Table_1_Depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in the oldest-old population and the role of psychosocial factors: a multivariate and multi-wave analysis.DOCX

BackgroundSince the oldest-old population was identified as a high-risk group for a severe course of the coronavirus disease and higher mortality, it was assumed that they might be particularly psychologically burdened. The aim of the study is to analyze the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms over the course of the pandemic from 2020 to 2022, as well as psychosocial factors associated with these outcomes.
MethodWe analyzed data of n = 135 participants aged 78 to 97 years old (2020: M = 86.77, SD = 4.54) with three points of measurement from May to June 2020 (t1), March to May 2021 (t2) and November to January 2022 (t3). Besides sociodemographic variables, worries about the Sars-Cov-2 virus, living situation, perceived social support (ESSI), resilience (BRS), anxiety and depressive symptoms (BSI-18) were assessed. We calculated multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear models with a negative binominal distribution to model anxiety and depressive symptoms over time.
ResultsWhile there is an increase in depressive and anxiety symptoms in the investigated oldest-old individuals in Germany from 2020 to 2021, there is no further increase in symptomatology from 2021 to 2022. Participants of older age reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Higher perceived social support was associated with both less depressive and less anxiety symptoms, while resilience was associated with less depressive symptoms only. More worries about the Sars-Cov-2 virus were associated with higher anxiety levels.
ConclusionOverall, the oldest-old population appeared to show rather stable mental health after a slight increase in symptomatology within the first year of the pandemic. Social support is an important factor to target in mental health prevention programs for oldest-old individuals in times of future crises such as a pandemic.

研究背景：高龄老年群体被明确为新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）重症及高死亡风险人群，据此推测该群体或承受更为显著的心理负担。本研究旨在分析2020年至2022年新冠大流行期间，该群体焦虑与抑郁症状的动态演变，以及与上述症状相关的社会心理影响因素。
研究方法：本研究纳入135名年龄介于78至97岁的受试者（2020年时平均年龄为86.77，标准差为4.54），分别于2020年5—6月（t1）、2021年3—5月（t2）及2022年11月至2022年1月（t3）完成三次数据采集。除社会人口学变量外，本研究还评估了受试者对新型冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）的担忧程度、居住状况、感知社会支持水平（社会支持量表，ESSI）、心理弹性（心理弹性量表，BRS）以及焦虑与抑郁症状（症状自评量表-18，BSI-18）。采用基于负二项分布的多层混合效应广义线性模型，对随时间变化的焦虑与抑郁症状进行建模分析。
研究结果：2020年至2021年间，德国受访高龄老年群体的抑郁与焦虑症状均呈上升趋势，但2021年至2022年症状未出现进一步加重。年龄更高的受试者报告的焦虑症状水平更高。更高的感知社会支持与更低的抑郁、焦虑症状均显著相关，而心理弹性仅与更低的抑郁症状相关。对新型冠状病毒（SARS-CoV-2）的担忧程度越高，受试者的焦虑症状水平也越高。
研究结论：整体而言，新冠大流行第一年，高龄老年群体的精神症状出现轻度上升后，其心理健康状况在后续阶段趋于稳定。在未来类似新冠大流行的公共卫生危机中，社会支持是高龄老年群体心理健康预防干预的重要靶点。