Mental retirement and health selection: Analyses from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study

Abstract

Background Research has recently suggested that retirement may decrease cognitive engagement, resulting in cognitive aging. Few studies have systematically documented whether or how selectivity into retirement shapes the relationship between retirement and cognitive aging. Methods We draw on data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2012) to examine the relationship between cognition and retirement for 18,575 labor force participants. Longitudinal regression discontinuity modeling was used to examine performance and decline in episodic memory. Models differentiated three forms of selection bias: indirect and direct selection as well as reverse causation. To further interrogate the disuse hypothesis, we adjust for confounding from health and socioeconomic sources. Results Results revealed that individuals who retired over the course of the panel were substantially different in terms of health, wealth and cognition when compared to those who remained employed. However, accounting for observed selection biases, significant associations were found linking longer retirement with more rapid cognitive decline. Discussion This study examined respondents who were in the labor force at baseline and transitioned into retirement. Analyses suggested that those who retired over the course of the panel had worse overall functioning, but also experienced more rapid declines after retirement that increased the rate of aging by two-fold, resulting in yearly losses of 3.7% (95% CI=[3.5, 4.0]) of one standard deviation in functioning attributable to retirement. Results are supportive of the view that retirement was associated with more rapid cognitive aging.

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: the Whitehall II cohort study

“…A further limitation of these studies is their short follow-ups and use of only one measure of cognitive function. A few studies have examined change in cognitive function before and after retirement [ 22 , 35 ], but most have relatively short follow-up period [ 36 ], and thus cannot estimate the long-term effects of retirement on cognitive function.…”

Does postponing retirement affect cognitive function? A counterfactual experiment to disentangle life course risk factors

“…Researchers have employed a variety of solutions to try and address these methodological challenges. From studies using cross-national variation in the statutory retirement age and instrumental variable techniques, there is mixed evidence that retirement is negatively associated with health, broadly, or cognitive function, specifically (Adam et al 2013;Bonsang et al 2012;Celidoni et al 2017;Clouston and Denier 2017;Coe et al 2012;Coe and Zamarro 2011;Denier et al 2017;Mazzonna and Peracchi 2012;Rohwedder and Willis 2010). For example, using the HRS and ordinary least squares regression, Coe and colleagues (2012) find retirement is associated with lower cognitive function.…”

“…However, when they use time between interview and offer of early retirement as an instrument, they find no negative causal effect of retirement on cognitive function for white-collar workers and a slight positive effect for blue-collar workers. In contrast, Clouston and Denier (2017) and Bonsang and colleagues (2012), respectively, use longitudinal regression discontinuity models and eligibility for social security as an instrument.…”

Supplemental Material for Risk of Cognitive Declines With Retirement: Who Declines and Why?

“…It is important to note that there are multiple definitions of retirement in the literature (e.g., Denton & Spencer, 2009;Ekerdt, 2010;Wang & Shi, 2014) and that the transition to retirement does not always reflect a discrete process. The present study defines retirement using a simple but common approach based on participant perceptions of whether they were retired (i.e., whether participants self-reported that they were retired) (see, for example, Clouston & Denier, 2017;Bonsang et al, 2012;Fisher et al, 2014;Wickrama et al, 2013).…”