In-Person Social Interactions and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Household Size and Virtual Social Contact Among Midlife and Older Black South African Adults.

Autor:	Harriman NW; Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA., Ohene-Kwofie D; MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa., Jung SJ; Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.; Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea., Hermosilla S; Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, New York, USA., Gómez-Olivé FX; MRC/Wits Rural Public Health and Health Transitions Research Unit (Agincourt), School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa., Jennings EA; Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences [J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci] 2024 Apr 01; Vol. 79 (4).
DOI:	10.1093/geronb/gbad175
Abstrakt:	Objectives: The current study investigates how physical distancing during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with increased anxiety among a cohort of midlife older Black South African adults and the extent to which household size and virtual social contact modify this association for men and women. Methods: We analyze data from a phone survey conducted from July 2021 to March 2022 as part of Health and Aging in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (n = 2,080). We employ logistic regression to estimate the association between changes in in-person social interactions and anxiety symptoms and examine whether the association is modified by household size and changes in virtual social contact. We perform analyses separately for women and men. Results: Declines in in-person social interactions were associated with increased anxiety for women and men (odds ratios [OR] = 2.52, p < .001). For women only, declines were greater for those living in larger households (OR = 1.11, p = .032). Declines were buffered by increased virtual social contact for both women (OR = 0.55, p = .025) and men (OR = 0.45, p = .019). Discussion: Although the anxiety symptoms of women and men were similarly affected by declines in in-person social interaction, the modifying influence of household size is unique to women, likely due to gender-specific social roles. For women, living in larger households may mean greater caregiving burden, exacerbating the detrimental association between physical distancing and anxiety. On the other hand, both women and men may have used virtual means to connect with friends and family living outside their homes, buffering against increased anxiety. (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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