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Disentangle the elderly’s positive coping behavior in times of COVID-19: Perspectives from the social network, information acquisition, and perceived community support (preprint)

Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has devastatingly affected human well-being, especially for the elderly, who are more vulnerable to virus infection. However, scientific research and corresponding suggestions on how to help them cope positively with COVID-19 are emergently needed. Method Based on preliminary interviews with potential factors that may affect the elderly’s positive coping behavior, this study investigated 916 Chinese elderly (aged 60–96) and disentangled the impact of social network (i.e., network size, network strength, and network heterogeneity), information acquisition (i.e., depth and breadth of information), and perceived community support on the elderly’s COVID-19 positive coping behavior. Results Our results showed that social network (network strength and heterogeneity) and information acquisition are directly associated with positive coping behavior and indirectly through perceived community support. Conclusions Our findings enrich the theoretical literature on the elderly’s positive coping behavior in times of COVID-19 and provide new perspectives on how to help the elderly cope with health crises from the perspective of social network, information acquisition, and perceived community support.