Older people in England are more satisfied after Covid-19 pandemic

The Covvi-19 pandemic gave older people in England a stronger sense of purpose and larger life state, possibly because it elaborated on their approval for the simple things in life.

We already knew that some people’s well -being and life satisfaction dipped in the first years of the pandemic, but what happened later after most restrictions had been lifted is less well understood. “Unfortunately, most of the investigations that were performed did not [in the later years of] The pandemic, so there was a big gap in research, ”says Paola Zaninotto at University College London.

To add this, Zaninotto and her colleagues analyzed data from Superys about well -being and depressive symptoms of nearly 4000, mainly white, people in engine, like all words 50 or older at the time of investigation.

Each participant completed a study in the two years after most infection control measures in England were completed.

The team found that the participants before the pandemic assessed their sense of purpose in life with an average of 7.5 out of 10. This fell to 7.2 by 2020 before rising to 7.6-over pandamic levels in the final study.

Similarly, participants reported an average life satisfaction score of 7.3 before the pandemic, and although this dipped to 6.9 early in the pandemic, it rose to 7.5 in the last study.

While these are small shifts in well -being at a population level, some individuals will have experienced major changes that affect their work and relationships, says Rebecca Pearson at the University of Bristol, UK.

It may be that the global outbreak reminded people of what is important in life, says Zaninotto. “The pandemic Bitcht as a challenger, but also a more broad understanding of our lives – perhaps for social relations and other meaningful activities,” she says.

The team also found that the average depression rates – defined as having at least four depressive symptoms, such as feeling lonely – more than doubled from the first period to the second. Prices fell in the last study, but remained over pandemic levels.

“People may feel” we go through it, that day, you may not be able to feel joy in the same way, “says Pearson. Further studies should examine what exactly drives these include depression rats, she says.

Further research should also explore how the results are translated into people who are others, says Kelsey O’Connor at the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in Luxembourg. “The pandemic policy and the severity of the pandemic were so dramatically different in other countries,” he says. “You can really be generalized to younger people, ethnic minorities or marginalized groups EITH.”