COVID-19 Worries Predict Aging Preparation: Culture- and Domain-Specific Perspectives

We investigated whether worrying about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) predicts people's engagement in aging preparation. Furthermore, we expected that this association would have culture- (i.e., Hong Kong and Germany) and domain-specific (i.e., finances, housing, care needs, connectedness, and end-of-life) tendencies, as the culture and domains that are most severely hit by the pandemic differ.

A total of 360 and 1,294 adults (aged 18-98 years) living in Hong Kong and Germany, respectively, participated in a web-based study. We fitted our data to a multilevel model in order to take into account the interdependence of domains (i.e., Level 1) within the same individual (i.e., Level 2).

The results revealed that reporting higher COVID-19 worries were associated with pandemic-induced aging preparation, and this association was particularly apparent for Germans in comparison to those from Hong Kong. When domains were specified, this cultural difference appeared significantly stronger for the domains of care, connectedness, and end-of-life than finances and housing.

Findings imply that worrying about the COVID-19 pandemic predicts people to engage in aging preparation particularly in the culture and domains most affected by the pandemic. These results from those worried about the virus may be attributed to the increased self-relevance to the topic and hence motivation.