Affiliation:
1. Department of Health Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan, The Netherlands
2. ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health (ICLS), Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, Gower Street, United Kingdom
3. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, United Kingdom
Abstract
Abstract
Objectives
Retirement could be a stressor or a relief. We stratify according to previous psychosocial working conditions to identify short-term and long-term changes in mental health.
Method
Using data from the Whitehall II study on British civil servants who retired during follow-up (n = 4,751), we observe mental health (General Health Questionnaire [GHQ] score) on average 8.2 times per participant, spanning up 37 years. We differentiate short-term (0–3 years) and long-term (4+ years) changes in mental health according to retirement and investigate whether trajectories differ by psychosocial job demands, work social support, decision authority, and skill discretion.
Results
Each year, mental health slightly improved before retirement (−0.070; 95% CI [−0.080, −0.059]; higher values on the GHQ score are indicative of worse mental health), and retirees experienced a steep short-term improvement in mental health after retirement (−0.253; 95% CI [−0.302, −0.205]), but no further significant long-term changes (0.017; 95% CI [−0.001, 0.035]). Changes in mental health were more explicit when retiring from poorer working conditions; this is higher psychosocial job demands, lower decision authority, or lower work social support.
Discussion
Retirement was generally beneficial for health. The association between retirement and mental health was dependent on the context individuals retire from.
Funder
British Heart Foundation
Whitehall Foundation
National Institutes of Health
UK Economic and Social Research Council
UK Medical Research Council
UK Economic and Social Research Council transition centres
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Geriatrics and Gerontology,Gerontology,Clinical Psychology,Social Psychology
Cited by
39 articles.
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