Table 3.
Prevalence of Specific Positive Change Among Respondents Endorsing a Positive Changea by Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics (Unweighted n = 2,558)
| Variable | Positive change (N) | Social relationshipsb | Spiritualityc | Health behaviorsd | Homemakinge | Hygienef | Financial managementg | Stress managementh | Hobbyh,i | Otherj |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall (N) | 822 | 166 | 123 | 99 | 57 | 90 | 15 | 30 | 45 | 337 |
| Percent | 20.2 | 15.0 | 12.0 | 6.9 | 11.0 | 1.8 | 3.7 | 5.5 | 41.0 | |
| Gender | ||||||||||
| Female (n =1,449) | 515 | 20.0 | 17.9 | 12.4 | 6.6 | 11.3 | 2.3 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 38.6 |
| Male (n = 1,109) | 307 | 20.5 | 10.1 | 11.4 | 7.5 | 10.4 | 0.98 | 2.3 | 4.9 | 45.0 |
| Age | ||||||||||
| 55–64 years (n = 684) | 284 | 25.4 | 12.3 | 13.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 | 1.8 | 4.2 | 5.3 | 40.5 |
| 65–79 years (n = 1,281) | 408 | 19.4 | 17.2 | 13.5 | 7.8 | 11.8 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 6.1 | 38.2 |
| ≥80 years (n = 593) | 130 | 11.5 | 13.9 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 17.7 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 3.9 | 50.8 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||||
| Hispanic (n = 236) | 53 | 28.3 | 18.9 | 13.2 | 5.7 | 11.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.6 | 39.6 |
| NH-Blackk (n = 359) | 155 | 17.4 | 20.7 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 16.8 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 40.0 |
| NH Otherl (n = 84) | 37 | 27.0 | 18.9 | 13.5 | 5.4 | 8.1 | 5.4 | 8.1 | 10.8 | 43.2 |
| NH-White (n = 1,870) | 576 | 19.8 | 12.9 | 12.7 | 6.8 | 9.6 | 1.7 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 41.2 |
| Marital status | ||||||||||
| Living w/partner (n = 92) | 27 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 14.8 | 0.0 | 18.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.7 | 51.9 |
| Married (n = 1,651) | 550 | 21.6 | 12.6 | 12.6 | 7.1 | 8.9 | 2.6 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 41.3 |
| Never married (n = 96) | 31 | 9.7 | 16.1 | 16.1 | 3.2 | 16.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.5 | 51.6 |
| Separated/divorced (n = 276) | 97 | 20.6 | 19.6 | 7.2 | 12.4 | 14.4 | 0.0 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 40.2 |
| Widowed (n = 408) | 113 | 16.8 | 24.8 | 12.4 | 4.4 | 15.0 | 0.88 | 5.3 | 8.0 | 34.5 |
| Education | ||||||||||
| No HS diploma (n = 253) | 39 | 15.4 | 20.5 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 18.0 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 48.7 |
| HS diploma/GED (n = 535) | 132 | 18.2 | 12.1 | 9.9 | 6.1 | 15.2 | 0.76 | 2.3 | 4.6 | 41.7 |
| Associates/vocational (n = 911) | 287 | 20.2 | 19.9 | 11.2 | 7.0 | 13.6 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 39.7 |
| Bachelors/graduate (n = 859) | 364 | 21.4 | 11.5 | 14.6 | 7.7 | 6.6 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 7.4 | 40.9 |
| Household incomem | ||||||||||
| <25,000 (n = 445) | 119 | 15.1 | 17.7 | 10.1 | 5.9 | 16.0 | 2.5 | 0.84 | 6.7 | 45.4 |
| 25,000–49,999 (n = 558) | 152 | 22.4 | 20.4 | 10.5 | 3.3 | 11.8 | 2.0 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 39.5 |
| 50,000–99,999 (n = 815) | 255 | 20.0 | 14.1 | 11.0 | 8.2 | 12.6 | 1.2 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 41.2 |
| ≥100,000 (n = 612) | 260 | 22.3 | 10.8 | 15.8 | 8.5 | 6.9 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 7.3 | 38.9 |
| Resilience score (Mean)n | ||||||||||
| 1–3 (n = 30) | 2 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.0 |
| 4–6 (n = 414) | 111 | 21.6 | 16.2 | 5.4 | 8.1 | 15.3 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 45.1 |
| 7–9 (n = 1,290) | 435 | 20.0 | 13.6 | 11.0 | 6.2 | 9.9 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 5.1 | 41.8 |
| 10–12 (n = 490) | 164 | 20.7 | 16.5 | 17.7 | 8.5 | 10.4 | 1.8 | 6.1 | 10.9 | 34.8 |
| Work affected by COVID-19o | ||||||||||
| Not in work force (n = 1,474) | 427 | 17.3 | 16.2 | 10.3 | 6.8 | 13.4 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 42.6 |
| No (n = 467) | 135 | 23.7 | 18.5 | 11.1 | 5.9 | 10.4 | 0.74 | 3.0 | 7.6 | 39.3 |
| Yes (n = 575) | 249 | 23.7 | 10.4 | 15.7 | 7.6 | 7.2 | 2.0 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 39.0 |
| COVID disruption scorep | ||||||||||
| 0 (n = 1,371) | 422 | 21.3 | 14.0 | 13.0 | 6.6 | 10.0 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 5.5 | 39.6 |
| 1 (n = 876) | 297 | 16.5 | 14.5 | 10.8 | 8.4 | 13.1 | 1.4 | 4.4 | 5.7 | 42.4 |
| ≥ 2 (n = 224) | 80 | 25.0 | 18.8 | 11.3 | 5.0 | 8.8 | 1.3 | 3.8 | 2.5 | 42.5 |
Notes: GED = General Education Development; HS = high school; NH = non-Hispanic. The column titled “Positive Change (N)” (top to bottom) is the number of respondents endorsing a positive change by sociodemographic characteristics. The row titled “Overall N” (left to right) represents the unweighted number of respondents reporting a positive change and those identifying a specific change in the open response field. The row titled “Percent” is the percent of respondents with each specific change. Starting at row 3, column 2, all columns under the specific change themes are the percent endorsing the identified specific change. The numerator is the overall N (row 2), and the denominator is the total number of people specifying a change (N = 822).
aNumber of respondents aged 55 years and older reporting a positive change during the pandemic. Thirty-four percent of respondents reported endorsement of a positive change during the pandemic. Categories of positive change are not mutually exclusive.
bOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as getting to know, rekindled, communication, closer, quality, time, with family, friends, relatives, and or children were categorized as having a positive change involving time.
cOpen-ended responses, including keywords/phrases such as church, bible, pray, worship, meditation, reflection, spiritual, or God, were categorized as having a positive change involving spirituality.
dOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as health, diet, quit drinking or drinking less, quit smoking, or smoking less, weight loss, exercise, physical activity, or talk more were categorized as having a positive change involving health.
eOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as cleaning, organizing, home projects, paring down, remodeling, renovation, or redecorating were categorized as having a positive change involving the home.
fOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as social distancing, disinfecting, sanitizing, staying away from others, masking, wearing gloves, home projects, paring down, remodeling, renovation, or not leaving the house were categorized as having a positive change involving hygiene.
gOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as money, finances, saving money, spending, or income were categorized as having a positive change involving money.
hOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as social anxiety, calming, stress, balance, or slowed down were categorized as having a positive change involving stress.
iOpen-ended responses including keywords/phrases such as hobbies, playing music, bridge, learned, sewing, knitting, quilting, painting, reading, writing, or birdwatching were categorized as having a positive change involving hobbies.
jRespondents reporting a positive change who did not report a specific change, and those with a specific change that did not fall within the following detailed categories were categorized as other.
kSurvey race question did not distinguish between African American and Black.
lRaces categorized as Other were those who responded Native American/Alaskan Native (0.74%), Asian/Pacific Islander (2.0%), and Other (7.6%).
mHousehold income was derived from unfolding brackets; those responding, “do not know/refused” were asked the specific income question were asked, “Would you say the income of your household was more or less than $50,000? Those responding less were asked, “Would you say the income of your household is more than $25,000 or less than $25,000?” and those responding more were, “Would you say the income of your household is more than $100,000 or less than $100,000?”
nResilience score was calculated from the 4-item trait resilience measure. Responses were summed to create a total resilience score ranging from 0 to 12, with higher scores representing greater resilience.
oRespondents were asked “Has your work been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?” “Not working” capture those who were not working when the pandemic started.
pThe COVID disruption score was calculated summing five dichotomous items: living alone, COVID-19-related deaths among friends/family, residential relocation of self, others moving in due to the pandemic, and pandemic effect on income. The disruption score ranged from 0 to 5, with higher scores representing greater disruption.