Type and frequency of social contacts associated with low mood before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in older adults: I-CONECT project.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Social isolation is a risk factor for dementia, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. It is possible that lack of social contacts negatively affects emotional well-being, which leads to cognitive decline. To shed light on this potential mediation mechanism, we examined changes in type and frequency of social contacts and their effects on mood using data collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among socially isolated older adults aged 75 and older.

Method

The data come from an ongoing randomized controlled trial, the Internet-Based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial (I-CONECT, ClinicalTirals.gov: NCT02871921). One hundred forty-six participants (age=81.0±4.5, 71.9% women) who were in the trial both before and during the pandemic and w

SUBMITTER: Wu CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9011740 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature