%0 Journal Article %J Research on Aging %D 2023 %T How Do Marital Transitions Affect Self-Perceptions of Aging? %A Turner, Shelbie G %A Witzel, Dakota D %A Stawski, Robert S %A Hooker, Karen %K Divorce %K Marriage %K self-perceptions of aging %K Widowhood %X

OBJECTIVES: We analyzed whether marital status and experiences of marital loss or gain were associated with self-perceptions of aging (SPA), a major psychosocial mechanism of healthy aging.

METHOD: We used data from 7028 participants of the Health and Retirement Study. Participants reported their marital status and their positive and negative SPA on two occasions 4 years apart. We ran general linear models to analyze differences in SPA between men and women who remained married, became divorced or widowed, or remarried following divorce or widowhood.

RESULTS: Participants who experienced marital loss had lower positive SPA than participants who remained marred. Participants who experienced marital gain had lower negative SPA than participants who remained married. None of the associations differed between men and women.

DISCUSSION: Results suggest that it may not be marital status itself, but rather the transition into or out of marriage, that impacts how people appraise their own aging.

%B Research on Aging %G eng %R 10.1177/01640275221113219 %0 Journal Article %J Age and Ageing %D 2021 %T Creation and validation of a polysocial score for mortality among community-dwelling older adults in the USA: The Health and Retirement Study. %A Ping, Yongjing %A Michelle C Odden %A Stawski, Robert S %A Abdel Magid, Hoda S %A Wu, Chenkai %K healthy ageing %K polysocial score %K Public Health %K Social determinants of health %X

BACKGROUND: the interrelatedness between social determinants of health impedes researchers to identify important social factors for health investment. A new approach is needed to quantify the aggregate effect of social factors and develop person- centred social interventions.

METHODS: participants ([n = 7,383], 54.5% female) were aged 65 years or above who complete an additional psychosocial questionnaire in the health and retirement study in 2006 or 2008. Social determinants of health encompassed five social domains: economic stability, neighbourhood and physical environment, education, community and social context, and healthcare system. We used the forward stepwise logistic regression to derive a polysocial score model for 5-year mortality. Indices of goodness-of-fit, discrimination and reclassification were used to assess model performance. We used logistic regression to identify the association between polysocial score and mortality. Subgroup analyses were conducted to examine sex- and race-specific association.

RESULTS: polysocial score was created using 14 social determinants of health. In the training cohort, the C-statistic was 0.71 for the reference model (only age, sex and race/ethnicity) and increased to 0.75 for the continuous and categorical polysocial score. Compared with the reference model, the integrated discrimination index for adding the continuous or categorical polysocial score was both 0.03 (P values < 0.001). Participants with an intermediate (odds ratio [OR] = 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.51-0.82) or high (OR = 0.48; 95% CI, 0.38-0.60) polysocial score had lower odds of death than those in the low category in the fully adjusted model, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: the polysocial approach may offer possible solutions to monitor social environments and suggestions for older people to improve their social status for specific health outcomes.

%B Age and Ageing %V 50 %P 2214-2221 %G eng %N 6 %R 10.1093/ageing/afab174 %0 Journal Article %J J Epidemiol Community Health %D 2016 %T Association of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA. %A Wu, Chenkai %A Michelle C Odden %A Gwenith G Fisher %A Stawski, Robert S %K Adult %K Aged %K Female %K Health Status %K Humans %K Life Expectancy %K Life Style %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Mortality, Premature %K Retirement %K Risk Factors %K United States %X

BACKGROUND: Retirement is an important transitional process in later life. Despite a large body of research examining the impacts of health on retirement, questions still remain regarding the association of retirement age with survival. We aimed to examine the association between retirement age and mortality among healthy and unhealthy retirees and to investigate whether sociodemographic factors modified this association.

METHODS: On the basis of the Health and Retirement Study, 2956 participants who were working at baseline (1992) and completely retired during the follow-up period from 1992 to 2010 were included. Healthy retirees (n=1934) were defined as individuals who self-reported health was not an important reason to retire. The association of retirement age with all-cause mortality was analysed using the Cox model. Sociodemographic effect modifiers of the relation were examined.

RESULTS: Over the study period, 234 healthy and 262 unhealthy retirees died. Among healthy retirees, a 1-year older age at retirement was associated with an 11% lower risk of all-cause mortality (95% CI 8% to 15%), independent of a wide range of sociodemographic, lifestyle and health confounders. Similarly, unhealthy retirees (n=1022) had a lower all-cause mortality risk when retiring later (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.94). None of the sociodemographic factors were found to modify the association of retirement age with all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: Early retirement may be a risk factor for mortality and prolonged working life may provide survival benefits among US adults.

%B J Epidemiol Community Health %V 70 %P 917-23 %8 2016 Sep %G eng %U http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2016/03/21/jech-2015-207097.abstract %N 9 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27001669?dopt=Abstract %$ 999999 %R 10.1136/jech-2015-207097