No abstract

Bridge employment is the labor force participation pattern increasingly observed in older workers between their career jobs and their complete labor force withdrawal. It serves as a transition process from career employment to full retirement. Typical bridge employment decisions include full retirement, career bridge employment, and bridge employment in a different field. In the current study, 3 dominant theories (i.e., role theory, continuity theory, and life course perspective) on retirement processes were reviewed. On the basis of these theories, the authors proposed 4 categories of antecedents (i.e., individual attributes, job-related psychological variables, family-related variables, and a retirement-planning-related variable) of different types of bridge employment decisions. The authors used longitudinal data of a large, nationally representative sample from the Health and Retirement Study (F. Juster & R. Suzman, 1995) to test the current hypotheses. These data were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression, and most of the hypotheses were supported by the results. The implications of this study are discussed at both theoretical and practical levels.

The present study examined the relationship between bridge employment and retirees' health outcomes (i.e., major diseases, functional limitations, and mental health). We used a nationally representative sample of 12,189 retirees from the first 4 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that compared with full retirement, engaging in bridge employment either in a career field or in a different field was associated with fewer major diseases and functional limitations, whereas engaging in career bridge employment was associated with better mental health. The findings highlight the health benefits of engaging in bridge employment for retirees. The practical implications of this study are discussed at both the individual and policy levels. Limitations of the current findings are also noted in conjunction with future research directions.

Using longitudinal data from a Chinese newcomer sample (N = 671), we investigated the predictive effects of adaptability on newcomers' workrelated outcomes. Specifically, we tested 4 perceived P-E fit variables (i.e., P-O fit, needs-supplies fit, demands-abilities fit, and P-G fit) as mediators between adaptability variables and newcomers' work-related outcomes. Our results showed that after controlling for demographic effects and other personality variables (i.e., proactive personality and openness to experience), newcomers' adaptability dimensions (i.e., cultural adaptability, work stress adaptability, interpersonal adaptability, and learning adaptability) were differentially associated with improvement in newcomers' P-E fit perceptions over a 3-month time period. In turn, the perceived P-E fit variables were related to the newcomers' work-related outcomes (i.e., job performance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions), after controlling for the socialization process variables (i.e., institutionalized socialization experience, role clarity, and job-related self-efficacy). The mediating roles of perceived P-E fit variables were also confirmed. Both theoretical and practical implications in terms of adaptability, newcomer adaptation processes, and P-E fit are discussed.

In the current study, we conducted daily telephone interviews with a sample of Chinese workers (N = 57) for 5 weeks to examine relationships between daily work-family conflict and alcohol use. Drawn from the tension reduction theory and the stressor-vulnerability model, daily work-family conflict variables were hypothesized to predict employees' daily alcohol use. Further, social variables (i.e., peer drinking norms, family support, and coworker support) were hypothesized to moderate the relationship between work-family conflict and alcohol use. Results showed that daily work-to-family conflict but not family-to-work conflict had a significant within-subject main effect on daily alcohol use. In addition, there was significant between-subject variation in the relationship between work-to-family conflict and alcohol use, which was predicted by peer drinking norms, coworker support, and family support. The current findings shed light on the daily health behavior consequences of work-family conflict and provide important theoretical and practical implications.