The association between life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and common comorbid disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic

This study aimed to investigate the associations among life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and common comorbid disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. This combined cross-sectional and longitudinal study pooled national-level data from the 2021 Health and Retirement Study Perspectives on the Pandemic in the United States and the Big Data Drove Mental Health study in China. A total of 2,036 participants were included in this cross-sectional study conducted from July 2020 to August 2022. In this longitudinal prospective study, 4,503 participants were eligible for participation from January 2018 to June 2022. Life satisfaction was measured using five items from the Satisfaction with Life Scale. In a cross-sectional study, life satisfaction was found to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms, and depressive symptoms were comorbid with loneliness, anxiety, and dependency. The causal association between life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and depressive symptoms comorbid with disorders was confirmed in a longitudinal prospective study. Low levels of life satisfaction increased the prevalence of comorbid disorders by 42.9% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Life satisfaction has played an important role during the COVID-19 pandemic and can be an effective strategy for depressive symptoms and depressive symptoms comorbid with disorder interventions among older adults.