Benefit-finding buffers the effects of home confinement and centralized quarantine (HCCQ) on late midlife and older adults' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Aging & mental health Vol. 27; no. 3; pp. 489 - 495
• Main Authors: Zhang, Fan, Cheng, Sheung-Tak
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 04.03.2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adults; Adversity; Aged; Anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; Anxiety - psychology; Benefit-finding; Centralization; centralized quarantine; Complications; Confinement; COVID-19; COVID-19 - prevention & control; Depression - psychology; Effects; Geriatric psychiatry; home confinement; Humans; late midlife and older adults; Life satisfaction; Life stress; Loneliness; Loneliness - psychology; Mental depression; Mental Health; Middle age; Midlife; Older people; Pandemics; Protective factors; Quarantine; Quarantine - psychology; Social interactions; Social isolation; Stress; Well being; home confinement; well-being; late midlife and older adults; Benefit-finding; centralized quarantine
• ISSN: 1360-7863; 1364-6915
• DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2048357

Objective: Older adults' well-being may suffer due to prolonged social isolation leading to loneliness and increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study aimed to address the role of benefit-finding, defined as the capacity to derive meaning and positive aspects from stressful situations, in late midlife and older adults' adaptation to the effects of home confinement and centralized quarantine (HCCQ).Methods: 421 participants aged 50 or above in mainland of China participated in an online survey to study the effects of HCCQ on loneliness, stress, anxiety, depression and life satisfaction, as well as the moderating role of benefit-finding.Results: Correlational analysis showed that a history of HCCQ was basically unrelated to any outcome. However, the effect actually varied by levels of benefit-finding. Among late midlife and older people with lower benefit-finding, those who had experienced HCCQ reported more loneliness, perceived stress, as well as more anxiety and depressive symptoms; no such relationships were found when benefit-finding was moderate or high.Conclusion: The findings extended our understanding of the role of benefit-finding in buffering the negative impact of adversity. By mitigating the effects of prolonged social isolation, benefit-finding served as a protective factor in late midlife and older people's adaptation to the sequelae of this pandemic.