The aim of the study is to investigate psychosocial factors that are associated with positive and negative coping with stress, as well as with worries about and perceived threat by COVID-19 to enable us to provide adequate support for oldest-old individuals. A paper–pencil-based survey assessed COVID-19 worries and perceived threat, depression, anxiety, somatization, social support, loneliness, resilience, positive and negative coping in a sample of n = 197 oldest-old individuals (78–100 years). Linear multivariate and binary logistic regression analyses were conducted. Individuals with high levels of resilience were more likely to feel self-efficient when coping with stress. High levels of depression, anxiety and loneliness were associated with feeling more helpless when coping with stress. However, oldest-old individuals who felt lonely also experienced situations where they felt competent in stress coping. Being male and experiencing high levels of social support was more likely associated with high levels of worries due to COVID-19. Increased age and higher levels of depression were associated with lower levels of perceived personal threat, whereas higher somatization scores were more likely associated with higher perceived personal threat. Findings suggest that mental health factors may shape the way oldest-old individuals cope with pandemic-related stress. Resilience might be an important factor to take into account when targeting an improvement in positive coping with stress. Oldest-old individuals who have higher levels of depression, anxiety and feel lonely may be supported by adapting their coping skill repertoire to reduce the feeling of helplessness when coping with stress.

Our study aims to examine the associations of sociodemographic factors, social support, resilience, and perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic with late-life depression and anxiety symptoms in a cardiovascular risk group and a matched sample from the German general population during the beginning of the pandemic and draw a comparison regarding psychosocial characteristics. Data of n = 1236 participants (aged 64–81 years) were analyzed, with n = 618 participants showing a cardiovascular risk profile, and n = 618 participants from the general population. The cardiovascular risk sample had slightly higher levels of depressive symptoms and felt more threatened by the virus due to pre-existing conditions. In the cardiovascular risk group, social support was associated with less depressive and anxiety symptoms. In the general population, high social support was associated with less depressive symptoms. Experiencing high levels of worries due to COVID-19 was associated with more anxiety in the general population. Resilience was associated with less depressive and anxiety symptoms in both groups. Compared to the general population, the cardiovascular risk group showed slightly higher levels of depressive symptomatology even at the beginning of the pandemic and may be supported by addressing perceived social support and resilience in prevention programs targeting mental health.

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Die Bevölkerungsgruppe der Hochaltrigen gehört zu den Hochrisikogruppen in Bezug auf einen schweren Erkrankungsverlauf und erhöhte Mortalität bei Ansteckung mit dem Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (engl.: Severe Acute Raspiratory Syndrom Coronavirus 2). Sie ist durch die COVID-19-Pandemie selbst, aber auch durch Maßnahmen des Gesundheitsschutzes möglicherweise einem höheren Risiko für psychische Belastung ausgesetzt. Es soll untersucht werden, wie sich Symptomatiken von Depressivität, Ängstlichkeit und Somatisierung im Verlauf der Pandemie verändern und welche Rolle die soziale Unterstützung dabei spielt. Methoden: Mittels zweier schriftlicher Befragungen von n = 156 Hochaltrigen in den Zeiträumen Mai bis Juni 2020 sowie März bis Mai 2021 wurden neben soziodemografischen Daten Faktoren der psychischen Belastung (Depressivität, Ängstlichkeit, Somatisierung) sowie die wahrgenommene soziale Unterstützung erfasst. Das mittlere Alter der Befragten betrug 87,20 Jahre (SD = 4,65; Altersspanne = 77,68–96,75 Jahre; 2020) bzw. 88,03 Jahre (SD = 4,63; Altersspanne = 78,52–97,62; 2021). Die Daten wurden mittels Wilcoxon-t-Tests und generalisierter linearer Regressionsmodelle analysiert. Ergebnisse: Es lässt sich eine signifikante Zunahme der Ausprägung psychischer Belastung hinsichtlich Depressivität, Ängstlichkeit und Somatisierung erkennen. Höhere Werte der psychischen Belastung im Jahr 2020 sind mit einer höheren psychischen Belastung im Jahr 2021 assoziiert. Eine stärkere wahrgenommene soziale Unterstützung im Jahr 2020 ist mit geringerer Depressivität ein Jahr später assoziiert. Schlussfolgerung: Bei hochaltrigen Menschen ist im Verlauf der COVID-19-Pandemie bis Mai 2021 eine Zunahme der psychischen Belastung zu verzeichnen. Sie sollten durch präventive Angebote unterstützt werden, um einer weiteren Zunahme der Symptomatik vorzubeugen. Der Ausbau von sozialer Unterstützung könnte v. a. bei der Prävention depressiver Symptomatik sinnvoll sein.

Background: Since the oldest-old population was identified as a high-risk group for a severe course of the coronavirus disease and higher mortality, it was assumed that they might be particularly psychologically burdened. The aim of the study is to analyze the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms over the course of the pandemic from 2020 to 2022, as well as psychosocial factors associated with these outcomes.Method: We analyzed data of n = 135 participants aged 78 to 97 years old (2020: M = 86.77, SD = 4.54) with three points of measurement from May to June 2020 (t1), March to May 2021 (t2) and November to January 2022 (t3). Besides sociodemographic variables, worries about the Sars-Cov-2 virus, living situation, perceived social support (ESSI), resilience (BRS), anxiety and depressive symptoms (BSI-18) were assessed. We calculated multilevel mixed-effects generalized linear models with a negative binominal distribution to model anxiety and depressive symptoms over time.Results: While there is an increase in depressive and anxiety symptoms in the investigated oldest-old individuals in Germany from 2020 to 2021, there is no further increase in symptomatology from 2021 to 2022. Participants of older age reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Higher perceived social support was associated with both less depressive and less anxiety symptoms, while resilience was associated with less depressive symptoms only. More worries about the Sars-Cov-2 virus were associated with higher anxiety levels.Conclusion: Overall, the oldest-old population appeared to show rather stable mental health after a slight increase in symptomatology within the first year of the pandemic. Social support is an important factor to target in mental health prevention programs for oldest-old individuals in times of future crises such as a pandemic.

The aim of this study is to investigate the association of different levels of educational attainment with the impact of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Late-Life Depression (LLD-CBT) compared to a supportive unspecific intervention (SUI). A secondary analysis of the multicenter, randomized controlled trial "CBTlate" was conducted with n = 229 participants aged 60 years and older with moderate to severe depression who received either LLD-CBT (n = 115) or SUI (n = 114). Depressive symptoms as outcome were assessed with the 30-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Educational attainment was categorized according to the school and vocational education based system (CASMIN). Intention-to-treat analysis was performed using multilevel mixed effects linear models. While the model showed no significant overall effect of education on treatment outcome, analysis revealed a significant treatment effect for the low educational attainment group (group*time interaction, x²(2) = 6.45, p = .040) with LLD-CBT being superior to SUI in the reduction of depressive symptoms from baseline to the end of treatment (Estimated Marginal Mean Difference (EMMD) = -5.30, 95 %-CI = -8.93 to -2.12) and to follow-up (EMMD = -7.34, 95 %-CI = -11.24 to -3.43). There was no corresponding significant effect for the medium and high educational group. In the low remission and response rates were significantly higher in the LLD-CBT compared to the SUI group at follow-up. Participants may have responded differently to LLD-CBT and SUI depending on their previous school and vocational education. This may be taken into account for future research and potentially when treating patients with LLD and individualizing interventions for this patient group.