Mental health differences among retirees and workers: Findings from the normative aging study.

Abstract

Researchers during the past decade have found little effect of retirement on physical health. However, retirement entails a number of losses, and its effect on mental health, as measured by the prevalence of psychological symptoms, is unclear. We examined psychological symptoms in a sample of 1,513 older men, participants in the Normative Aging Study, using the SCL-90-R (Derogatis, 1983). Analyses of variance indicated that retirees reported more psychological symptoms than did workers, even after controlling for physical health status. Exploratory analyses examining the circumstances of retirement found no effects for length of retirement or part-time employment, but did find effects for the timing of retirement. Both early and late retirees reported more psychological symptoms. Late workers (aged 66 and older) reported the fewest symptoms. Reasons for these findings are discussed.

Association between Subjective Well-Being and Retirement among Older People

“…Although previous studies such as the one by Bossé et al [20] have not found differences in psychological symptoms between retirees and workers, others have reported improved mental health and emotional aspects in retirees who held some kind of occupation after retirement [21] and a worsening in mental health in inactive retirees [22]. The general analysis of data in the present research revealed a strong presence of positive aspects of being retired reported by the respondents.…”

Avaliação da qualidade de vida de aposentados com a utilização do questionário SF-36

“…Embora autores como Bossé et al (1987) 21 não tenham encontrado diferenças quanto aos sintomas psicológicos nos aposentados com ocupação ou não após a aposentadoria. Gonzáles et al (1995) 22 relataram piora na saúde mental em aposentados inativos.…”

Bridge employment and retirees’ health: A longitudinal investigation.

“…However, previous findings were mixed regarding this comparison. Some researchers showed that retirement resulted in more psychological symptoms because of the discontinuity of their employment status (e.g., Bosse et al, 1987), whereas working was better than retirement because it was associated with a higher sense of control (Drentea, 2007). On the other hand, retirement has also been shown to be associated with an improvement in positive affect and mental health because of less anxiety and stress from work (e.g., Drentea, 2007;Mein et al, 2003).…”