Abstract
BackgroundEmpirical evidence investigating heterogeneous impact of retirement on mental health depending on social backgrounds is lacking, especially among older adults.MethodsWe examined the impact of changes in working status on changes in mental health using Japanese community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years participating in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study between 2010 and 2013 (N = 62,438). Between-waves changes in working status (“Kept working”, “Retired”, “Started work”, or “Continuously retired”) were used to predict changes in depressive symptoms measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. First-difference regression models were stratified by gender, controlling for changes in time-varying confounding actors including equivalised household income, marital status, instrumental activities of daily living, incidence of serious illnesses and family caregiving. We then examined the interactions between changes in working status and occupational class, changes in marital status, and post-retirement social participation.ResultsParticipants who transitioned to retirement reported significantly increased depressive symptoms (β = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.21–0.45 for men, and β = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13–0.45 for women) compared to those who kept working. Men who were continuously retired reported increased depressive symptoms (β = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.05–0.20), whereas males who started work reported decreased depressive symptoms (β = −0.20, 95% CI: -0.38–-0.02). Men from lower occupational class (compared to men from higher class) reported more increase in depressive symptoms when continuously retired (β = −0.16, 95% CI: -0.25–-0.08). Those reporting recreational social participation after retirement appeared to be less influenced by transition to retirement.ConclusionsRetirement may increase depressive symptoms among Japanese older adults, particularly men from lower occupational class backgrounds. Encouraging recreational social participation may mitigate the adverse effects of retirement on mental health of Japanese older men.
Highlights
Empirical evidence investigating heterogeneous impact of retirement on mental health depending on social backgrounds is lacking, especially among older adults
We used t-test for age and changes in GDS score and chi-square test for other variables to calculate p-values women, we observed significant increases in GDS score among those who transitioned to retirement (β = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13–0.45) compared to those who kept working
Analyses using the sub-dataset showed consistent results: significant increases in GDS score among men who transitioned to retirement
Summary
Empirical evidence investigating heterogeneous impact of retirement on mental health depending on social backgrounds is lacking, especially among older adults. Population aging is occurring worldwide and an increasing number of older adults are engaging in work in late life. In Japan, the labor force participation rate among people aged 65 years or older was 21.3% in 2014, which ranked 7th among all OECD countries [1], and the population of older workers increased from. The maintenance of mental health counts as it could be strongly affected by the stressful life events that are likely to happen in older ages. Among those life events, in this study, we focused on retirement, the major events that most people experience
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