Explanation of emotional-based coping strategies of the older people against the stresses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background and Purpose: The Covid-19 pandemic has created stressful conditions for millions of people. Older adults are experiencing a wide range of stresses caused by the pandemic, and they deal with these stresses using different techniques. People usually use a combination of several coping strategies that may differ for each individual depending on the specific stressor. Emotion-based strategies are generally not associated with positive consequences, and a correct understanding of the reasons for using these strategies in older adults and their perceptions and beliefs regarding their use of these strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the emotion-based coping strategies of older adults against the stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods: This study was conducted applying a sequential, explanatory, and mixed study comprising two quantitative and qualitative phases. In the quantitative part of the study, to investigate the coping strategies of older adults, a cross-sectional study was used by participating of 412 people over 60 years of age who were randomly selected from the health centers of Sanandaj City. In the second part, 12 older adults who had applied emotion-oriented strategies were approached and interviewed using purposeful and content analysis methods. Results: In the quantitative part of the study, 197 women (47.8%) and 215 older men with an average age of 67.15 ± 4.7 were interviewed. The results of the multivariate analysis of variance showed that the average use of avoidance strategies was higher among men than women (p=0.026). In addition, the average use of escape avoidance strategies among the elderly with a spouse was lower than that of older adults without a spouse (p=0.001). In addition, the average rate of using the emotion-oriented escape avoidance strategy in older adults with university education was lower than that of older adults in other educational groups. On the other hand, the elderly who lived alone used more emotional escape avoidance strategies. 28 categories and five themes were extracted from qualitative interviews. Taking refuge in God, invulnerability, avoidance response, preventive nutritional beliefs, and a lack of trust were the five main themes.

Conclusion: In the covid-19 pandemic, older adults have used a wide range of coping strategies. The results of the present study showed that several factors affected the strategies used by the elderly to deal with the stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The existence of religious thoughts, belief in invulnerability, and lack of trust caused the participants to use emotion-based strategies more. The mental health of older adults can be improved by strengthening problem-oriented strategies. It is suggested that, in future studies, interventions should be designed to reduce the factors causing emotional strategies, as well as training and strengthening problem-oriented strategies in the elderly, and the effect of these strategies on their mental health should be investigated.