The Association Between Social Network and Fear of COVID-19 Among Older Adults.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Schilz, Matthew; Steward, Andrew; Wang, Kaipeng; Ingle, M. Pilar; De Fries, Carson M.; Hasche, Leslie K.
- Source
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work. Nov/Dec2022, Vol. 65 Issue 8, p822-831. 10p.
- Subject
- *RESEARCH
*COVID-19
*MINORITIES
*SOCIAL support
*SOCIAL networks
*FEAR
*REGRESSION analysis
*SURVEYS
*SEX distribution
*SOCIAL isolation
*INDEPENDENT living
*SCALE analysis (Psychology)
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*STATISTICAL sampling
*ETHNIC groups
*SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors
*DATA analysis software
- Language
- ISSN
- 0163-4372
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions pose a significant health threat to older adults. Fear of COVID-19 is associated with increased disease transmission and numerous psychosocial health challenges. While social support has been studied extensively in gerontological literature, there is a gap in understanding how social networks influence fear of COVID-19. This study drew from a convenience sample of 239 adults 60+ years of age in the United States who completed a 20-min survey. Regression results indicate that higher social network was significantly associated with decreased fear of COVID-19. Identifying as female and as an ethnic minority were associated with increased fear of COVID-19. These findings document the need for social workers to promote enhanced social networks in reducing fear of COVID-19 among older adults and attend to disparate levels of fear among older women and people of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]