Changes in life satisfaction during the first year of the covid-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of japanese adults

Abstract The outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has exerted a major impact on daily life. Despite older adults being at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, research has indicated that older adults experienced the same or even higher levels of well-being during the early phase of the pandemic than younger adults. To investigate adverse long-term effects, we examined how individuals’ well-being changed during the first year of the pandemic. A total of 5,281 Japanese adults aged 15—89 years participated in an online survey in February 2020 (before the first state of emergency) and were followed up in March 2021 (during the second state of emergency; follow-up rate 54.7%). Well-being was assessed as a one-item indicator of life satisfaction, with a range of 0－10. Counterintuitively, results of a latent change score model demonstrated that life satisfaction increased over time (unstandardized coefficient of 1.17, SE = 0.16, standardized coefficient of 0.58). Individuals aged 64 years and below, with low levels of education, living alone, and perceiving worse health and economic status showed less increase in life satisfaction. In an additional analysis, those more concerned about the pandemic at follow-up displayed less increase. The findings suggest that most people did not exhibit a decrease in life satisfaction during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, certain individuals could be vulnerable to the outbreak due to the lack of resources. Researchers should better understand the factors that drive the resilience of older adults in the face of adversity.