Honeymoons and joint lunches: effects of retirement and spouse's employment on depressive symptoms.

TitleHoneymoons and joint lunches: effects of retirement and spouse's employment on depressive symptoms.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsSzinovacz, ME, Davey, A
JournalJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
Volume59
Issue5
PaginationP233-45
Date Published2004 Sep
ISSN Number1079-5014
Call Numberpubs_2004_szinovacz-Davey_Honeymoons.pdf
KeywordsAdaptation, Psychological, Aged, Aging, Data collection, depression, Employment, Female, Humans, Life Change Events, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Retirement, Sex Factors, Spouses
Abstract

With hypotheses derived from a life course perspective in conjunction with life event stress and role theories, we examine whether a spouse's employment and length of retirement affect a person's postretirement depressive symptoms and whether such effects differ by gender. Analyses use pooled data from Waves 1-4 of the Health and Retirement Survey, using a subsample of married individuals who either remained continuously employed over time or completely retired since the Wave 1 interviews (N = 2,695). Recently retired men seem to be negatively affected by their spouses' continuous employment when compared with men whose wives were continuously not employed. In contrast, spouses' joint retirement has a beneficial influence on both recently retired and longer-retired men. However, for recently retired men, the positive effect of wives' retirement seems to be contingent on spouses' enjoyment of joint activities. Among women, effects of spouses' employment occur only among very recently retired wives (0-6 months). These wives report more depressive symptoms if their spouses were already nonemployed prior to wives' retirement. These results demonstrate the complexity of retirement adaptation processes and suggest that marital context plays an important role in retirement well-being.

DOI10.1093/geronb/59.5.p233
User Guide Notes

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15358796?dopt=Abstract

Endnote Keywords

Spouses/Retirement Behavior/Depressive Symptoms/Gender Differences

Endnote ID

12522

Alternate JournalJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
Citation Key6928
PubMed ID15358796
Grant ListR01 AG13180 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States