Social engagement across the retirement transition among “young-old” adults in the French GAZEL cohort

Abstract

The objective of this study was to test predictors of change in social engagement across the retirement transition in a cohort of 10,692 French utility workers retiring between 1992 and 2004, aged 51-65 in 2004. Three measures of social engagement (organizational activity participation, number of close family members, and number of close friends) were collected in 1991 and 2004; 1991 scores were subtracted from 2004 scores to determine change. We used ordered logistic regression to model predictors of change. Compared with those retiring just before the follow-up measure, those retiring 2-5 years earlier had greater positive change in organizational activity participation (OR 1.22, 95 % CI 1.07, 1.39) and greater positive change in number of close friends (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.04, 1.37) after retirement compared with before, but no difference in family contact, and no clear linear trend by retirement timing relative to the follow-up measure. Women were less likely than men to increase organizational activities and contact with close family ties. Poor self-rated health at follow-up consistently predicted decreased engagement. For specific activities, those retired longest had not only the greatest odds of increased political/religious organizational involvement and sports/hobby/ leisure involvement but also the greatest odds of decreased volunteering. Those of low midlife socioeconomic status (SES) were more likely to decrease levels of formal engagement from before retirement to after, compared to those of higher SES. Overall, certain changes in social engagement emerged with increasing time in retirement. However, retirement timing was a weaker predictor of change in engagement than factors such as low midlife SES or poor health. Findings suggest that disparities in social engagement may emerge during retirement.

Trajectories of social participation in old age: a systematic literature review

“…The proportion of elderly women and men differed among countries, influencing their representation in the samples of the studies. While studies on aging generally involve more women than men, the present review identified a number of studies with a higher proportion of men than women 9,16,21,26 . In addition, some studies investigated only women or only men 19,[28][29][30][31][32] .…”

“…Less frequent was the observation that levels of social engagement remain stable throughout life, including in old age 18,20,21,24,37 . The results of these studies point to the existence of continuity in relation to the social behaviors that are constructed and nourished throughout life and therefore influence outcomes in old age.…”

“…The trajectory of increasing levels of social engagement in old age was described by three studies 17,21,32 . These results may have been influenced by the methods used to measure social participation, as depending on the social activity or instrument used, certain trajectories may be favored.…”

“…In addition, social behavior is influenced by personal aspects (health, gender, income, schooling), contextual (social support, physical barriers and opportunities), as well as by common events of old age that characterize socially transient moments, for example, retirement and widowhood [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] .…”

Revisão sistemática da literatura internacional sobre aposentadoria e redes sociais

“…Nos primeiros anos após aposentar-se é provável que ocorra uma ampliação das relações sociais em função do maior tempo livre para realizar atividades com outras pessoas (Sabbath, Lubben, Goldberg, Zins, & Berkman, 2015). Entretanto, há evidências de que esse movimento não permanece acontecendo no transcorrer dos anos, em virtude do encolhimento no tamanho das redes gerado a partir das limitações físicas que podem emergir com a idade (Cornwell, Laumann, & Schumm, 2008;Marcum, 2013).…”