Aging and emotion regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional comparative study evaluating age-group differences
PubMed 33870771 · doi:10.1080/13607863.2021.1910797
What was done
A sample of 150 younger adults and 150 older adults completed trait-level questionnaires measuring situational and emotional acceptance. Participants then completed a trial-level task where they reacted to 24 negative, arousing COVID-19 news headlines (half of which were old-age focused) to assess real-time emotion regulation strategy use and subjective arousal.
What was found
No specific numerical values or effect sizes were reported in the abstract. Older adults reported greater trait-level acceptance and employed emotional acceptance more frequently during the task than younger adults, particularly for headlines focused on older age. Younger adults showed reduced trial-level subjective arousal when using emotional acceptance compared to active emotion regulation, whereas older adults showed no significant difference in arousal between acceptance and active regulation trials.
Why it matters
This study identifies differences in how younger and older adults regulate distress during acute global stressors, suggesting that older adults rely more heavily on emotional acceptance when facing age-targeted threats.
Limits
The cross-sectional design cannot distinguish true developmental aging effects from cohort differences. The abstract provides directional findings without exact quantitative data, confidence intervals, or effect sizes. Outcomes rely on self-reported trait surveys and laboratory headline reactions rather than objective physiological arousal or real-world behavioral measures.
Cited by
- supports Psychological research during COVID demonstrated that older adults exhibited greater psychological resilience than younger adults.