Older people have greater life satisfaction and sense of life's worth than they did before the Covid-19 pandemic, finds a new study led by a UCL researcher.
The research, published in Aging and Mental Health, used the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) to track 3,999 people over the age of 50 in England for 11 years.
The researchers analysed the data to understand positive psychological wellbeing and depression within the group.
The three types of positive wellbeing that were analysed included: affective wellbeing (happiness), eudemonic wellbeing (whether life feels worthwhile) and evaluative wellbeing (life satisfaction).
The researchers found that all aspects of psychological wellbeing declined in the second half of 2020, with happiness dropping by 4%, sense of life's worth by 4% and life satisfaction by 7%.
However, by 2021-2023, eudemonic wellbeing had rebounded significantly, and both sense of life's worth and life satisfaction had risen to levels even higher than before the pandemic.
Depressive symptoms were measured with the 8-item version of the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CESD-8) scale.
The scale asks participants questions about different symptoms - such as how often they feel sad or have trouble sleeping. Their scores are then added up to help health professions build a picture of their mental health state.
The researchers found that overall rates of depression in older people rose from 11.4% before Covid to 27.2% during the pandemic. Afterwards, they remained elevated at 14.9%.
The authors believe that this ongoing raised level might result from the pressure faced by the health service, with people unable to, or choosing not to seek help.
Lead author, Professor Paola Zaninotto (UCL Epidemiology & Health Care), said: "As many would expect, we found that wellbeing declined during the pandemic, and instances of depression rose.
"While depression is still slightly more prevalent than before 2020, remarkably, overall older people are now more satisfied, have a greater sense of life's worth than before the pandemic and their happiness levels went back to the same levels.
"We can only speculate on the reasons for this. It perhaps could reflect a renewed appreciation for social connections and meaningful activities, as well as increased psychological resilience after a period of adversity. Improved health security following widespread vaccinations could also have contributed to this positive shift.
"We saw marked differences by age and affluence, underscoring the importance of tailored support policies for the immediate and lingering effects of pandemics on the wellbeing of our older population."
Before the pandemic began, people in their 50s reported lower positive well-being than older groups. This finding is supported by previous research which has shown that people in their late 60s and early 70s are happier than those in their 50s. This finding may reflect unique challenges faced by people in their 50s, including midlife stressors such as financial responsibilities, caregiving roles, and work pressures.
During the pandemic, the researchers found that people in their 50s did not become significantly more unhappy, and suggest this may be because their positive well-being levels were already low.
Increases in depressive symptoms were larger in this group, although they also showed greater recovery after the pandemic, suggesting a good degree of resilience or an ability to adapt.
Meanwhile, in people aged over 75, the team observed smaller improvements in depression and positive well-being than others after the pandemic. This could stem from persistent vulnerabilities as they may have socialised less, had more health limitations, or have been slower to adapt, psychologically.
It could also be that their mental well-being was impacted by the long-lasting nature of the pandemic and the fact Covid was riskier for them.
At all times, levels of depression were higher in the least affluent group. But perhaps counter-intuitively, the psychological well-being of wealthier participants fell more than that of the poorer cohort during the pandemic itself; they showed larger decreases in happiness, eudemonic well-being and life satisfaction.
The authors suggest that it's possible that they experienced relatively greater disruption to their lives, as they could not continue their perhaps more habitual traveling, socialising or dining out.
As the overall reduction in the prevalence of depression after the pandemic ended was only partial, the authors state that there is "a need for continued mental health support, particularly for those who were most affected."
Professor Zaninotto added: "Our results reinforce the need for policies that address both the immediate and lingering effects of the pandemic on mental health.
"Furthermore, the findings demonstrate the importance of tailored support policies to address these impacts on the mental health of our older populations at large, over and above the serious effects of long Covid."
Study limitations
Limitations of the study include the measurement of positive psychological well-being.
The authors explain that constraints on assessment protocols during the pandemic prevented the use of multi-item measures. As a result, their findings may not capture the full complexity and nuance of positive psychology.
