Adapting to retirement

Linked lives and convoys of social relations

We consider linked lives through the Convoy Model of Social Relations to illustrate their complexity, consequences, and development across contexts. To illustrate how the Convoy Model lens provides a unique opportunity to examine the multidimensional and dynamic character of linked lives across time and space, we analyze twenty-three years of longitudinal data from the Social Relations Study (SRS). The SRS is a regionally representative Detroit-area sample (N=1,498) with three waves (1992; 2005; 2015) of data from community dwelling people age 13 to 93. We present three illustrative examples of linked lives: 1) the influence of earlier life social network characteristics (size and closeness) on later life health outcomes; 2) the influence of social position (race and education) on relationship quality with spouse/partner and child over time; and 3) the influence of transitioning from working to retirement on network structure (size and geographic proximity). Findings illustrate linked lives through multiple instances of social relationships and as influenced by various contexts. Further, the consequences of linked lives for mental health are consistent across the life course while influence on physical health is variable. The Convoy Model presents key concepts to situate the ways in which linked lives form and function at various levels and across multiple contexts to have far reaching effects on life outcomes.

Pre-Retirement Planning: A Nursing Role

Although nurses work with retirees and pre-retirees in a variety of different clinical settings, they have not traditionally been involved in pre-retirement planning. This article identifies topics important for pre-retirement planning and uses a university setting for preretirement seminars. A small group-facilitated interaction format was utilized to present the seminar content. These seminars were planned, implemented, and evaluated with direct nursing input and included many areas that are usually in the psychomotor and affective learning domains, such as, using time effectively and coping With stressors in retirement.

Work Related Attitudes of Naval Officers before and after Retirement

Prospective expectations for retirement and retrospective accounts of past work experiences are typically used in cross-sectional empirical studies of retirement. Unfortunately, little is known about the accuracy of such accounts. Therefore, in the present longitudinal study, we built on the work of Beehr and Nielson (1995) by examining the consistency of these accounts over time using data from 672 military retirees over a four- to five-year period. Mixed evidence for the consistency of these attitudes across time was found. Specifically, our results are much weaker than Beehr and Nielson's results, thus suggesting that longer time intervals between measurements may erode the accuracy of prospective estimates and retrospective accounts. Results are discussed in terms of the uniqueness of the military retirement and how civilian retirement and military retirement are becoming similar.

Retirement, Personality, and Life Satisfaction: A Review and Two Models

This article reviews the literature of life satisfaction in retirement, focusing on the retiree's personality. Personality effects are examined in a context including other determinants of life satisfaction: involuntary retirement, stress, health, finances, and activities, and issues of control and adaptivity are explored. Heuristic models specifying direct and indirect effects of personality traits on life satisfaction in retirement are proposed. The models are based on the findings reviewed and on a variety of theories, including five-factor personality theory, stress theory, and attachment theory. Directions for retirement counseling, planning, and research are suggested.

Prise de décision jointe chez les couples âgés: Un schéma d'étude

Deux courants de recherche sont analysés dans cet article: celui sur le comportement du consommateur âgé et celui sur la prise de décision mari-femme. Cet article comble le vide entre ces deux courants, développe des propositions de recherche et propose des méthodologies appropriées à l'étude des couples âgés en tant que consommateurs.

The stressful life events and Parkinson's disease: a case-control study

A case-control study was conducted in order to investigate the possible link between stressful life events and Parkinson's disease (PD). A group of 110 consecutive newly diagnosed PD cases treated at the Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade University, was compared with a control group comprising 220 subjects with degenerative joint disease and some diseases of the digestive tract. The case and control subjects were matched by sex, age (±2 years) and place of residence (urban/rural). According to conditional multivariate logistic regression analysis, PD was found to be significantly related to retirement (odds ratio--OR 18.73, 95% confidence interval--95%CI 1.9-175.4), birth of own child (OR 66.22, 95%CI 8.3-526.3) and air raids (OR 5.66, 95%CI 2.4-13.5). The risk of PD significantly increased with the number of stressful events. The results of the present study support the hypothesis that stress may play a role in the development of PD.

Ténacité et flexibilité dans la poursuite de projets personnels: Impact sur le bien-être à la retraite

This research pertained to personal goals during retirement and especially to the influence of tenacity and flexibility on measures of psychological well-being. The participants (N = 147) had been retired for less than three years and were aged between 49 and 75 years (M = 58 years). The participants had to identify four personal goals and rate each of them along 15 dimensions. Psychological well-being was evaluated with scales of depression, self-esteem and life satisfaction. Regression analyses showed that flexibility in the presence of obstacles to the realization of goals accounts for 44 per cent of the variance in depression, 29 per cent of life satisfaction and 25 per cent of self-esteem. Tenacity had a more modest impact. Flexibility seems to be the strategy which is most useful in facing difficulties in the pursuit of goals during retirement.

Les facteurs influençant le bien-etre psychologique à la retraite

The present study focused on variables influencing psychological well-being during the period of adjustment to retirement (6 to 36 months). The sample included 141 respondents – 69 retired men and 72 retired women – who completed questionnaires evaluating life satisfaction, retirement satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Variables traditionally examined (socio-demographic, health, attitude, and social) explained 45 to 57 per cent of the variance related to life and retirement satisfaction, but explained a smaller percentage (9 to 37%) of the variance related to the six dimensions of psychological well-being. This study, therefore, confirmed the impact of traditional variables on life and retirement satisfaction but brought out the importance of investigating other variables that could explain psychological well-being during retirement.

Paradigms of retirement: the importance of health and ageing in the Whitehall II study

This paper evaluates four well established sociological theories of ageing using qualitative data from the British Whitehall II study. We attempt to apply the theories to contemporary retirement and through each theory examine the issue of health in retirement. The effect of lowered income in retirement is discussed in relation to Townsend's theory of structured dependency. Change in participant's health following retirement is examined in respect of the theory of disengagement by Cumming and Henry, adjustment to retirement in relation to Laslett's theory of the third age. Parson's role theory is used to examine how social interactions and relationships change for people who have recently retired. We discuss the need for a multifaceted theory of ageing which can accommodate the continually changing experience and age of retirement. We analysed interviews conducted with 25 male and female civil servants aged between 55 and 63 years, from different grades who had been retired for less than 2 years.

Correlates of reminiscence activity among elderly individuals

The purpose of this study was to examine several psychological characteristics and life experiences that may be related to aspects of reminiscence activity among elderly individuals. Seventy elderly individuals completed a reminiscence questionnaire assessing 1) the extent to which reminiscence is motivated by a desire to enhance self understanding, 2) reminiscence affect, and 3) the preferred social modality of reminiscence. The respondents also completed questionnaires assessing existential vacuum, extraversion, and the recent experience of various life events. Existential vacuum was positively associated with a tendency to engage in reminiscence in an effort to enhance self understanding as well as a negative bias in reminiscence affect. Extra-version was found to be positively related to a preference for interpersonal reminiscence. Specific life experiences (e.g., death of a spouse, retirement) were also related to reminiscence activity. The present results provide support for the notion that aspects of reminiscence activity are associated with individual differences in specific psychological and situational variables.

Occupational retirement in women due to age. Health aspects

The impact of occupational age-retirement on physical and mental health was investigated in 116 female municipal employees (age 62-64 years old) in Malmö. Interviews and physical examinations were made about six months prior to and five months after retirement. The women were asked about present state of subjective health, earlier and present diseases, various symptoms, medication, calls to physicians, smoking habits, physical activity and sleeping habits. The majority (n = 109.94%) felt healthy before retirement. At least one definable disease was noted in 41 (35%). A proportion of them had a low level of subjective health which, however, improved after retirement. The disease most commonly found was hypertension. After retirement the subjective health improved in 22% and got worse in 9%. Blood pressure diminished and particularly musculo-skeletal and psychiatric symptoms were less common. Calls to physicians diminished. Intake of drugs, smoking and sleeping habits and physical activity changed little. In general, occupational retirement due to age was associated with mostly positive influences on health.

Perceptions of Retirement Satisfaction: Data from Retired Certified Public Accountants

Retired CPAs are, on the whole, satisfied with their retirement experience; however, the results are somewhat conflicting with respect to occupational level as a predictor of retirement adaptation.