Visiting parents in times of COVID-19: The impact of parent-adult child contacts on the psychological health of the elderly

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and the consequent restrictions imposed by governments worldwide have affected individuals health and well-being globally. Among the most important public health costs of lockdown restrictions are the potential adverse effects on mental health. In the recent literature concerning the depressive symptoms related to the COVID-19 pandemic in older persons, one of the neglected topic is the influence of the disruption of the parent–adult child contacts on older phycological and emotional well-being. Taking advantage of data from the 8th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the SHARE Corona Survey, this study aims to fill this gap providing additional insights into the psychological status and strain on older people during the COVID-19 outbreak and contributing to the body of research on the negative association between social isolation and the psychological well-being of older individuals. Our findings show that the interventions most essential for reducing the pandemic widespread such as the “stay-at-home” order have necessarily disrupt, in several cases, the parent–child personal contacts and the social processes that facilitate psychological well-being, with negative consequences of older parents mental health.

BRUGIAVINI Agar;  DI NOVI Cinzia;  ORSO Cristina Elisa; 

2022-11-14

ELSEVIER

JRC126228

1570-677X (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X2200048X,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC126228,   

10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101152 (online),