Can changes in social contact (frequency and mode) mitigate low mood before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic? The I‐CONECT project

Background/Objectives The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) global outbreak allowed a natural experiment to observe how older adults changed social patterns and how it affected their emotional well‐being. We studied the frequency and modes of social contact and their effects on older adults' mood before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Design Phone‐based surveys were administered weekly before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Setting Participants were recruited from Portland, Oregon, and Detroit, Michigan. Participants Older adults ≥75 years old (n = 155, age = 81.0 ± 4.5, 72.3% women) were included in a randomized controlled trial, the Internet‐Based Conversational Engagement Clinical Trial (I‐CONECT). Measurements Low mood was self‐reported as feeling downhearted or blue for three or more days in the past week. Social contact was self‐reported by the amount of time spent in interactions, with whom (family, friends, others), and via which modes (in‐person, phone/video call, text/email/letter). Results A total of 5525 weeks of data were derived from 155 participants. Before the COVID‐19 pandemic, average social interaction time spent in‐person, on phone/video call, and via text/email/letter was 406, 141, and 68 min/week, respectively. During the COVID‐19 pandemic, time spent in‐person was reduced by 135 min/week, while time spent via phone/video call and writing increased by 33 and 26 mins/week, respectively. In‐person family contact was associated with less low mood regardless of the pandemic (odds ratio = 0.92, p