The Association Between Social Network and Fear of COVID-19 Among Older Adults

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions pose a significant health threat to older adults. Fear of COVID-19 is associated with increased disease transmission and numerous psychosocial health challenges. While social support has been studied extensively in gerontological literature, there is a gap in understanding how social networks influence fear of COVID-19. This study drew from a convenience sample of 239 adults 60+ years of age in the United States who completed a 20-min survey. Regression results indicate that higher social network was significantly associated with decreased fear of COVID-19. Identifying as female and as an ethnic minority were associated with increased fear of COVID-19. These findings document the need for social workers to promote enhanced social networks in reducing fear of COVID-19 among older adults and attend to disparate levels of fear among older women and people of color.

KEYWORDS:

• Fear of COVID-19
• social network
• older adults
• social isolation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.