Meaning in challenging times: Sense of meaning supports wellbeing despite pandemic stresses.

The COVID-19 pandemic created stress and trauma for many individuals. Traumatic experiences often trigger reflection on meaning in life, with subsequent growth or despair. This study evaluates the role of meaning in life in buffering stressors in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the negative effects of COVID-19 stressors (self-perceived stress, emotional state, and cognitive adaptation to stress in the pandemic) are influenced by meaning in life in the context of the early stages of the pandemic. Further, this study described differences in meaning in life observed across demographic groups. Web-based surveys were completed by 831 Slovenian participants in April of 2020. Demographic data; perceptions of stressors related to lacking necessities, movement restrictions, and concerns at home; meaning in life; perceived overall health status; anxiety; emotional state; and perceived stress were measured. A moderately strong sense of meaning in life (M = 5.0, SD = 0.74, range 1-7) was reported by participants, and meaning in life was associated with enhanced wellbeing (B = 0.06-.28, p < .01). Both direct and indirect relationships were observed between stressors and wellbeing outcomes. The indirect effects of meaning in life were especially prominent in the relationship between stressors related to lacking necessities and concerns at home and outcomes of anxiety, perceived stress, and negative emotions, contributing 13-27% of the total observed effects. Increased meaning in life was observed across older age groups (F(5, 825) = 4.8, p < .001) and for those in partnered relationships (t(829) = -3.397, p <.001). A strong sense of meaning in life was associated with improved well-being, even for individuals who experienced pandemic-related stressors. Public health initiatives and media may help improve resilience to pandemic trauma by emphasizing the collective meaning in challenging situations.

The Effect of Vaccines on Older African Americans Emotional Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented health emergency that has forced a change in the daily life of all individuals across the nation for over a year. As vaccinations have begun in Detroit, we examined their effect on older African Americans’ emotional experiences and intent to get vaccinated during the pandemic to help understand how persons make decisions to accept vaccinations. For this study, 194 community-dwelling older African Americans (mean age = 75, age range = 64-94) were recruited from the Wayne State Institute of Gerontology Healthier Black Elders Center and general Detroit area. A telephone survey was administered to assess pandemic experience including demographics, emotional responses (e.g., gratitude, happiness, anger, fear), everyday stressors (e.g., economic problems, reduced privacy), and vaccination attitude (e.g., concern over safety, intent to vaccinate). Of the 194 participants, 149 completed the survey before the first vaccination occurred in the United States on December 15, 2020, and 45 completed the survey after. Participants had not yet been vaccinated, but 67% said they would as soon as available. Participants in the post-vaccination group, as compared to pre-vaccination group, showed increases in stress-related locus of control (p=.03) and reported being more likely to get vaccinated (p=.02). They showed decreased worry about availability of health and safety supplies (p=.01), reduced perceived stress (p=.02), and a decrease in fears of COVID-19 (p=.05) and vaccination safety (p<.001). The current study highlights the effect of vaccinations on the attitudes and emotions experienced by an older minority population living in an urban area.

Attitudes and Beliefs of Older Black Americans Toward the COVID-19 Virus and Vaccine

The COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented health emergency, has devastated the nation, and disproportionately affected persons of color, especially Black Americans. It has forced health officials to rapidly develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines, resulting in the importance of understanding Black Americans’ attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19. We analyzed experiences of 167 Black Americans, ages 65 and older, recruited from Wayne State Institute of Gerontology Healthier Black Elders Center and surrounding communities. Participants were telephoned starting September 2020 and given the GAD-7 anxiety scale and a COVID-19 questionnaire measuring demographics, stressors, and emotional responses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. A scale was also designed, adapted from the Health Belief Model, to measure fear of getting COVID-19, beliefs about the origins of COVID-19, uncertainty about vaccine safety, and intent to be vaccinated (5-point Likert scale). Of the 167 participants, 112 (67%) said they would agree to vaccination, 24 (14%) were ambivalent, and 31 (19%) said they would decline. T-tests comparing pro- and anti-vaccine participants showed that those not planning to get vaccinated expressed lower generalized anxiety (p=.002), COVID-19 fear (p<.001), and concerns about vaccine safety (p=.01), but greater belief that COVID-19 is man-made (p=.05). The current study provides a snapshot of urban Black American older adults who are in general eager to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Counterintuitively, those unwilling to accept the COVID-19 vaccine also had lower concerns for vaccine safety. More research is needed to fully understand the attitudes and beliefs of this underserved population regarding the COVID-19 virus and vaccine.

Predictors of generalized anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic in older African Americans in Detroit

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is a health emergency that has forced a change in the daily life of individuals across all nations, races and socioeconomic groups for over a year. Such a crisis has required social isolation, the closing of businesses, schools and many recreational activities. This abrupt change has had negative effects on mental health, especially in the most vulnerable populations. Method For this study, 164 community-dwelling older African Americans (mean age = 75.6, range = 65-94) were recruited from the Wayne State Institute of Gerontology Healthier Black Elders Center and general Detroit area. Responses were gathered over the phone between July 28, 2020 to January 14, 2021. Generalized anxiety was measured by the GAD-7. Responses to COVID-19 were measured by: positive emotions (eg., gratitude, happiness), negative emotion (eg., anger, fear), unmet needs (eg., food, medical care), and personal issues (eg., economic problems, reduced privacy). Result Of the participants, 12 reported having COVID-19, with 48% reporting a close family member having the virus, 26% had a death in the family and 67% endorse feelings of isolation. Average anxiety on the GAD-7 was 6.2 (SD = 5.4, range = 0-21). Of the 163 participants that completed the scale, 46% reported no anxiety, 28% reported mild anxiety, 17% reported moderate anxiety, and 9 % reported severe anxiety. In a stepwise regression, the following factors were found to predict GAD scores: negative emotions (51% explained variance), positive emotions (3% explained variance) and daily stressors brought on by COVID-19 (1% explained variance). Further analyses were completed to evaluate additional models to assess the interrelationships between predictors and significant COVID-related milestones. Conclusion This current study among older African Americans living in an urban area highlights daily-life risk factors for anxiety during the time of COVID-19. Negative emotions as primary predictors are factors which can be specifically addressed with current psychosocial services. More research is needed in order to fully understand the scope and correlates of anxiety predictors during these challenging times.

Effects of COVID-19 on cognition of older African Americans

Background The Covid-19 pandemic, with its diverse effects (e.g., on quality of life, health and illness, physical and psychological well-being, social and economic life), has also been suggested to effect cognitive functioning. To better understand the possible effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined cognitive functioning of older African Americans. Method Study included 164 community-dwelling older African Americans (mean age= 75.6, range=64-94) recruited from the Wayne State Institute of Gerontology Healthier Black Elders Center and general Detroit area. Responses were gathered over the phone between 7/28/2020 to 1/14/2021. Change in cognitive functioning was evaluated with the newly developed Cognitive Change Questionnaire (CCQ) in which participants self-evaluated their cognition related to daily activities (e.g., memorizing, paying attention, task switching) on a 5-point scale (1?Much easier, 3?No difference, to 5?Much harder), comparing it to the pre-pandemic time. In addition, all participants received the TICSm phone-based cognitive screen. Responses to COVID-19 were measured on these scales: positive emotions (e.g., gratitude, happiness), negative emotion (e.g., anger, fear), unmet needs (e.g., food, medical care), and personal issues (e.g., economic problems, reduced privacy). Result Findings showed that 106 (65%) participants did not report any COVID-19 related cognitive changes, 7 (4%) indicated improved cognitive functioning, and 50 (31%) indicated that their cognitive functioning was worse as compared to pre-COVID-19 times. Average CCQ scale score (range 8-40) was 26.86. CCQ scale showed good psychometric properties (Cronbach alpha=.84). Significant correlations were obtained between CCQ and TICSm subscales: r=?.16 (p=.05) with total score, r=?.19 (p=.01) with immediate recall, and r=?.24 (p=.002) with delayed recall. Stepwise regression analysis showed that COVID-19 related responses explained 24% of variability on CCQ: participants reported greater cognitive decline if they expressed greater level of negative emotions (21% explained variance) and higher anxiety (3% explained variance). Conclusion These results demonstrate that a sizeable percentage of older community-dwelling African Americans do self-report cognitive decline following COVID-19, associated with increased presence of negative emotions and anxiety. The possibility of altered cognitive function should be considered not only for quality-of-care issues, but also when recruiting for research trials during and after the pandemic.

Vaccination beliefs in older African Americans in Detroit during the Covid-19 pandemic

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated multiple Countries targeting vulnerable populations. In Michigan there have been over 550,000 confirmed cases and over 14,000 deaths that forced health officials to rapidly develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines (MDHHS, 2021). As researchers study the COVID-19 virus and vaccines, it is important to understand the educational needs of the public in deciding intent to accept the vaccine. Method We analyzed factors correlated with generalized anxiety rates in 150 African Americans age 65 and older, recruited from Wayne State Institute of Gerontology Healthier Black Elders Center and surrounding communities. Participants completed telephone questionnaires measuring demographics, stressors associated with COVID-19 pandemic, and emotions. A scale was designed using the Health Belief Model assessing beliefs, susceptibility, severity, conspiracy beliefs of Covid-19 (man-made), and intent to be vaccinated. Applying factor analysis, questions were divided into: fear of COVID-19 (I am worried about the likelihood of getting COVID-19, My chances of getting COVID-19 in next few months is great, I will be very sick if I get COVID-19, Vaccinations decrease chances of infections or complications, I will get the vaccine if I receive adequate information), vaccination safety (I am concerned the vaccine will not work, I am concerned the vaccine will not be safe, Side effects from the vaccine interfere with activities and, Vaccinations make me less worried). Participants responded to these questions on 5-point Likert scale (from ?Strongly Disagree? to ?Strongly Agree?). Result Of 150 participants, 67% expressed intention to get vaccinated while only 15% were reluctant to vaccinate. Stepwise regression analysis showed that fear of COVID-19 and vaccination safety explained 49% variance of intent to vaccinate. Vaccination safety was predicted by age, loneliness, vulnerability, and positive emotions (R2 = 20%). Fear of COVID-19 was predicted by anxiety and positive emotions (R2 = 8%). Conclusion This study provides a snapshot of urban African American older adults who are generally eager to get vaccinated for COVID-19, and predictors of intent to get vaccinated. More research is needed to understand the scope of educational needs to increase the likelihood of older African Americans to get vaccinated.

The Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Subjective Cognitive Decline During the COVID-19 Epidemic.

During the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, fear of disease and its consequences, recommended lifestyle changes, and severe restrictions set by governments acted as stressors and affected people's mood, emotions, mental health, and wellbeing. Many studies conducted during this crisis focused on affective and physiological responses to stress, but few studies examined how the crisis affected cognition. The present cross-sectional study examined the relationship between physiological, affective, and cognitive responses to the epidemic. In an online survey conducted at the height of the first wave of the epidemic in Slovenia (April 15-25, 2020), 830 Slovenian residents aged 18-85 years reported the effects of stressors (confinement, problems at home, problems at work, lack of necessities, and increased workload), experienced emotions, generalized anxiety, perceived stress, changes in health, fatigue and sleep quality, and perceived changes in cognition during the epidemic. Risk factors for stress (neuroticism, vulnerability, general health, gender, and age) were also recorded. We hypothesized that stressors and stress risk factors will be related to subjective cognitive decline, with negative emotions, generalized anxiety, perceived stress, and physical symptoms acting as mediator variables. On average, the results showed a mild subjective cognitive decline during the epidemic. In structural equation modeling, 34% of its variance was predicted by the mediator variables, with negative emotions and physical symptoms having the largest contribution. Stress risk factors were predictably related to the four mediator variables. Among the stressors, confinement showed the strongest effect on the four mediator variables, implying the importance of thoughtful communication about necessary restrictive measures during emergency circumstances. The results of this study indicate that the possibility of altered cognitive function should be considered when planning work and study activities during the epidemic.

Sex differences and psychological stress: responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

BACKGROUND: About 83,000 COVID-19 patients were confirmed in China up to May 2020. Amid the well-documented threats to physical health, the effects of this public health crisis - and the varied efforts to contain its spread - have altered individuals' "normal" daily functioning. These impacts on social, psychological, and emotional well-being remain relatively unexplored - in particular, the ways in which Chinese men and women experience and respond to potential behavioral stressors. Our study investigated sex differences in psychological stress, emotional reactions, and behavioral responses to COVID-19 and related threats among Chinese residents. METHODS: In late February (2020), an anonymous online questionnaire was disseminated via WeChat, a popular social media platform in China. The cross-sectional study utilized a non-probabilistic "snowball" or convenience sampling of residents from various provinces and regions of China. Basic demographic characteristics (e.g., age and gender) - along with residential living arrangements and conditions - were measured along with psychological stress and emotional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Three thousand eighty-eight questionnaires were returned: 1749 females (56.6%) and 1339 males (43.4%). The mean stress level,as measured by a visual analog scale, was 3.4 (SD = 2.4) - but differed significantly by sex. Besides sex, factors positively associated with stress included: age (< 45 years), employment (unsteady income, unemployed), risk of infection (exposureto COVID-19, completed medical observation), difficulties encountered (diseases, work/study, financial, mental), and related behaviors (higher desire for COVID-19 knowledge, more time concerning on the COVID-19 outbreak). "Protective" factors included frequent contact with colleagues, calmness of mood comparing with the pre-pandemic, and psychological resilience. Males and females also differed significantly in adapting to current living/working, conditions, responding to run a fever, and needing psychological support services. CONCLUSIONS: The self-reported stress of Chinese residents related to the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly related to sex, age, employment, resilience and coping styles. Future responses to such public health threats may wish to provide sex- and/or age-appropriate supports for psychological health and emotional well-being to those at greatest risk of experiencing stress.