Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA.
Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2022 Jul 5;77(7):e117-e122. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbab173.
Research on the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among older adults has primarily focused on relatively acute virus outcomes, but it is likely financial hardships during this time have eroded the adaptive capacity of older adults. It is also possible these impacts vary by race and ethnicity. We examine changes in psychological resilience (PR) among older adults before and during the pandemic to determine whether financial hardships and other stressors have altered this resource for White, Black, and Hispanic older adults.
Using the COVID-19 module released by the Health and Retirement Study (n = 735), we examined changes in PR between 2016 and 2020 related to financial hardships during COVID-19. We tested interactions to determine whether the effects were patterned by race and ethnicity.
Consistent with previous literature, resilience was relatively stable during this time on average. Financial hardship during COVID-19 diminished resilience, but this effect was concentrated primarily among White Americans.
The results suggest that PR is a relatively stable resource in later life, even during the pandemic. However, this resource may be affected in the face of specific challenges in later life. Policies related to financial hardship during the pandemic should be seen as supporting the capacity for older adults to adapt to current as well as future challenges.
针对老年人的 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的研究主要集中在相对急性的病毒结果上，但在此期间，经济困难可能削弱了老年人的适应能力。也有可能这些影响因种族和民族而异。我们研究了大流行前后老年人心理弹性（PR）的变化，以确定财务困难和其他压力源是否改变了白人、黑人和西班牙裔老年人的这种资源。
使用健康与退休研究（n = 735）发布的 COVID-19 模块，我们研究了与 COVID-19 期间财务困难相关的 2016 年至 2020 年期间 PR 的变化。我们测试了交互作用，以确定这些影响是否存在种族和民族模式。
与之前的文献一致，在此期间，弹性平均相对稳定。COVID-19 期间的经济困难削弱了弹性，但这种影响主要集中在白种美国人中。
结果表明，PR 是晚年相对稳定的资源，即使在大流行期间也是如此。然而，在晚年面临特定挑战时，这种资源可能会受到影响。与大流行期间经济困难相关的政策应被视为支持老年人适应当前和未来挑战的能力。
