Older adults’ coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic – a longitudinal mixed-methods study

Frontiers in Psychology

Psychology

Kathrin Brockmann¹  Walter Maetzler²  Daniela Berg²  Anna-Katharina von Thaler³  Theresa Dankowski⁴  Sebastian Heinzel⁴  Ansgar Thiel⁵  Lydia Kastner⁶  Christian Mychajliw⁷  Gerhard W. Eschweiler⁷  Ulrike Suenkel⁸  Andreas J. Fallgatter⁹ 

[1] Department of Neurodegeneration, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein and Kiel University, Kiel, Germany;Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein and Kiel University, Kiel, Germany;Department of Neurodegeneration, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein and Kiel University, Kiel, Germany;Institute of Medical Informatics and Statistics, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein and Kiel University, Kiel, Germany;Institute for Sport Science, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Lead Graduate School and Research Network, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Institute for Sport Science, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany;Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany;Geriatric Center, Tübingen University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany;Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany;German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;Tübingen Center for Mental Health (TüCMH), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany;German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany;

关键词: COVID-19;    coping;    Lazarus stress model;    psychosocial factors;    older adults;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1209021

 received in 2023-04-21, accepted in 2023-08-08,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionOlder age is a main risk factor for severe COVID-19. In 2020, a broad political debate was initiated as to what extent older adults need special protection and isolation to minimize their risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, isolation might also have indirect negative psychological (e.g., loneliness, stress, fear, anxiety, depression) or physical (e.g., lack of exercise, missing medical visits) consequences depending on individual strategies and personality traits to cope longitudinally with this crisis.MethodsTo examine the impact of individuals’ coping with the pandemic on mental health, a large sample of 880 older adults of the prospective longitudinal cohort TREND study were surveyed six times about their individual coping strategies in the COVID-19 pandemic between May 2020 (05/2020: Mage = 72.1, SDage = 6.4, Range: 58–91 years) and November 2022 in an open response format. The relevant survey question was: “What was helpful for you to get through the last months despite the COVID-19 pandemic? E.g., phone calls, going for a walk, or others.”Results and DiscussionIn total, we obtained 4,561 records containing 20,578 text passages that were coded and assigned to 427 distinct categories on seven levels based on qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA. The results allow new insights into the impact of personal prerequisites (e.g., value beliefs, living conditions), the general evaluation of the pandemic (e.g., positive, irrelevant, stressful) as well as the applied coping strategies (e.g., cognitive, emotional- or problem-focused) to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic by using an adapted Lazarus stress model. Throughout the pandemic emotional-focused as well as problem-focused strategies were the main coping strategies, whereas general beliefs, general living conditions and the evaluation were mentioned less frequently.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Kastner, Suenkel, Eschweiler, Dankowski, von Thaler, Mychajliw, Brockmann, Maetzler, Berg, Fallgatter, Heinzel and Thiel.