COVID-19 worry, mental health indicators, and preparedness for future care needs across the adult lifespan

Abstract

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a source of worry for many, but older adults have been identified as more vulnerable to serious cases and may therefore feel more concerned about the virus. We assessed whether COVID-19 worry was related to indicators of mental health and preparedness for future care, in an adult lifespan sample.

Method

An online study (n = 485; age 18–82, M = 49.31, SD = 15.39) included measures of COVID-19 worry, depression, general anxiety, health anxiety, hostile and benevolent ageism, preparedness for future care, and demographic information.

Results

Age and living alone were positively associated with greater COVID-19 worry, as were health anxiety, general anxiety, benevolent ageism, and preparedness for future care needs via gathering information. A significant interaction indicated that among individuals reporting lower health anxiety, greater preference for gathering information was positively associated with greater COVID-19 worry; however, for individuals having high health anxiety, gathering information about future care was not related to COVID-19 worry, as their COVID-19 worry levels were moderately high.

Conclusion

Older age was associated with greater COVID-19 worry, perhaps in response to the much publicized greater risk for negative outcomes in this population. In spite of this specific concern, indicators of older adults’ continued mental health emerged. Preparedness for future care is also highlighted, as well as clinical implications.

Keywords:

• Aging
• COVID-19 worry
• health-related anxiety
• benevolent ageism
• preparation for future care needs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Stereotype embodiment theory (Levy, 2009) suggests that negative age-related stereotypes are internalized in later life, and increasing self-relevance of stereotypes can influence older adults’ attitudes about their own aging, raising the possibility of an interaction of age and ageist attitudes. We examined interactions between age and the two ageism variables, as well as age and each of the other predictors. Additionally, we examined if age and COVID-19 worry were nonlinearly related by including a squared age term in a polynomial regression equation. None of the interactions were statistically significant, and there was no support for a quadratic association between age and COVID-19 worry

2 We also tested for measurement invariance of the gathering information items across the two age groups and found that while factor loadings and intercepts of the other gathering information items were invariant across groups, the factor loading and intercept for this particular item were significantly greater in the older group, suggesting that gathering information related to future care is of greater importance for those over 50.