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home / 世界杯决赛2022

more research needed to understand impacts of covid-19 stress on seniors: prof

several factors unique to older adults may make them more susceptible to high levels of stress, but more research is needed to understand these impacts.

by lynn giesbrecht
published feb 15, 2022
read time 2 minute read
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read time 2 minute read
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thomas hadjistavropoulos, psychology professor and research chair in aging and health, in his office at the university of regina on friday, january 24, 2020. troy fleece / regina leader-post
the stress of covid-19 has been felt across all ages throughout the pandemic, but two professors believe more research is needed into how that stress has impacted the elderly. gordon asmundson, a university of regina psychology professor, serves as the editor in chief of the journal of anxiety disorders. going through the work published during the pandemic, he saw a gap in research specifically on the stressors facing older adults.
he reached out to fellow u of r psychology professor thomas hadjistavropoulos, who specializes in fear and anxiety in the elderly. together they co-write an editorial recently published in the journal of anxiety disorders, encouraging people to keep an eye out for the unique stressors that may be impacting their elderly loved ones and alerting researchers to the need for more information on this demographic.
“people in long-term care we know have experienced greater isolation because public health restrictions in some cases have made it such that they couldn’t even have visitors, they couldn’t leave their rooms,” said asmundson.
“they have more direct experience with covid, so it makes sense that that subgroup may have these significantly elevated levels of covid stress, but nobody’s ever investigated that.”
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gordon asmundson, a psychology professor at the university of regina, sits in his office at the university in regina, saskatchewan on mar. 12, 2020. asmundson has been researching the anxiety and fear around covid-19.
gordon asmundson, a psychology professor at the university of regina, sits in his office at the university in regina, saskatchewan on mar. 12, 2020. asmundson has been researching the anxiety and fear around covid-19. brandon harder / regina leader-post
while studies show covid-19 stress has impacted all ages, and may even be more severe in young people than in older adults, hadjistavropoulos said several factors unique to seniors may make some older adults more susceptible to high levels of stress.
seniors are more likely to live alone than younger generations. knowing their demographic is at greatest risk if they contract covid-19, older adults are more likely to adhere to physical distancing. they are more likely to have lost a friend to covid-19 than the general population because the highest proportion of deaths are in the elderly.
all of these unique factors contribute to increased stress and loneliness.
being separated from grandchildren to protect them from covid-19 can also be acutely difficult for seniors.
“for many older adults who are grandparents, their grandchildren are a source of meaning and that’s something that uniquely affects them, i think, more than other age groups,” said hadjistavropoulos.
but no specific research has been done into the impacts of these unique factors on the stress levels older adults have been experiencing throughout the pandemic. asmundson hopes this editorial gets researchers thinking about they could add to that body of research.
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by discovering how these stresses impact the elderly, researchers could also figure out the best ways of reducing “the emotional burden of the pandemic in those individuals,” asmundson said.
in the meantime, hadjistavropoulos encouraged people to keep checking in with their elderly loved ones, paying close attention to the particular factors in their lives that might be contributing to their stress or loneliness.
lgiesbrecht@postmedia.com
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