Using three waves of panel data collected from a national sample of Japanese adults between the ages of 55 and 64 years, we examined the relationship between productive roles and depressive symptoms. Our particular emphasis was on multiple roles, role transitions, and gender differences. We found that, among men, engaging in more hours of paid or volunteer work was related to fewer depressive symptoms. Although men who lost their paid work role reported more depressive symptoms, volunteer work attenuated the negative effect of losing their paid work role. For women, none of the productive roles examined in this study were found to be independently linked with depressive symptoms. However, engaging in multiple productive roles, in comparison with doing only housework, was related to fewer depressive symptoms. These findings suggest the psychological benefits of paid and volunteer work for retirement-aged men in Japan, and the need to be attentive to gender differences in the impact of productive roles.

BackgroundDifferences in health resulting from differences in socioeconomic status (SES) have been identified around the world. Age, period, and cohort (A-P-C) differences in health are vital factors which are associated with disparities in SES. However, few studies have examined these differences simultaneously. Moreover, although self-rated health (SRH) has been frequently used as an indicator of health, biases in reporting SRH that depend on the socioeconomic characteristics of respondents have been scarcely adjusted in the previous studies. To overcome these limitations, we investigated the associations between disparities in SES and adjusted SRH based on A-P-C, by using a repeated, cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of Japanese people. In addition, we further investigated how exogenous (macroeconomic) conditions unique to a period or cohort would explain trends across successive periods and cohorts.MethodsData were obtained from a sample of 653,132 Japanese people that responded to the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions (CSLC), which is a cross-sectional survey that had been conducted every three years from 1986 to 2013, on over 10 occasions. In the CSLC, SES has been assessed by household income. We simultaneously controlled for each A-P-C dimension by using the model for cross-classification of random effects, and adjusting SRH data for reporting biases caused by differences in income and A-P-C.ResultsDifferences in adjusted SRH associated with income differences decreased with age and reversed after 76 years of age. Period differences indicated that income differences peaked in 1992 and 2007. Moreover, differences in adjusted SRH associated with income differences decreased in periods with high unemployment across all periods. Furthermore, there were no cohort differences in adjusted SRH that were associated with income differences.ConclusionIn Japan, there are age and period variations associated with adjusted differences in SRH as assessed by income. Moreover, exogenous conditions in each period could help explain periodic trends across successive periods.

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The present study examined the additive effects of age discrimination, as well as the buffering effects of psychosocial resources in reducing the negative impact of age discrimination on job satisfaction, among older employed men in Japan. Data were obtained from a national survey administered in 2016 to a probability-based sample of men aged 55 to 64 years ( n = 514). The results indicated that perceived age discrimination at work was associated with a lower level of job satisfaction. Moreover, a high level of social support from supervisors and coworkers decreased the negative impact of perceived age discrimination on job satisfaction. Our findings suggest that organizational-level interventions might be necessary to mitigate age discrimination and increase social support for keeping older employees in the workforce beyond their conventional retirement age.

This study examined the additive effects of social support and negative interactions in various relationship domains and the cross-domain buffering effects of social support on the detrimental impact of negative interactions on mental health among older adults in Japan. Data were obtained from a survey of residents of 30 municipalities in the Tokyo metropolitan area ( N = 1,592). The results indicated that family members living together may share ambivalent social ties, anchored in positive sentiments and serving as sources of support but where criticism and excessive demands may occur. We found that negative interactions had a more potent additive effect on mental health. Moreover, the interaction effects of negative interactions with family and social support from other relatives suggested reverse buffering. Our findings suggest that interventions might be more necessary to cope with the negative social exchanges of close kin relationships among the elderly Japanese.

Aim The aim of this study was to examine how hospital patient‐safety procedures affect the job satisfaction of hospital nurses. Additionally, we investigated the association between perceived autonomy and hospital patient‐safety procedures and job satisfaction. Background Recently, measures for patient safety have been recognized as an essential requirement in hospitals. Hospital patient‐safety procedures may enhance the job satisfaction of nurses by improving the quality of their work. However, such procedures may also decrease their job satisfaction by imposing excessive stress on nurses because they cannot make mistakes. Methods The participants included 537 nurses at 10 private hospitals in Japan (The surveys were collected from March to July 2012). Factors related to hospital patient‐safety procedures were demonstrated using factor analysis, and the associations between these factors and nurses’ self‐perceived autonomy and job satisfaction were examined using structural equation modelling. Findings Five factors regarding hospital patient‐safety procedures were extracted. Additionally, structural equation modelling revealed statistically significant associations between these factors and the nurses’ self‐perceived autonomy and job satisfaction. The findings showed that nurses’ perceived autonomy of the workplace enhanced their job satisfaction and that their perceptions of hospital patient‐safety procedures promoted their job satisfaction. However, some styles of chief nurses’ leadership regarding patient safety restrict nurses’ independent and autonomous decision‐making and actions, resulting in a lowering of job satisfaction. Conclusion and implications for nursing and health policy This study demonstrated that hospital patient‐safety procedures have ambiguous effects on nurses’ job satisfaction. In particular, chief nurses’ leadership relating to patient safety can have a positive or negative effect on nurses’ job satisfaction. The findings indicated that hospital managers should demonstrate positive attitudes to improve patient safety for nurses’ job satisfaction. In addition, policymakers in the hospitals should consider that chief nurses’ leadership styles may reduce autonomy and suppress nurses’ job satisfaction.

This study examined which of the identified health, psychological, social and environmental mediators could most effectively explain the socio-economic status (SES)-based differences in participation in exercise among elderly Japanese. The candidates for mediators were composed based on the socio-ecological model. A representative sample of people 65 years and older living in two areas with different residential SES in Tokyo, Japan produced 739 effective participants. The intensity of exercise was evaluated based on whether the participants exercise for 30 minutes or longer twice a week, or for 20 minutes or longer three times a week. SES was evaluated by education and income. Mediators were assessed through four dimensions: (a) health, (b) psychological status, (c) social relations and (d) environmental context. As a result, SES's indirect effect through the mediators was evaluated using a multiple mediator model. The influence of both education and income on exercise was mediated by self-efficacy for exercise and social support for exercise. Self-efficacy for exercise had the strongest effect, while social support for exercise explained more of the income differences affecting participation in exercise than it did regarding educational differences. Self-efficacy for exercise may have the strongest effect as a mediator, which would explain the differences in participation in exercise among elderly Japanese based on education and income.

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