Abstract
Objectives: We examined the effect of loneliness and the role of two mediating factors, depressive symptoms and malnutrition on subjective age among older adults during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and explored how the pandemic is affecting subjective age. Design: A convenience sample of 201 older adults aged 65 and over was interviewed. Using bootstrapping, we tested the strength and significance of the indirect effect of depressive symptoms and malnutrition (mediators) on the relationship between feelings of loneliness and subjective age. Results: The relationship between feelings of loneliness and subjective age during the COVID-19 pandemic was mediated by malnutrition, but not by depressive symptoms. In addition, the participants felt older during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the preceding period. Conclusions: An association was found among feelings of loneliness, malnutrition, and subjective age. To overcome these feelings in times of crisis like the pandemic, it is essential to develop new communication methods (technologies for managing and addressing the needs of the older population; technologies to encourage social engagement, and technologies for managing and providing remote medical services) for and with older adults that are effective in reducing loneliness, and to promote good nutrition. Possible practical solutions include new social network technologies for reducing loneliness combined with continued reliance on phone communication as an intervention of psychological support to promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent malnutrition.
Highlights
The outcomes of one of the only meta-analyses that has investigated the longitudinal effect of subjective age on future health and longevity among adults revealed that feeling younger is connected with improved physical health and longevity [4]
This was a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 201 older adults aged 65 and over, who represent the two main ethnic groups living in Israel, Jews and Arabs
In light of the loneliness potentially caused by social and physical distancing, the purpose of this study was to examine the possible connection between loneliness and subjective age during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to investigate whether loneliness was indirectly associated with subjective age through depressive symptoms and malnutrition
Summary
Subjective age refers to the degree to which people feel younger or older than their chronological age [1]. A correlation has been found between younger subjective age and important developmental processes, such as enhanced subjective wellbeing [5], better cognition test performance [6], and having fewer depressive symptoms [7]. Research has found that feeling younger than one’s chronological age is associated with higher levels of subjective wellbeing [5], greater life satisfaction [8,9], and more positive affect [5,10]. Younger subjective age is associated with having a sense of meaning in life, higher levels of optimism, and more successful aging [8].
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