AUTHOR=Sams Nichole , Darnell Doyanne , Fisher Dylan , Allred Ryan , Huyhn Kathy , Mosser Brittany A. , Areán Patricia A. TITLE=Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. older adults: self-reported pandemic-related concerns and consequences in a cross-sectional survey study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1203473 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1203473 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=Background and objectives

The purpose of this study was to explore COVID-19 pandemic-related concerns among a racially and ethnically representative sample of older adults in the U.S.

Research design and methods

Participants were 501 English-speaking adults 60 years and older recruited online nationally across the U.S. from Amazon Mechanical Turk (mTurk) and Prolific Research Platforms during June of 2020. Data comes from a larger cross-sectional survey. We content analyzed open-ended responses about pandemic-related concerns and observed responses to a checklist of items created by the research team to assess for specific physical, social, and financial consequences experienced due to the pandemic.

Results

A majority of the sample (92%) reported at least one pandemic-related concern, with the highest percentage expressing concerns coded as Concern for Others (28%), Physical Health (27%), Socializing (24%), Finance (15%) and Socio-Political-Economic (14%). Participants reported high concern severity (M = 4.03, SD = 1.04) about their concerns mentioned in response to the open-ended concerns question. When prompted with a checklist of items, participants frequently endorsed disruption in social activities as a consequence of the pandemic (83%), disruptions that could impact physical health (45%), and concern over finances as a consequence of the pandemic (41%).

Discussion and implications

Older adults most frequently mentioned concerns about the well-being and behavior of others, one’s own physical health, and the impacts of the pandemic and social distancing policies on social activities. Findings align with the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory and point to the importance of supporting older adults to maintain meaningful social engagement under conditions of a pandemic and social distancing policies.