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Published on: January 24, 2020
COVID-19 post-vaccination depression in older Israeli adults: the role of negative world assumptions
Lee Greenblatt-Kimron1, Yaakov Hoffman2, Menachem Ben-Ezra1
1School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel.
Background:
With the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the aging population has been shown to be highly vulnerable. As a result, policy makers and the media urged older adults to restrict social interactions, placing them at greater risk of mental health problems, such as depression. However, there has been a little previous attempt to examine coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine-related risk factors and depressive symptoms amongst older adults.
Methods:
Participants (938 older adults, Mage = 68.99, s.d. = 3.41, range 65-85) answered an online questionnaire at the start of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Israel. Participants completed measures of background characteristics, world assumptions, COVID-19 vaccine-related variables, and symptoms of depression.
Results:
Univariate logistic regression revealed that more negative world assumptions were linked with clinical depression levels.
Conclusions:
Older adults in our sample were susceptible to unique factors associated with clinical depression influenced by their world assumptions during their COVID-19 vaccination. The high level of depression following vaccination indicates that it may take time to recover from depression associated with pandemic distress. Cognitive interventions that focus on world assumptions are recommended.
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