Visiting parents in times of COVID-19: the impact of parent-adult child contacts on the psychological health of the elderly

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and the consequent restrictions imposed by governments worldwide have affected individuals’ health and well-being globally. The most significant public health costs of lockdown restrictions include potential adverse effects on mental health. In the recent literature on symptoms of depression in the elderly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the neglected topics is the impact of disrupting parent–adult child contacts on their psychological and emotional well-being. Using data from the 8th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the SHARE Corona Survey, this study aims to fill this gap, providing additional insights into the psychological status of, and strain on, older people during the COVID-19 outbreak and contributing to the body of research on the negative association between social isolation and the psychological well-being of the elderly. Our findings show that the interventions deemed essential to reduce the spread of the pandemic, such as the “stay-at-home” order, have necessarily disrupted personal parent–child contacts and the social processes that facilitate psychological wellbeing, with negative consequences on the mental health of elderly parents.