IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i4p3398-d1069100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Depression and Medicine Use among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Psychosocial Resources and COVID-19 Perceived Susceptibility

Author

Listed:
  • Lee Greenblatt-Kimron

    (School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 4070000, Israel)

  • Shiri Shinan-Altman

    (Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel)

  • Mordechai Alperin

    (Department of Family Medicine, The Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
    Clalit Health Services, Haifa and Western Galilee District, Tel Aviv 6209804, Israel)

  • Inbar Levkovich

    (Faculty of Graduate Studies, Oranim Academic College of Education, Kiryat Tivon 3600600, Israel)

Abstract

A relationship was found between the COVID-19 pandemic and depression among older adults and between depressed mood and increased use of antidepressant medication among older adults during the pandemic. With the aim of broadening the understanding of these relationships, the study examined whether COVID-19 perceived susceptibility mediates the relationship between psychosocial resources (optimism and perceived social support) and depressive symptoms and medication use. Participants included 383 older adults ( M = 71.75, SD = 6.77) reporting on socio-demographics, health characteristics, depression, optimism, social support, and COVID-19 perceived susceptibility. Medication use was retrieved from participants medical files. Lower optimism, lower social support, and higher COVID-19 perceived susceptibility were associated with greater depression, related with higher medication use. The findings emphasize the buffering effect of psychosocial resources on the adverse effects of depression affecting older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, and consequently, the increased use of medication in this population. Practitioners should focus interventions on enhancing optimism and expanding social support among older adults. Moreover, interventions focused on alleviating depression among older adults should aim at improving perceptions of perceived susceptibility in the older population.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee Greenblatt-Kimron & Shiri Shinan-Altman & Mordechai Alperin & Inbar Levkovich, 2023. "Depression and Medicine Use among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Psychosocial Resources and COVID-19 Perceived Susceptibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-10, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3398-:d:1069100
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3398/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3398/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daiva Daukantaitė & Rita Zukauskiene, 2012. "Optimism and Subjective Well-Being: Affectivity Plays a Secondary Role in the Relationship Between Optimism and Global Life Satisfaction in the Middle-Aged Women. Longitudinal and Cross-Cultural Findi," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Maayan Shacham & Lee Greenblatt-Kimron & Yaira Hamama-Raz & Leslie R. Martin & Oren Peleg & Menachem Ben-Ezra & Eitan Mijiritsky, 2021. "Increased COVID-19 Vaccination Hesitancy and Health Awareness amid COVID-19 Vaccinations Programs in Israel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-11, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alberto Dionigi & Giulia Casu & Paola Gremigni, 2020. "Associations of Self-Efficacy, Optimism, and Empathy with Psychological Health in Healthcare Volunteers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Cristina Dumitrache & Gill Windle & Ramona Rubio Herrera, 2015. "Do Social Resources Explain the Relationship Between Optimism and Life Satisfaction in Community-Dwelling Older People? Testing a Multiple Mediation Model," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 633-654, June.
    3. Myeong-Ah Seo & Young-Jin Lim, 2019. "Optimism and life satisfaction in persons with schizophrenia living in the community," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 65(7-8), pages 615-620, November.
    4. Lindblom, Arto & Lindblom, Taru & Wechtler, Heidi, 2020. "Dispositional optimism, entrepreneurial success and exit intentions: The mediating effects of life satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 230-240.
    5. Jing-Yan Ma & Lei Shi & Tae-Won Kang, 2022. "The Effect of Digital Transformation on the Pharmaceutical Sustainable Supply Chain Performance: The Mediating Role of Information Sharing and Traceability Using Structural Equation Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Jiaxi Zhang & Danmin Miao & Yunfeng Sun & Runxuan Xiao & Lei Ren & Wei Xiao & Jiaxi Peng, 2014. "The Impacts of Attributional Styles and Dispositional Optimism on Subject Well-Being: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 757-769, November.
    7. Lee Greenblatt-Kimron & Maya Kagan & Ester Zychlinski, 2022. "Meaning in Life among Older Adults: An Integrative Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-12, December.
    8. Lourdes Rey & Cirenia Quintana-Orts & Sergio Mérida-López & Natalio Extremera, 2020. "The Relationship between Personal Resources and Depression in a Sample of Victims of Cyberbullying: Comparison of Groups with and without Symptoms of Depression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    9. Rebecca Malsam & Albert Nienhaus, 2021. "Occupational Infections among Dental Health Workers in Germany—14-Year Time Trends," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Ana Blasco-Belled & Radosław Rogoza & Cristina Torrelles-Nadal & Carles Alsinet, 2022. "Differentiating Optimists from Pessimists in the Prediction of Emotional Intelligence, Happiness, and Life Satisfaction: A Latent Profile Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 2371-2387, June.
    11. Vanchai Ariyabuddhiphongs & Joseph Li, 2016. "Buddhist Good Karma of Giving, Optimism, and Happiness Among Thai Female Sex Workers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 903-917, June.
    12. Wei Song & Taiyang Zhao & Ershuai Huang, 2022. "How Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect People’s Willingness to Pay for Health in the Short and Long Term? A Longitudinal Study during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, January.
    13. Veljko Jovanović & Dylan Molenaar & Vesna Gavrilov-Jerković & Milica Lazić, 2021. "Positive Expectancies and Subjective Well-Being: A Prospective Study Among Undergraduates in Serbia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1239-1258, March.
    14. Gillie Gabay, 2022. "Health Policies and the Play out of the COVID-Vaccine in Israel," MECOSAN, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(121), pages 57-62.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3398-:d:1069100. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.