Resilience in the Face of Risk: How Older Adults Coped With Covid-19 Pandemic Publisher



Matlabi H ; Abdoli F ; Ahmadi S ; Valiee S ; Ahmadi A
Source: Ageing International Published:2026

Abstract

Older adults, as a vulnerable group, experienced varying levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and used different coping strategies to manage pandemic-related stress. This study aimed to examine coping strategies and associated factors among Iranian older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study included 412 community-dwelling older adults from western Iran. Data were collected using the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) and a socio-economic and health information questionnaire. About half of the participants (50.5%) reported frequently experiencing COVID-19-related stress, while 42% sometimes felt anxious about contracting the disease. Older adults used emotion-focused coping strategies (25.88 ± 9.23) more frequently than problem-focused strategies (24.63 ± 10.18). Escape-avoidance was the most commonly used emotion-focused strategy (8.38 ± 2.91), whereas positive reappraisal was the most frequent problem-focused strategy (7.65 ± 3.42). Women reported significantly greater use of problem-focused coping strategies than men (p < 0.05). Older adults without a spouse and those living alone reported significantly greater use of escape-avoidance coping (p ≤ 0.001). In contrast, participants with a spouse reported greater use of problem-focused coping, social support seeking, and planned problem-solving strategies (p < 0.05). Most participants adhered to preventive behaviors, including mask use (87.1%) and vaccination (84.7%). Social and living conditions appeared to shape coping patterns among older adults. Strengthening problem-focused coping strategies may help improve psychological well-being during future public health crises. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2026.