Psychosocial working characteristics before retirement and depressive symptoms across the retirement transition: a longitudinal latent class analysis

Abstract

Psychosocial working characteristics before retirement and depressive symptoms across the retirement transition: a longitudinal latent class analysis by Åhlin JK,

Subjective well-being across the retirement transition—Historical differences and the role of perceived control.

“…Mean-level effects of retirement on subjective well-being seem to be rather small: Luhmann and colleagues (2012) found in a meta-analysis that retirement was associated with a small decrease in cognitive-evaluative subjective well-being (e.g., life satisfaction), but not with affective well-being (e.g., positive affect). Nevertheless, some more recent studies indicate that retirement may also be associated with short-time increases in mental health and subjective well-being, in line with the theoretical proposition of a "honey-moon effect" (Åhlin et al, 2020;Henning et al, 2021;.…”

“…For example, social networks seem to have historically increased already in the years before retirement (Suanet & Huxhold, 2020). Furthermore, previous studies showed that people within negative work environments report more depressive symptoms before retirement but benefit more from retiring (Åhlin et al, 2020;Fleischmann, Xue, & Head, 2019). A recent study showed historical improvements of control and innovation capacity at work (Hülür, Ram, Willis, Schaie, & Gerstorf, 2019).…”

Psychological Distress During the Retirement Transition and the Role of Psychosocial Working Conditions and Social Living Environment

“…Retirement from a high-stress job as indicated by high job strain, high psychosocial job demands, low decision authority, and low social support has been associated with a decrease in these symptoms ( Fleischmann et al, 2020 ; Wang, 2007 ; Westerlund et al, 2010 ; Wheaton, 1990 ), although the effect may be relatively short term, occurring within 3 years after retirement only ( Fleischmann et al, 2020 ). A similar association between depressive symptoms, retirement, and previous psychosocial working conditions was found among retirees in Sweden, by using trajectory analysis approach ( Åhlin et al, 2020 ). However, in their study, improvement in mental health was observed only for a small group of retirees with poor work conditions (e.g., higher job strain and lower workplace social support), while another group of people who also had poor psychosocial working conditions showed persistent depressive symptoms ( Åhlin et al, 2020 ).…”

“…A similar association between depressive symptoms, retirement, and previous psychosocial working conditions was found among retirees in Sweden, by using trajectory analysis approach ( Åhlin et al, 2020 ). However, in their study, improvement in mental health was observed only for a small group of retirees with poor work conditions (e.g., higher job strain and lower workplace social support), while another group of people who also had poor psychosocial working conditions showed persistent depressive symptoms ( Åhlin et al, 2020 ). This suggests that the effects of retirement may vary between individuals, and factors not related to work may explain part of the differences.…”

“…The strength of this study was the use of very recent and large longitudinal data with repeated measurements on psychological distress before and after retirement, and multiple psychosocial working condition and social environment measures, which enabled us to investigate how different contexts are associated with changes in mental health during the retirement transition. Most of the studies to date investigating changes in mental health during the retirement transition have used cross-sectional data comparing those retiring to those continuing at work (e.g., Vyas and Okereke, 2020 ) or concentrated on general patterns and not taking into account the contexts people are retiring from (but see Åhlin et al, 2020 ; Fleischmann et al, 2020 ; Wang, 2007 ). Because all participants retired based on statutory age-based retirement, ill-health leading to retirement decision was an unlikely source of bias.…”