Ageing, Depression and the First Wave of the Covid-19 Outbreak in Europe

Benedetta Pongiglione , Bocconi University
Omar Paccagnella, Università di Padova

Older people have been found to be less exposed to mental health deterioration during Covid-19 pandemic compared to younger generations, but they are the population most exposed to the risk of severity of illness and death, and less equipped to use technologies to cope with lockdown measures and stay connected to people. We explore how depressive symptoms have changed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and identify individual risk factors associated with changes in reporting depression. In particular, we focus on pre-existing mental health problems and gender differences. We used data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) COVID-19 questionnaire carried out in summer 2020 to measure mental health during the pandemic and retrieve information on socio-economic characteristics of individuals from waves 6 and 8 (2015 and 2020). We estimate pre-existing depression (at wave6) distinguishing seven severity levels and then run logistic models for the risk of becoming sad/depressed during the pandemic. We used Multiple Imputation to deal with missing data. Pre-existing depression categories and diagnosis of affective/emotional disorders, as well as recent diagnosis of major illness are the most important risk factors. Remarkable statistical differences between genders emerged, with women experiencing higher levels of depression and larger worsening of mental health. The fact that pre-existing health, both mental health and previous diagnosis of illness, increases significantly the risk of mental health deterioration suggests a general concern and feeling of vulnerability in seeking healthcare during a health emergency.

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 Presented in Session 53. Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health