Aging Ment Health. 2025 May 15:1-9. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2025.2505565. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To identify subgroups of older adults whose mental health was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS: Interrupted time series (ITS) analyses were used to measure the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on symptoms of depression (mCES-D) and anxiety (GAD-7) among participants aged 65 years and older (n = 708) from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study.
RESULTS: Symptoms of depression, but not anxiety, significantly increased at the start of the pandemic, while long-term trends in depression and anxiety during the pandemic were similar to pre-pandemic trends. Participants aged 75 years and older exhibited a more rapid decline in depression symptoms over time than expected after an initial increase. Women experienced a greater immediate increase in anxiety that decreased over time, while men’s anxiety increased over time. Cognitively normal participants experienced a greater than expected immediate increase in symptoms of depression that decreased over time, while symptoms were unchanged by the pandemic for those with cognitive impairment.
CONCLUSION: Despite an initial increase in depression symptoms, the pandemic did not result in elevated symptoms of depression and anxiety long-term. The impact of the pandemic on mental health varied by age, gender, and cognitive status, suggesting some groups may have been more vulnerable than others.
PMID:40372235 | DOI:10.1080/13607863.2025.2505565
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