Low, GailGutman, Gloria MGao, ZhiweiBacadini França, Alexvon Humboldt, SofiaVITORINO, LUCIANOWilson, Donna M.Allana, Hunaina2024-05-212024-05-212024Low, G., Wilson, D. M., Allana, H., Gutman, G., Gao, Z., França, A. B., von Humboldt, S., & Vitorino, L. M. (2024). Mentally healthy living after pandemic social distancing: a study of older Canadians reveals helpful anxiety reduction strategies. Psychogeriatrics, 24(3), 605–616. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyg.1310314798301http://hdl.handle.net/10400.12/9800Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, older Canadians werethe most at risk of severe physical harm, including death, and their return topost-COVID life was expected to be especially anxiety-provoking. A studywas conducted to obtain nationally representative evidence of older Cana-dians’ self-perceived anxiety levels and their strategies to manage or miti-gate it as public health restrictions were lifting.Materials and Methods: This study had a cross-sectional descriptivedesign. An e-survey was used to collect data from 1327 Canadians aged60+ stratified by age, sex, and education to resemble the larger generalpopulation. Participants completed the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS-10)and indicated which of the 16 Centre for Addictions and Mental Health’s(2022) Coping with Stress and Anxiety strategies they were using to man-age or mitigate their anxiety when social distancing was lifting. Descriptivestatistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis were usedto explore the data.Results: While, on average, older Canadians were mildly anxious, nearlyone-quarter of responders rated their anxiety as severe. Age, sex, perceivedhealth, were statistically significant correlates of anxiety. Six coping strate-gies were associated with significantly lower anxiety scores. Moreover,accepting some fear and anxiety as normal, challenging worries and anx-ious thoughts, and practising relaxation/meditation appeared to increaseanxiety.Conclusion: Older Canadians used multiple strategies to manage or miti-gate their anxiety, and seemingly, with more successful than detrimentaltries. Practitioners have much to learn and understand about older people’smental health promotion efforts after social distancing, now and for futurepandemicsengAnxietyCopingCOVID-19National sampleOlder peopleSurveyjournal article10.1111/psyg.13103