Quality of life and coping strategies in the Covid-19 pandemic: Comparison analysis between middle-aged and eldery people

Abstract

The emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has triggered a global public health crisis and posed an unprecedented threat to mental health worldwide. The aim of this study was to compare quality of life variables and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic between two different age groups: middle-aged people and elderly people. Descriptive and comparative studies were carried out. The study has a quantitative, correlational and cross-sectional design. The sample was for convenience and not probabilistic. 311 people aged over 40 years were interviewed. The following evaluation instruments were used: socio-demographic data, EUROHIS- QOL and the Coping Strategies Inventory. For the comparative study of means, the Mann-Whitney U test was used, with a significance level ≤. 0.05. For the statistical study, IBM-SPSS, v. 28.0. A statistically significant relationship (p<0.001) was identified with respect to the variable satisfaction with personal relationships during the pandemic, being higher among the group of elderly people. Coping strategies were more used by the middle-aged group (p=0.050). Coping strategies: thought that the situation happened because of others (p=0.031), complained or vented to someone (p<0.001), showed hostility (p=0.018), drank and ate excessively to compensate or to forget what was happening (p<0.001), shouting and swearing (p<0.001) were more used by middle-aged people. The strategy trusted in God or in some higher being or force was more used by elderly participants (p=0.012). The expression of negative emotions was more used by the middle-aged group (p<0.001) and the inhibition of emotions as well (p=0.002). The results highlight the resilience of older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide additional insight into the influence of pandemic-related stressors on age-related psychosocial functioning.