Survey Of Health , Ageing And Retirement In Europe Research Articles

Within- and between-person effects in the relationship between effort-reward imbalance and depressive symptoms.

Theory suggests that a stressful working environment negatively affects workers' health. However, methodological limitations in observational studies often restrict conclusions about observed relationships. In this study, we examined cross-lagged effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI; i.e., an indicator of work stress) and mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms) at the within-person level, while accounting for between-person variability. We used data from five panel waves gathered in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), comprising N = 5,778 (self-)employed individuals aged 50 years or older. Repeated measures for both ERI and depressive symptoms were modeled using random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling. The results showed no cross-lagged effects of ERI and depressive symptoms at the within-person level, but the intra-individual variations in ERI were positively related to the intra-individual variations in depressive symptoms at the same point in time. At the between-person level, it showed that individuals with generally higher levels of ERI tend to demonstrate generally higher levels of depressive symptoms. The findings question the notion that ERI and depressive symptoms influence each other over the course of time, but rather indicate that third variable effects account for observed relationships between these constructs.

Material Conditions and Well-Being in Old Age: the Role of Contextual Factors at Regional Level

In our Beethoven project “Age-well” we examine the role of regional contextual factors for the relationship between individual wellbeing and material conditions over time, using a unique combination of individual and regional level longitudinal data. The analyses consider a broad range of regional, community-level indicators for two countries, Germany and Poland, both characterised by rapid population ageing and significant regional variation in the standard of living. These variables, including local indicators of economic conditions and public services, are combined with detailed individual-level information on wellbeing from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). This data match allows us to study the degree to which regional contexts affect the relationship between individual material conditions and wellbeing in later life. Local public services are shown to mediate the importance of individual level resources for wellbeing confirming an important channel through which public policy can improve welfare of older people.

Anxiety and Depression as Predictive Factors of Quality of Life in Old Age: A Longitudinal Analysis

Research on the effect of age in quality of life (QoL) is controversial, and doubts remain if this effect is continuous and if it disappears when controlling for other factors. Most studies have verified the association of health-related factors, such as poor physical health, functional impairment, and depression with lower scores of QoL in old age. But studies that analyse such an association in non-clinical samples through longitudinal analysis and including anxiety as a mental health factor remain very rare. This study relies on data from two waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and focuses on a representative sample of individuals aged 50+ from Portugal. It comprises 1782 participants (baseline), of which 1201 were reassessed. The mean age was 64.8 years (sd=9.3 years) and 55.4% were female. Linear Mixed Effects models were performed to identify potential factors associated with changes of QoL across age. According with the final model (pseudo-R2 equal to 0.421), a significant effect of age as time-dependent factor was verified, observing a decline of QoL with increasing age. Years of education, depression and anxiety at baseline were significantly associated with QoL. Thus, the effect of age on quality of life remains significant even when other factors are considered. The influence of mental health on QoL reinforces the importance of intervening in both depressive and anxiety symptoms in old age.

Two Dimensions of Social Exclusion: Economic Deprivation and Dynamics of Loneliness During Later Life in Europe

We contribute to the discussion on social exclusion by examining the relationship between material conditions and loneliness in a sample of individuals aged 50+ in the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). In its 5th wave, the survey was extended to include specific items related to economic and social deprivation. We use this extended information on material conditions and examine how it correlates with the level and dynamics of a composite loneliness measure at the time of wave 5 and between wave 5 and 6 of the survey (undertaken in 2013 and 2015, respectively). In order to isolate the effect of material deprivation on loneliness, regression analyses include an extensive set of control variables. The analyses show a strong and significant relationship between material deprivation and both the level of loneliness and deterioration in the loneliness status.

Cumulative disadvantage over the life course and depression among older adults: a cross-national perspective

The study considers the effects of accumulation of disadvantage over the life course in three key domains of life, health, socioeconomic status and adverse experiences, on later life depression, focussing on differentials between genders and across European populations. Information on 23816 persons aged 50+ has been used from wave 2 (cross-sectional material) and wave 3 (retrospective) of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Cumulative health disadvantage seems to have the greatest relative effect for both sexes and across Europe. Males are more affected by poor health and socioeconomic adversity whereas for females, adverse experiences have a stronger effect. In several countries cumulative adverse experiences are more important compared to cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage; the first seems of greater consequence in Poland and Ireland while the latter mainly in Southern Europe. The study shows that accumulation of disadvantage over the life course significantly predicts depression across European countries.

Idade da Reforma: One size does not fit all

The European population is aging and, by 2050, Portugal will face a most alarming scenario, with an old-age dependency ratio — i.e. the number of individuals aged 65 or older as a share of the active age population — above 65%, almost double the figure for 2016. Portugal has already undertaken measures to improve the financial resilience of the pension system, but still lacks a better understanding of its social sustainability. We resort to the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to study individual heterogeneity on pension preferences and find that poor health and unemployment are, together with age and the length of the contributory career, key elements to understand early retirement, while late retirement is associated with higher income. Identifying socioeconomic groups with incentives to deviate from the statutory retirement age is crucial to policy makers currently debating the retirement age in Portugal.

Does an advanced statistical technique perform better than a simple technique for dementia prediction?

AbstractBackgroundCox regression models (CM) employ two strong assumptions: the proportional hazards (PH) and the log‐linearity (LL) of covariates. These assumptions might not hold for all predictor variables, which in turn can lead to biased results. (Abrahamowicz et al., 1997; Ritchie et al., 2016). Generalised Cox regression models (GCM) enable to independently test and relax the assumptions of CM (Abrahamowicz & MacKenzie, 2007).MethodData is used from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which includes around 140,000 individuals aged 50 or older followed over seven waves. Data from The Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study (ADAMS) is used for external validation. CM and GCM are used to estimate dementia risk.ResultNone of the predictor included in the analyses fulfils the assumptions of Cox regression. The pseudo R2 is 0.06 (95% CI: 0.047, 0.062; CM) and 0.493 (95% CI: 0.460, 0.506; GCM). The likelihood ratio test results in a p‐value of <0.001. Both models predict dementia moderately well (10‐year risk: 0.737; 95% CI: 0.695, 0.783; CM and 0.746; 95% CI: 0.711, 0.790; GCM).ConclusionThe GCM performs significantly better than the CM in modelling dementia risk. However, this approach has also disadvantages: larger sample needed, only visual examination of effects, long computational time possible. Yet, the generalised Cox regression is an interesting extension of the Cox regression. The option to relax and independently test the assumptions is especially appealing when including continuous variables.

Teacher turnover: What can we learn from Europe?

AbstractShortages of qualified teachers in primary and secondary education are very common in almost all European countries and in the US. Since high quality teachers are usually the most likely to leave, much attention has been focused on teacher turnover; retaining the best teachers can help to ameliorate teacher shortages. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this paper examines the rates and characteristics of teacher turnover across European countries. Though the numerical rates of teacher turnover have followed similar patterns, countries are very individual in other respects, including the types of positions teachers hold and how they are appraised. Moreover, from the early 1990s, Eastern European countries experienced economic transitions that have influenced teacher mobility in the long term. Thanks to SHARE, we can study the occupational trajectories of respondents in nineteen European countries. By identifying those who changed their occupation, we can learn more about teacher turnover, its characteristics across Europe and how it has been affected by economic and political transition.

Anxiety, Depression and Quality of Life in Older Adults: Trajectories of Influence across Age.

This study focuses on the influence of anxiety and depression on individual trajectories of quality of life in old age through a longitudinal approach. A representative sample of adults aged 50+ living in Portugal and participating in wave 4 (W4) and wave 6 (W6) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project was considered. Participants, 1765 at baseline (W4) and 1201 at follow up (W6), were asked about their quality of life (CASP-12) and emotional status (Euro-D scale; five items from the Beck Anxiety Inventory). Linear Mixed Effects models were performed to identify factors associated with changes in quality of life across age. Increasing age was found to have a significant negative effect on quality of life. Lower education and higher levels of depression and anxiety at baseline were also associated with worse quality of life; 42.1% of the variation of CASP-12 across age was explained by fixed and random effects, being depression followed by anxiety as the factors that presented with the highest relative importance. Both depression and anxiety play an important role in quality of life in older adults and must be acknowledged as important intervention domains to foster healthy and active aging.

Family network, wellbeing and loneliness among odler adults in Poland

The main aim of the paper was the investigation the relationship between family situation and subjective wellbeing and loneliness among people aged 65 years and more in Poland. For purposes of our analysis we used the 6th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) carried out in 2015. We employed linear regression and ordered probit models. Our results showed that unpartnered older adults, especially men, were less satisfied with life and more lonely than partnered individuals. Also, the quality of relationship between partners, expressed here by the presence of a spouse in SN seems to be important as well. Older adults who listed a spouse in SN felt less lonely than the others, and those married who did not have a partner in SN were less satisfied with life. Aged individuals having children had higher subjective wellbeing than the childless, although this result was insignificant. The presence of children in SN contributed to a lower life satisfaction and an increased loneliness level (especially for women). Furthermore, the association between having siblings and wellbeing and loneliness is not clear-cut.

Participation in activities mediates the effect of Internet use on cognitive functioning in old age.

Research indicates that Internet use positively influences cognitive functioning in later life, but we do not know the behavioral pathways that explain this association. This study explored the role of participation in activities as a potential mediator of the relationship between Internet use and cognitive functioning over a 4-year period. We analyzed representative data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The sample included 8353 European participants between 50 and 97 years of age. We used data from 2013 (T1), 2015 (T2), and 2017 (T3). Participants reported whether they participated in a diverse range of social and leisure activities. In addition, they provided information about their Internet use as well as cognitive functioning measures. Findings from cross-lagged panel analysis indicated a positive association between Internet use and change in cognition over the course of 4 years. This relationship was partly mediated by the number of reported activities. Internet use was positively associated with the change in activities after 2 years, which, in turn, positively predicted cognitive functioning 2 more years later. This is the first study that explores the temporal sequence of Internet use, participation in activities, and cognitive functioning. It sheds light on the mechanisms that account for the positive effects of Internet use on healthy aging.

The intergenerational effects of birth order on education

We study the intergenerational effect of birth order on educational attainment using rich data from different European countries included in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The survey allows us to link two or more generations in different countries. We use reduced-form models linking children’s education to parents’ education, controlling for a large number of characteristics measured at different points in time. We find that not only are parents who are themselves firstborns better educated, on average, but they also have more-educated children compared with laterborn parents (intergenerational effect). Results are stronger for mothers than for fathers, and for daughters than for sons. In terms of heterogeneous effects, we find that girls born to firstborn mothers have higher educational attainment than girls born to laterborn mothers. We do not find evidence for potential channels other than parental education that could explain the intergenerational effect of parental birth order.

Regional differences in diabetes across Europe – regression and causal forest analyses

We examine regional differences in diabetes within Europe, and relate them to variations in socio-economic conditions, comorbidities, health behaviour and diabetes management. We use the SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) data of 15 European countries and 28,454 individuals, who participated both in the 4th and 7th (year 2011 and 2017) waves of the survey. First, we estimate multivariate regressions, where the outcome variables are diabetes prevalence, diabetes incidence, and weight loss due to diet as an indicator of management. Second, we study the heterogeneous impact of demographic, socio-economic, health and lifestyle indicators on the regional differences in diabetes incidence with causal random forests.Compared to Western Europe, the odds of a new diabetes diagnosis over a six-year horizon is 2.2-fold higher in Southern and 2.6-fold higher in Eastern Europe. Adjusting for individual characteristics, the odds ratio decreases to 1.8 in the South-West and to 2.0 in the East-West dimension. These remaining differences are mostly explained by country-specific healthcare indicators. Based on the causal forest approach, the adjusted East-West difference is essentially zero for the lowest risk groups (tertiary education, employment, no hypertension, no overweight) and increases substantially with these risk factors, but the South-West difference is much less heterogeneous. The prevalence of diet-related weight loss around the time of diagnosis also exhibits regional variation. The results suggest that the regional differences in diabetes incidence could be reduced by putting more emphasis on diabetes prevention among high-risk individuals in Eastern and Southern Europe.

The effect of employment on the subjective well-being of 60–80 years old people

PurposeThe current study investigates the association of employment at older age (60–80 years ) with the cognitive component of subjective well-being (SWB): life satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachOut of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the present study’s sample included 58,197 observations of participants aged 60–80 years from 18 countries. The authors estimate the direct effects of employment and number of working hours on life satisfaction while considering the characteristics of the job and their impact.FindingsResults reveal that individuals who do not work enjoy a higher level of life satisfaction and so do those who work in developing jobs. Work under pressure reduces the level of SWB and working in physically demanding jobs has no significant impact on SWB. The results confirm previous findings regarding the positive contribution of self-employment to individuals’ SWB.Originality/valueThe results allow policy makers to implement policy measures that can improve older workers' SWB.

Health impact of providing informal care in Portugal

BackgroundMiddle-aged and older adults play an important role in the provision of informal support, however, the impact on the health of those individuals who provide informal care is unclear. The main objectives of this study are: (1) to assess the prevalence of co-residential caregiving provided by individuals aged 50+; (2) to analyze differences between the group of Portuguese co-residential caregivers and the group of Portuguese non-caregivers; (3) to examine the longitudinal effect of providing informal care on the health of co-residential informal caregivers in Portugal.MethodsData from wave 4 and wave 6 of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used. A linear mixed model and a generalized mixed model were used to analyze the longitudinal effect of providing informal care on the health (physical health and depressive symptoms) of Portuguese individuals aged 50 + .ResultsIn both SHARE waves analyzed, Portugal had the highest percentage of co-residential caregivers aged 50+. At baseline, the Portuguese co-residential caregiver population, compared to non-caregivers, has a lower percentage of employed individuals (14.9% compared to 25.7%) and a higher percentage of individuals with four or more depressive symptoms (56.4% compared to 35.5%). The caregivers also have a lower quality of life (CASP-12) (30.93 compared to 32.59). Marginal differences in educational levels between the caregiver and non-caregiver groups were also found, with co-residential caregivers having lower levels of education (72.3% have ISCED 0–2 compared to 64.7%), lower levels of cognitive function (− 2.321 compared to − 1.784), lower levels of physical health (− 0.180 compared to − 0.076) and lower engagement in moderate or vigorous physical activity (14.9% compared to 21.5%). Longitudinal models reveal that providing care within the household is not associated with physical health (b = 0.048; se = 0.035; p = 0.167), but is associated with depressive symptoms (OR = 1.609; 95% CI = 1.141–2.271; p = < 0.010).ConclusionsPortugal has the highest percentage of co-residential caregivers aged 50+. In that country, providing informal care to a household member is associated with depressive symptoms. Portuguese policymakers should therefore promote programs to prevent and alleviate the depressive symptoms experienced by individuals aged 50+, who provide co-residential care.

Changes in the provision of instrumental support by older adults in nine European countries during 2004\u20142015: a panel data analysis

BackgroundProviding support to others has been shown to be beneficial to older adults. As people age, their health and social relationships change. These changes may also relate to changes in social support provision. We examined the trajectory of instrumental support provision by older people in three European regions throughout 11 years of follow-up. We then examined the extent to which age at baseline, sex, and region (representing welfare state regime) influenced the variations in the trajectory.MethodsData collected from 8354 respondents who had completed at least waves 1 and 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was analysed. Instrumental support provision was determined from asking a single question regarding whether the respondent provided help personally for people outside their household. Region, sex, and age at baseline were the main predictors tested. We used growth modelling to address the aims of this study.ResultsThe northern European region (Sweden and Denmark) had the highest odds ratio of instrumental support provision. The likelihood of being involved in providing instrumental support decreased by 8% annually (OR: 0.916, 95%CI: 0.893,0.940) over the 11 years of follow-up. Older respondents were less likely to provide instrumental support and their trajectories declined faster than those of the younger respondents. Sex difference in instrumental support provision was more apparent among younger-older people in the southern European region.ConclusionsOlder European adults are an important source of instrumental support, especially for their families. The probability of instrumental support provision by European older adults declines over time. Age, sex, and welfare state regime predict this trajectory.

Frailty Changes Predict Mortality in 4 Longitudinal Studies of Aging.

Baseline frailty index (FI) values have been shown to predict mortality among older adults, but little is known about the effects of changes in FI on mortality. In a coordinated approach, we analyzed data from 4 population-based cohorts: the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing (ELSA), and the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), comprising a total of 24 961 respondents (65+), 95 897 observations, up to 9 repeated FI assessments, and up to 23 years of mortality follow-up. The effect of time-varying FI on mortality was modeled with joint regression models for longitudinal and time-to-event data. Differences (of 0.01) in current FI levels (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.04, 95% credible interval [CI] = 1.03-1.05) and baseline FI levels (HR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.03-1.05) were consistently associated with mortality across studies. Importantly, individuals with steeper FI growth also had a higher mortality risk: An increase in annual FI growth by 0.01 was associated with an increased mortality risk of HR = 1.56 (95% CI = 1.49-1.63) in HRS, HR = 1.24 (95% CI = 1.13-1.35) in SHARE, HR = 1.40 (95% CI = 1.25-1.52) in ELSA, and HR = 1.71 (95% CI = 1.46-2.01) in LASA. FI changes predicted mortality independently of baseline FI differences. Repeated assessment of frailty and individual's frailty trajectory could provide a means to anticipate further health deterioration and mortality and could thus support clinical decision making.

The impact of tourism on active and healthy ageing: health-related quality of life

ABSTRACT Society today faces the great challenge of an ageing population. Within the scope of the physical-mental-social paradigm of active ageing, it has been shown that leisure activities contribute to older people’s physical and psychological well-being. Tourism, which fits all definitions of leisure, has unique characteristics that mean it can connect the crucial aspects of healthy ageing identified in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE): psychological health, well-being, life satisfaction, and social networks. The positive effect of tourism on the quality of life of individuals over 65 years old, unrelated to any underlying clinical condition, was confirmed through the concept of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), measured with the results of self-administered questionnaires among a sample of people over 65 years of age and compared with the results for the reference population.

A dynamic microeconomic analysis of the impact of physical activity on cognition among older people

This microeconomic study explores the dynamic relationship between physical activity and cognition, using longitudinal data from 6 waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) between 2004 and 2017. Physical activity has drawn significant attention as a potentially successful action for protecting brain health and cognition in the aging population, but the empirical evidence in observational studies is inconclusive to date. We add to the literature by estimating the effect of physical activity on cognition, tackling many sources of bias, which have previously not been addressed consistently. The challenge in estimating the effect of physical activity on cognition is the dynamics of cognition and the endogeneity of physical activity caused by unobserved heterogeneity, reverse causality and measurement error. To address this endogeneity and at the same time control for lagged cognition, we propose a system – generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, using lagged levels and differences of the endogenous explanatory variables as instruments, while transforming out the fixed effects. We find that being moderately & vigorously physically active at least once a week increases memory status by 0.282 and 0.552 standard deviations for men and women respectively. We find different effects for varying physical activity intensity.

Work–family balance in the second half of life: Caregivers' decisions regarding retirement and working time reduction in Europe

AbstractThis article investigates how different types of informal caregiving – upward, lateral and downward – impact men's and women's decisions to retire or to reduce their working hours, and how welfare policy characteristics moderate the linkage between informal care provision and employment participation. The analyses are based on six waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We exploit the data's longitudinal structure by applying fixed‐effects regression models with lagged, time‐varying country characteristics. The results show that, in most cases, upward caregiving to parents is less relevant for deciding to remain in the labour market than lateral care (especially to siblings, friends and neighbours) and downward grandchild care. The welfare context moderates the impact of caregiving on labour market participation, with variation between the different types of care provided.