Dataset Information

Who Gets Help? A National Longitudinal Study of Personal Networks and Pandemic Support among Older Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Personal networks provide social support for older adults, perhaps especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when traditional avenues may be disrupted. We provide one of the first population-based studies on how pre-pandemic personal networks predict support during the pandemic among older adults, with attention to gender and race variation.

Method

We analyzed longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project Round 3 (2015/16) and COVID-19 Round (2020) (N=2622, 55.68% female, 78.75% white, aged 50-99), a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling older Americans. We considered structure (i.e., size, density) and composition (i.e., proportion female and kin) of pre-pandemic personal networks, estimating multinomial logistic models to predict self-reported need and receipt of instrumental help and emotional support during the pandemic.

Results

Larger pre-pandemic confidant networks predicted higher risk of receiving needed pandemic help and support, higher risk of receiving help and support more often than pre-pandemic, and lower risk of being unable to get help. Denser pre-pandemic networks also predicted higher risk of receiving pandemic help and support. Furthermore, how network size and density related to support differed with respondent race, and a greater proportion of kin in pre-pandemic networks predicted higher risk of receiving help for non-white older adults only.

Discussion

Older adults' pre-pandemic confidant network structure and composition can provide underlying conditions for receiving pandemic social support. Findings speak to policies and programs that aim to foster social support or identify vulnerable groups that suffer the greatest unmet need for support during a global crisis.

SUBMITTER: Copeland M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9452150 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Who Gets Help? A National Longitudinal Study of Personal Networks and Pandemic Support Among Older Adults.

Copeland Molly M Liu Hui H

The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences 20230201 2

<h4>Objectives</h4>Personal networks provide social support for older adults, perhaps especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic when traditional avenues may be disrupted. We provide one of the first population-based studies on how prepandemic personal networks predict support during the pandemic among older adults, with attention to gender and race variation.<h4>Method</h4>We analyzed longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project Round 3 (201 ...[more]

PMID: 36001071

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