Psychosocial working characteristics before retirement and depressive symptoms across the retirement transition: a longitudinal latent class analysis

Depressive symptoms across the retirement transition in men and women: associations with emotion regulation, adjustment difficulties and work centrality

BACKGROUND

Retirement is a major life event and factors driving depression in the retirement transition might differ in men and women. The aim was to prospectively study depressive symptoms across the retirement transition in men and women and to test associations with emotion regulation strategies (suppression and reappraisal), adjustment difficulties, and work centrality.

METHODS

The sample included 527 individuals from the population-based Health, Aging and Retirement Transitions in Sweden (HEARTS) study who were working at baseline and retired during one of the following four annual measurement waves. Participants contributed with a total of 2635 observations across five measurement waves. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); total score was modelled as a function of time to and from retirement. Changes over the retirement transition were analyzed with multilevel growth curve models. Gender differences in associations with emotion regulation, adjustment difficulties and work centrality were examined by including interaction effects with sex.

RESULTS

We observed a general reduction of depressive symptoms in the early years of retirement in both men and women. Higher suppression was related to higher depression scores while higher cognitive reappraisal was related to lower levels of depressive symptoms. Women more often used cognitive reappraisal, and men more often suppression, but no significant gender interaction in associations with depressive symptoms could be shown. Retirement adjustment difficulties and greater importance of work for self-esteem were related to higher depression scores. Greater meaning of work, on the other hand, was related to lower levels of depressive symptoms, and this association was stronger in men.

CONCLUSIONS

There was a general reduction of depression scores in the early years of retirement in both women and men. Findings suggest that basing one's self-esteem on workplace performance was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms after retirement, while perceiving one's job as important and meaningful may facilitate better adjustment in terms of lower depression symptom levels, especially in men.

Association Between Retirement Age and Incidence of Depressive Disorders: A 19-Year Population-Based Study

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the occurrence of depressive disorders spanning the transition to retirement, and explore the relationship between retirement age and depressive disorders.

METHODS

We utilized a national population-based health insurance database encompassing 2 million Taiwanese individuals from 2000 to 2019. The study focused on individuals aged 50 years and older who were employed at the baseline, and 84,224 individuals had records of retirement during the follow-up period. Depressive disorders were identified using codes from the International Classification of Diseases. To assess the trend in the incidence of depressive disorders 7-year period before and after retirement, an interrupted time series analysis was performed. Cox-proportional hazard models were employed to investigate the association between retirement age and the occurrence of depressive disorders following retirement.

RESULTS

The incidence of depression peaks at the time of retirement and shows a significant decrease after retirement. Incidence of depressive disorders was 6.4 and 7.6 per 1000 person-years among individuals who retired between the ages of 60-64 and 65-69. Comparing the two groups, those who retired between 65 and 69 exhibits a higher risk of developing depressive disorders (hazard ratio = 1.10, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.18). This association is particularly pronounced among women and individuals residing in areas with low urbanization levels.

CONCLUSION

Retirement marks a crucial life milestone accompanied by a peak in depressive disorders. It is important to address the higher risk of depression associated with late retirement among socially disadvantaged groups.

Air pollution associated with hospital visits for mental and behavioral disorders in Northeast China

Background

Related studies have found that air pollution is an important factor affecting mental and behavioral disorders. Thus, we performed this time-series study to evaluate the relationship between short-term exposure to ambient air pollutants and visits to hospital by patients with mental and behavioral disorders in northeastern China.

Methods

We used quasi-Poisson regression models and generalized additive models to probe the links between air pollution and mental and behavioral disorders. The possible influences were also explored stratified by season, age and gender.

Results

We found that sulfur dioxide (SO2) had a cumulative effect on mental and behavioral disorders at lag04-lag07 and had the greatest effect at lag07 [Relative risk (RR) = 1.068, 95%CI = 1.021-1.117]. Particulate matter of size 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and SO2 had a cumulative effect on depression and both had the largest effect at lag07 (RR = 1.021, 95%CI = 1.002-1.041; RR = 1.103, 95%CI = 1.032-1.178); SO2 also had a cumulative effect on anxiety disorders, with the largest effect at lag06 (RR = 1.058, 95%CI = 1.009-1.110). In the stratified analysis, people are more susceptible in the cold season compared to the warm season and females and the 18-60-year age group are more sensitive to air pollutants. It is suggested to strengthen management and preventive measures to decrease air pollution exposure.

Conclusion

This study found an association between increased concentrations of air pollutants and increased outpatient visits for mental and behavioral disorders. We recommend that preventive and protective measures should be strengthened in an effort to reduce exposure to air pollution in order to maintain physical and mental health.

Unrewarding work and major depressive episode: Cross-sectional and prospective evidence from the U.S. MIDUS study

Depression is a serious mental health condition and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Previous research has demonstrated that work stress may contribute to the development of depression through psychophysiological pathways. The present study assessed associations of work stress - in terms of the effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model measuring unrewarding work - with major depressive episode (MDE). Data were from the Mid-life in the United States study, a national, population-based sample of U.S. workers with 9-year follow-up prospective cohort design. The cross-sectional sample at baseline had 2204 workers, and the prospective sample had 1591 workers at follow-up (78.7% follow-up rate). Multivariable Bayesian logistic regression and Poisson regression were applied for examining cross-sectional and prospective associations, respectively. ERI was assessed by a validated 17-item scale at baseline, and MDE in the past 12 months was assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form at both baseline and follow-up. It was found that ERI at baseline was associated with higher odds of prevalent MDE in the cross-sectional sample (OR = 1.47, HPD interval [1.26-1.69]), and with higher risk of MDE at follow-up in the prospective sample (RR = 1.29, HPD interval [1.01-1.60]). In both cross-sectional and prospective analyses, strongest associations were observed among workers with the highest quartile of ERI, after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and other psychosocial factors. The stable and robust findings strengthen and extend previous findings that unrewarding work is a risk factor of mental health. If confirmed by further evidence, intervention targeting work stress reduction is warranted.

Health and Care Dependency of Older Adults in Dresden, Germany: Results from the LAB60+ Study

As the population in Europe ages, an increased focus on the health of older adults is necessary. The purpose of the population-based LAB60+ study was to examine the current health and care situation of the population of older adults in Dresden, Germany, and to assess the effect of age, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) on health outcomes. In the first half of 2021, 2399 out of 6004 randomly sampled residents of Dresden aged 60 years or older answered questions on their chronic conditions, care dependency, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and well-being, among others. Of the participants, 91.6% were afflicted with at least one chronic condition, and 73.1% had multimorbidities. More than one-tenth (11.3%) of participants were care dependent. Lower levels of HRQoL and well-being were observed compared to a published German reference population, perhaps because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Gender differences were observed for some chronic health conditions, and women had a higher risk for lower HRQoL, well-being, and depressivity compared to men. A low SES was associated with a higher risk of the vast majority of health outcomes. Particularly, socioeconomic factors and gender-related inequalities should be considered for the development of prevention and health-promoting measures during late life.

Psychological Distress During the Retirement Transition and the Role of Psychosocial Working Conditions and Social Living Environment

Objectives

Mental health is determined by social, biological, and cultural factors and is sensitive to life transitions. We examine how psychosocial working conditions, social living environment, and cumulative risk factors are associated with mental health changes during the retirement transition.

Method

We use data from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study on public sector employees (n = 3,338) retiring between 2014 and 2019 in Finland. Psychological distress was measured with the General Health Questionnaire annually before and after retirement and psychosocial working conditions, social living environment, and accumulation of risk factors at the study wave prior to retirement.

Results

Psychological distress decreased during the retirement transition, but the magnitude of the change was dependent on the contexts individuals retire from. Psychological distress was higher among those from poorer psychosocial working conditions (high job demands, low decision authority, job strain), poorer social living environment (low neighborhood social cohesion, small social network), and more cumulative risk factors (work/social/both). During the retirement transition, greatest reductions in psychological distress were observed among those with poorer conditions (work: absolute and relative changes, p [Group × Time interactions] < .05; social living environment and cumulative risk factors: absolute changes, p [Group × Time interactions] < .05).

Discussion

Psychosocial work-related stressors lead to quick recovery during the retirement transition but the social and cumulative stressors have longer-term prevailing effects on psychological distress. More studies are urged incorporating exposures across multiple levels or contexts to clarify the determinants of mental health during the retirement transition and more generally at older ages.