Rural/urban differences in mental health and social well-being among older US adults in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objectives

This study seeks to identify differences in mental health and social well-being during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic among older adults by rural/urban location.

Methods

We use data from the COVID-19 Coping Study, a nation-wide online study of U.S. adults aged 55 and older (n = 6,873) fielded during April-May, 2020. We investigated rural/urban differences in mental health (depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms) and social well-being (loneliness and social isolation); concern about COVID-19; and types of social participation (e.g. phone/video calls, visits). We also used multivariable logistic regression models to assess the relationship of rurality with mental health, adjusting for socio-demographic correlates, COVID-19 history, and COVID-19 concern.

Results

We found similar prevalence of mental health and social well-being outcomes for rural and urban respondents. Rural respondents reported lower concern about COVID-19 and more frequent use of social media than urban respondents.

Conclusion

Mental health and social well-being did not differ by rural/urban location in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, rural residents reported less concern about COVID-19 and more use of social media, potentially leading to greater risk of illness from the pandemic in later months.

Keywords:

• Rural
• COVID-19
• social isolation
• loneliness
• environmental factors/housing/rural-urban factors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Pearson’s chi-square unless otherwise noted

2 Adjusted Wald test

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under grant numbers P30AG012846 (Kobayashi) and P30AG066613 (Henning-Smith); the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research Postdoctoral Translational Scholar Program UL1 TR002240-02 (Finlay); the NIH/NIA Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship F32 AG064815-01 (Finlay); and by the University of Minnesota Fesler-Lampert Chair in Aging Studies and Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation (Henning-Smith).