Emotional Well-being During the First Four Months of COVID-19 in the United States

Abstract

Relative to younger adults, older adults have demonstrated higher emotional well-being in the face of the threats of COVID-19 (e.g., Bruine de Bruin in J Gerontol 10.1093/geronb/gbaa074, 2020) and other events (Bonanno and Diminich in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 54:378–401, 2013). Thus, we predicted that levels of well-being would show minimal change in the first 4 months of COVID-19, with older adults faring better than younger adults. Adults (N = 325, M age = 39.7, SD = 12.3) were surveyed before the pandemic began and at four additional time points throughout the first 4 months of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. Participants provided demographic information and completed measures of positive and negative affect. Latent growth curves were used to analyze changes in well-being over time, with age as a covariate. There was a significant linear increase in positive affect. Older age was positively associated with initial levels, but age was not associated with the slope. There was a significant curvilinear pattern in negative affect, with an initial increase, which, although remaining elevated, exhibited slow decreases over time. Age was significantly and negatively associated with initial negative affect, but age did not influence the shape or rate of change over time. We detected changes in both positive affect and negative affect during the first 4 months of COVID-19. The magnitude of these changes suggests that the stress of COVID-19 does not lead to an immediate decrease in well-being. Moreover, although older adults showed higher positive affect and lower negative affect relative to other adults, age differences in the trajectory of change did not emerge. Delayed and long-term effects on well-being and whether those effects are age-invariant should be examined over longer periods of time.