Pandemic Vulnerability and Resilience: Quantitative and Qualitative Findings from the COVID-19 Coping Study

Chair(s)

• 

  Jessica Finlay, PhD

  Research Investigator
  Social Environment and Health Program, Institute for Social Research
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

  Slides

Co-Chair(s)

• 

  Lindsay Kobayashi, PhD

  Assistant Professor
  Epidemiology
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

• 

  Lindsay Kobayashi, PhD

  Assistant Professor
  Epidemiology
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
• LA

  Leah Abrams, PhD, MPH

  Assistant Professor
  Tufts University, Department of Community Health
  Medford, Massachusetts, United States
• 

  Gabriella Meltzer, PhD

  Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  Department of Environmental Health Science, Mailman School of Public Health
  Columbia University
  New York, New York, United States
• 

  Jessica Finlay, PhD

  Research Investigator
  Social Environment and Health Program, Institute for Social Research
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

  Slides

The COVID-19 Coping Study aims to investigate social, behavioral, health, and economic impacts of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of aging Americans. A total of 6,938 adults aged ≥55 were recruited from all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico from April-May, 2020, using a multi-frame online recruitment strategy. Participants completed a 20-minute baseline survey and a subset were recruited to complete monthly follow-up surveys for one year. A random subsample of 57 participants completed semi-structured interviews in May-July, 2021. This symposium will share novel mixed-methods insights into the ongoing experiences, perspectives, significant life events, and mental health changes among aging US adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, Kobayashi will describe the dynamic, longitudinal relationships between loneliness, anxiety, and COVID-19 worry with cognitive function and abilities. Second, Abrams investigates long-term employment outcomes and mental health trajectories among a particularly vulnerable group of older adults: those who experienced work disruptions and job loss early in the pandemic. Third, Meltzer will share how particular groups of older adults were more likely to report greater closures of key places to socialize in their neighborhoods since the pandemic onset. Fourth, Finlay will present a qualitative thematic analysis of ongoing pandemic sources of risk and vulnerability among marginalized and underserved aging adults. The symposium highlights diverse strengths and resiliencies to cope with adversities of the pandemic. Findings may inform individual- strategies and community-level policies to support aging adults during times of collective stress and trauma.

Presentations:

• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

  Acute Relationships Between Mental Health and Cognitive Function Among Aging Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Lindsay C. Kobayashi, PhD – University of Michigan
• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

  Older Adults' Work Disruptions in April/May 2020: Implications for Work Status and Mental Health Over 6 Months
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Leah Abrams, PhD, MPH – Tufts University, Department of Community Health
• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

  Social Places: Shifting Neighborhood Perceptions Among Aging Americans During COVID-19
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Gabriella Y. Meltzer, PhD – Columbia University
• 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET

  Struggles and Strength: A Qualitative Study of Diverse Voices from the COVID-19 Coping Study
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Jessica M. Finlay, PhD – University of Michigan