This study examined the effects of social networks and social support on the mortality of a national probability sample of 2,200 elderly Japanese persons during a three-year period. The direct and indirect effects of social relationships were assessed by using hazard rate models in conjunction with ordinary least squares regressions. Among the five measures of social relationships, social participation is shown to have a strong impact on mortality, and this effect remains statistically significant when other factors are considered. Social participation, social support, and feelings of loneliness are found to have indirect effects on the mortality of the Japanese elders through their linkages with chronic diseases, functional status, and self-rated health. On the other hand, marital status and social contacts are not shown to have statistically significant effects on the risk of dying, either directly or indirectly.

Using three waves of panel data collected from a national sample of Japanese adults between the ages of 55 and 64 years, we examined the relationship between productive roles and depressive symptoms. Our particular emphasis was on multiple roles, role transitions, and gender differences. We found that, among men, engaging in more hours of paid or volunteer work was related to fewer depressive symptoms. Although men who lost their paid work role reported more depressive symptoms, volunteer work attenuated the negative effect of losing their paid work role. For women, none of the productive roles examined in this study were found to be independently linked with depressive symptoms. However, engaging in multiple productive roles, in comparison with doing only housework, was related to fewer depressive symptoms. These findings suggest the psychological benefits of paid and volunteer work for retirement-aged men in Japan, and the need to be attentive to gender differences in the impact of productive roles.

Poor health does trigger changes in living arrangement. Both physical (i.e., chronic conditions and functional status) and mental (i.e., depressed affect) health conditions play a role in such transitions. Because health conditions are correlated with competing risks of mortality, attrition, and proxy interview, health effects on changes in living arrangement are likely underestimated.

This study analyzes the patterns and determinants of the transitions in functional status among elderly Japanese persons. Data for this research came from a two-wave national probability sample survey of persons aged 60 and over conducted between 1987 and 1990 in Japan. The study focuses on the transitions from two states of origin, "not disable" and "disabled," to three states of destination, "not disabled," "disabled," and "dead." Through multinomial logit analyses, the effects of sociodemographic factors, social relationships, health, and health behavior on transitions in functional status were examined. To assess the impact of panel attrition, the risk of nonresponse was analyzed in conjunction with health transition within the same framework. Finally, an increment-decrement active life table for Japanese elderly people was derived on the basis of the multivariate analyses. According to the life table, a Japanese older person at age 60 is expected to spend about 18.7 years (81%) in functional independence and about 4.4 years (19%) in disability throughout his or her remaining lifetime.

No abstract