Subjective age changed during a global health crisis, with people feeling younger with the emergence of COVID-19; partly reflects a coping process of psychological distancing from older age (the most vulnerable group)

Changes in Subjective Age During COVID-19. Antonio Terracciano et al. The Gerontologist, gnaa104, August 7 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa104

Abstract
Background and Objectives: To examine change in subjective age with the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Two competing hypotheses were tested: (a) people felt increasingly older due to the stress generated by the pandemic; (b) people felt increasingly younger due to psychological distancing from older age, a vulnerability to COVID-19.

Research Design and Methods: An age and sex stratified sample of adults from across the United States (baseline N = 3,738) was assessed on three occasions: before the COVID-19 outbreak in late-January/early-February and during the outbreak in late-March and again in late-April. Multilevel modeling analysis examined change in subjective age and tested potential moderators of individual differences in the trajectory of subjective age.

Results: The average trajectory of subjective age followed a concave curve, with a nadir (feeling younger) during the second assessment in late-March. Older age, negative expectations about aging, absence of pre-existing conditions, and less stress during COVID-19 were associated with feeling younger but did not predict the rate of change. The only significant predictor of change in subjective age was the belief that the “coronavirus is only a threat to older adults”: The more individuals agreed with this statement, the more likely it was that they felt increasingly younger at follow-up.

Discussion and Implications: Subjective age changed during a global health crisis, with people feeling younger with the emergence COVID-19. The findings support the hypothesis that subjective age partly reflects a coping process of psychological distancing from older age, the age group most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, Coronavirus, Age identity, Longitudinal, Multilevel Modeling