBETH DE DONDER ◽

SARAH DURY ◽

NICO DE WITTE ◽

TINIE KARDOL ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Older People ◽

Social Contact ◽

Later Life ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Residential Relocation ◽

Household Incomes ◽

Push And Pull

ABSTRACTOlder people consider moving home when there is a discrepancy between actual and desired living conditions. This study builds on the classic push and pull framework described in the early work of Lee and Wiseman by identifying whether or not individual differences among older people can be predictive for certain push and pull reasons (such as housing, health, neighbourhood and social contact). On the basis of data from the Belgian Ageing Studies (N = 35,402), it was found that 13.9 per cent of older respondents had moved in the last ten years (N = 4,823). An analysis of the movers revealed inequalities in the reasons for moving in later life and raises the question of whether a relocation is voluntary (being able to move) or involuntary (being forced to move). Respondents with lower household incomes and poor mental health were significantly more likely to have moved because of stressors pushing them out of their previous dwelling, whereas older people with higher household incomes or home-owners were mainly pulled towards a more attractive environment.

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Social Contact Prior to COVID-19 and Longitudinal Mental Health Trajectories During COVID-19 Among Adults Ages ≥55

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1231 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 317-317

Author(s):

John Best ◽

Jessica Finlay ◽

Daniel R Y Gan

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Support ◽

Older Adults ◽

Latent Class ◽

Social Contact ◽

Poor Mental Health ◽

Social Organizations ◽

Health Trajectories ◽

Prior Contact

Abstract Social support protects mental health during a crisis. We examined whether prior contact with social organizations and friends/neighbors was associated with better trajectories of loneliness, depression and self-rated memory during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted latent class analysis and regression analysis on longitudinal data from the COVID-19 Coping Study of US adults aged ≥55 from April-October 2020 (n=3105). Overall, prior contact with friends(B=-.075,p<.001), neighbors(B=-.048,p=.007), and social organizations(B=-.073,p<.001) predicted better mental health amid COVID-19. Three classes were identified: Class1 had the best outcomes, whereas Class3 had the worst outcomes and were most likely to live alone(B=.149,p<.001). For Class1, prior contact with social organizations(B=-.052,p=.044) predicted decreasing loneliness. For Class2, prior contact with friends(B=-.075,p<.001) predicted decreasing loneliness and better memory(B=-.130,p=.011). Conversely, prior contact with neighbors(B=-.165,p=.010) predicted worsening loneliness among Class3. Our findings pose new questions on the role of neighborhood networks to mitigate poor mental health outcomes among older adults during a crisis.

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Changes in Modes of Social Contact and Their Links With Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.2061 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 539-539

Author(s):

Laura Finch ◽

Louise Hawkley

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Health Risks ◽

Social Life ◽

Social Contact ◽

Living Alone ◽

Media Messages ◽

Phone Calls ◽

Frequency Of Contact ◽

Using Data

Abstract Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing has been emphasized for older adults because of their greater physical health risks. Using data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), we examined how older adults may have changed their frequency of contact with others via various modes (i.e., in-person, phone calls, messages, and video calls) since the pandemic started, and how these choices may be impacting their mental health. From September 2020 through January 2021, NSHAP respondents (N=2,554 age 50-94 with data from 2015-16) completed a survey via web, phone, or paper-and-pencil. Although some older adults reported reducing their in-person contact with out-of-household family (38%) and friends (40%) since the pandemic started, some also increased contact with them via remote modes such as phone calls (25% and 16% with family and friends respectively); emails, texts, or social media messages (26 and 21%); and video calls (24 and 18%). Net of demographics, living alone, survey mode, and 2015-16 levels of the respective mental health variables, those who decreased in-person contact with family were less happy (B=-0.12, SE=0.06, p=.035), had higher loneliness scores (B=0.23, SE=0.09, p=.011), and more frequently felt depressed (B=0.10, SE=0.05, p=.055). In the presence of decreased in-person contact, increases in remote modes of contact had no net remediating impact—a pattern also found when analyzing contact with friends. Results indicate a persistent adverse effect of reduced in-person contact on mental health despite increased contact with family and friends via remote means.

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