Pathways to Health and Well-being

Myrskylä, Mikko; Gagnon, Alain; Bengtsson, Tommy

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.031

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…Now that older-age is no longer necessarily characterised by poverty and poor health, policies have focused on promoting broader notions of 'quality' in later life. This study is the first to use prospective data to address the 'fundamental question' of whether the mechanisms by which advantage earlier in life influences later-life QoL are direct or indirect and, if indirect, which paths are potentially modifiable via 'down-stream' policy interventions (Bhatta et al, 2017, Myrskylä et al, 2014. In support of previous studies, we find current employment, mortgage-freedom and good self-reported health and mid-life advantaged occupational status all have strong positive effects on QoL in a UK early 'baby-boom' cohort of adults aged 62-64.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of life at the retirement transition: Life course pathways in an early ‘baby boom’ birth cohort

Wildman

Moffatt

Pearce

2018

Social Science & Medicine

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Promoting quality of life (QoL) in later life is an important policy goal. However, studies using prospective data to explore the mechanisms by which earlier events influence QoL in older age are lacking. This study is the first to use prospective data to investigate pathways by which a range of measures of life-course socioeconomic status contribute to later-life QoL. The study uses data from the Newcastle Thousand Families Study cohort (N = 1142), an early 'baby-boom' birth cohort born in 1947 in Newcastle upon Tyne, an industrial city in north-east England. Using prospective survey data collected between birth and later adulthood (N = 393), a path analysis investigated the effects and relative contributions of a range of life-course socioeconomic factors to QoL at age 62-64 measured using the CASP-19 scale. Strong positive effects on later-life QoL were found for advantaged occupational status in mid-life and better self-reported health, employment and mortgage-freedom in later adulthood. Significant positive indirect effects on QoL were found from social class at birth and achieved education level, mediated through later-life socioeconomic advantage. Experiencing no adverse events by age five had a large total positive effect on QoL at age 62-64, comprising a direct effect and indirect effects, mediated through education, mid-life social class and later-life self-reported health. Results support a pathway model with the effects of factors in earlier life acting via later-life factors, and an accumulation model with earlier-life factors having large total, cumulative effects on later-life QoL. The presence of a direct effect of adverse childhood events by age five on QoL suggests a 'critical period' and indicates that policies across the life-course are needed to promote later-life QoL, with policies directed towards older adults perhaps too late to 'undo the damage' of earlier adverse events.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of life at the retirement transition: Life course pathways in an early ‘baby boom’ birth cohort

Wildman

Moffatt

Pearce

2018

Social Science & Medicine

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“…It is controversial whether personal characteristics impact health and well-being in later life directly or indirectly (see Myrskyla¨, Gagnon, & Bengtsson, 2014). Following preliminary analyses examining stress-decreasing effects of general self-efficacy cross-sectionally and cross-culturally (Scho¨nfeld, Brailovskaia, Bieda, Zhang, & Margraf, 2016), we now took up another important point when adopting mediation processes: As an intervening variable is supposed to bridge the predictor and the outcome, it is indispensable to evaluate its role longitudinally by collecting multiple assessments.…”

Section: Present Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Efficacy as a Mechanism Linking Daily Stress to Mental Health in Students: A Three-Wave Cross-Lagged Study

et al. 2018

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Background and Objectives While stress is generally well established to be predictive for different indicators of mental health, little is known about the longitudinal effects of daily life stressors and the role of self-evaluation factors. We tested whether perceived general self-efficacy is a mediator for the association between daily life stressors and psychopathological symptoms as well as subjective well-being. Methods Data derived from 2160 Chinese university students was assessed at three time points with one-year intervals. We used the Brief Daily Stressor Screening, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Positive Mental Health Scale, and the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales. Total, direct, and indirect effects were estimated using 95% bootstrapped confidence intervals and structural equation modeling. Results Latent variable mediation analyses showed that daily stressors were associated with increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress and with decreased subjective well-being. All cross-lagged mediational paths via self-efficacy were significant in predicting positive and negative mental health. Conclusions Considering stress of daily life as well as including the two dimensions of mental health may be important for future research and practice. This study provides novel evidence for mediating stress effects by perceived self-efficacy, which should be focused in intervention- and prevention-based approaches.

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“…Research suggests that conditions during early-life and childhood are associated with subsequent life stages and life course [ 12 ]. Previous studies showed that family SES [ 2 , 3 ] and health during childhood have long-term effects on health during adulthood [ 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early-life conditions and health at older ages: The mediating role of educational attainment, family and employment trajectories

2018

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ObjectivesWe examine to what extent the effect of early-life conditions (health and socioeconomic status) on health in later life is mediated by educational attainment and life-course trajectories (fertility, partnership, employment).MethodsUsing data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (N = 12,034), we apply, separately by gender, multichannel sequence analysis and cluster analysis to obtain groups of similar family and employment histories. The KHB method is used to disentangle direct and indirect effects of early-life conditions on health.ResultsEarly-life-conditions indirectly impact on health in later life as result of their influence on education and family and employment trajectories. For example, between 22% and 42% of the effect of low parental socio-economic status at childhood on the three considered health outcomes at older age is explained by educational attainment for women. Even higher percentages are found for men (35% - 57%). On the contrary, the positive effect of poor health at childhood on poor health at older ages is not significantly mediated by education and life-course trajectories. Education captures most of the mediating effect of parental socio-economic status. More specifically, between 66% and 75% of the indirect effect of low parental socio-economic status at childhood on the three considered health outcomes at older age is explained by educational attainment for women. Again, higher percentages are found for men (86% - 93%). Early-life conditions, especially socioeconomic status, influence family and employment trajectories indirectly through their impact on education. We also find a persistent direct impact of early-life conditions on health at older ages.ConclusionsOur findings demonstrate that early-life experiences influence education and life-course trajectories and health in later life, suggesting that public investments in children are expected to produce long lasting effects on people’s lives throughout the different phases of their life-course.

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Pathways to Health and Well-being

Cited by 10 publications

References 45 publications

Quality of life at the retirement transition: Life course pathways in an early ‘baby boom’ birth cohort

Quality of life at the retirement transition: Life course pathways in an early ‘baby boom’ birth cohort

Self-Efficacy as a Mechanism Linking Daily Stress to Mental Health in Students: A Three-Wave Cross-Lagged Study

Early-life conditions and health at older ages: The mediating role of educational attainment, family and employment trajectories

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