Socioeconomic Status and Health Well-Being during Later Life: Potential Mediating Factors

2013 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-158
Author(s):  
Tze-Li Hsu ◽  
Jeralynn S. Cossman
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mediating Factors ◽  
Socioeconomic Status And Health

scholarly journals Socioeconomic Status, Time Scarcity and Well-Being in Retirement

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 913-913
Author(s):  
Boroka Bo
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Network Characteristics ◽  
Experience Of Time ◽  
Peer Network ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Cumulative Inequality

Abstract We tend to think of retirement as a great equalizer when it comes to relief from the pernicious time scarcity characterizing the lives of many individuals in the labor force. Puzzlingly, this is not entirely the case. Using data from the MTUS (N=15,390) in combination with long-term participant observation (980 hours) and in-depth interviews (N=53), I show that socioeconomic characteristics are important determinants of retiree time scarcity. Neighborhood disadvantage gets under the skin via time exchanges that are forged by both neighborhood and peer network characteristics. The SES-based ‘time projects of surviving and thriving’ undergirding the experience of time scarcity lead to divergent strategies of action and differing consequences for well-being. For the advantaged, the experience of time scarcity is protective for well-being in later life, as it emerges from the ‘work of thriving’ and managing a relative abundance of choices. For the disadvantaged, the later life experience of time scarcity is shaped by cumulative inequality, further exacerbating inequalities in well-being. The final section of the article offers an analysis and interpretation of these results, putting retiree time scarcity in conversation with the broader literature on socioeconomic status and well-being.

scholarly journals Cross-National Perspectives on Health and Well-Being in Later Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 484-484
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ailshire ◽  
Yuan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Cross National

Abstract Cross-national comparisons are increasingly being used to re-evaluate whether our theories of aging are dependent on sociocultural context and to develop new insights into both long-standing and emerging issues in aging. The papers in this symposium use harmonized data from the Gateway to Global Aging to examine a range of topics in aging and provide new insights into key questions in aging research. Liu et al., determine whether social relationships mediate the association between early life adversity and later life health and well-being using longitudinal data from the U.S. and England. Considering multiple domains of the social determinants of health, such as socioeconomic status, social relationships, and health care access, Cho et al. identify which are related to self-rated health in China, Japan, and South Korea. Cheng et al. test the age-as-leveler hypothesis for explaining how socioeconomic differentials in health change in older ages in China and 19 European countries to determine if the protective effect of socioeconomic status on multi-morbidity changes with age. Harmonized data facilitate international comparisons papers, but additional efforts are sometimes needed to calibrate specific measures across international surveys. A major challenge in cross-national aging research, for instance, has been the limited ability to compare cognition across countries. Nichols and colleagues present a novel method for cocalibration of cognitive function across the U.S., England, and India that could be used for additional cross-national comparative research. The papers in this symposium demonstrate both the potential and challenges of cross-national studies of health and well-being among older adults.

scholarly journals Job Characteristics, Job Preferences, and Physical and Mental Health in Later Life

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 237802311983600
Author(s):  
Jessica Halliday Hardie ◽  
Jonathan Daw ◽  
S. Michael Gaddis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Job Characteristics ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Job Preferences ◽  
Wisconsin Longitudinal Study ◽  
The Life Course

Existing research linking socioeconomic status with work focuses primarily on the precursors (educational attainment) and outcomes (income) of work, rather than asking how diverse facets of work influence health. Using four waves of data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, the authors evaluate whether multiple measures of respondent job characteristics, respondent preferences for those characteristics, and their interaction substantially improve the fit of sociological models of men’s and women’s physical and mental health at midlife and old age compared with traditional models using educational attainment, parental socioeconomic status, and income. The authors find that nonwage job characteristics predict men’s and women’s physical and mental health over the life course, although there is little evidence that the degree to which one’s job accords with one’s job preferences matters for health. These findings expand what is known about how work matters for health, demonstrating how the manner and condition under which one works has lasting impacts on well-being.

scholarly journals Advancing the Science of Well-Being

2021 ◽  
pp. 521-535
Author(s):  
Carol D. Ryff ◽  
Jennifer Morozink Boylan ◽  
Julie A. Kirsch
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Cohort Studies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Conceptual Foundation ◽  
Single Item ◽  
Objective Indicators ◽  
Socioeconomic Status And Health

We question use of the term “well-being” to encompass notably distinct phenomena (objective indicators of socioeconomic status and health, subjective indicators of psychological experience) and dispute characterization of the field of well-being as relatively new. We also call for greater interplay between government surveys and multiuse cohort studies, both of which increasingly focus on well-being. The MIDUS study is presented as an example of how to negotiate distinct disciplinary priorities in broad-based studies of well-being and health, including those that take context seriously. We conclude with explanations for why we do not endorse any of the measurement recommendations (single-item measures, 4- to 6-item measures, multi-item assessments) put forth in the preceding chapter, arguing that the ultra-short assessments ignore extensive prior science documenting the complex, multifaceted nature of well-being, while the proposed longer assessment (Comprehensive Inventory of Thriving) suffers from multiple problems including a questionable conceptual foundation, inadequate evidence of validity and reliability, and highly redundant items.

Differential Expectations and Realities: Race, Socioeconomic Status and Health of the Oldest-Old

1994 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Differential Expectations ◽  
Socioeconomic Status And Health ◽  
Better Than ◽  
Economic Well Being

Comparisons by race indicate that African Americans are significantly more disadvantaged than whites in their socioeconomic status. Despite complaints about their situation, however, African Americans report that their situation is better than they had expected. Although they perceive their health as poorer than whites, they are no more disabled functionally, and they have significantly better morale. Within-group correlations find the predictable associations between socioeconomic status and physical, psychological, and social outcomes for both groups. Nevertheless, both qualitative and quantitative data indicate that economic well-being is related to the congruence between expectations and the realities of life in advanced old age, making objective and subjective factors of similar importance.

scholarly journals GROWING UP ON A FARM AND COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING IN LATER LIFE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S57-S57
Author(s):  
Pamela Herd ◽  
Sanjay Asthana ◽  
Kamil Sicinski
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Cognitive Functioning ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Wisconsin Longitudinal Study ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract There is growing interest in rural disadvantage and the implications for health and well-being in later life. We examine the relationship between living in rural areas in childhood and cognitive outcomes later in life using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The WLS has prospective childhood measures of geographic status, adolescent IQ, and detailed measures of socioeconomic status, combined with later life measures of health and cognitive functioning. We find a robust relationship between rurality and lower levels of cognitive functioning, but it is explained by growing up on a farm.

scholarly journals RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES IN LATER LIFE: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF SES AND HEALTH DISADVANTAGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S149-S149
Author(s):  
Nirmala Lekhak ◽  
Tirth Bhatta ◽  
Timothy Goler
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Black Adults ◽  
Opposite Pattern ◽  
Contemplative Practices ◽  
Private Prayer

Abstract Substantial scholarly attention has been placed on prayer as a buffer of life events’ adverse influences on well-being in later life. The disproportionate distribution of adverse life events among Black adults has also attracted scholarly interest in racial differences in contemplative practices. Black adults have been found to more likely engage in private prayer than White adults, whereas studies have observed an opposite pattern for meditation. The contribution of stratification in socioeconomic status and health to racial differences in contemplative practices, especially in meditation has received relatively less attention. Drawing from a subsample from Health and Retirement Survey (N = 1102), this study takes a next necessary step to assess the contribution of socioeconomic status, multimorbidity, and depressive symptoms to racial differences in both prayer and meditation use in later life. Consistent with prior studies, the odds of engaging in private prayer (OR=2.78, p<0.01) was higher among Blacks than White older adults. Our findings of higher odds (OR=2.92, p<0.001) of meditation among Black older adults than White older adults, however, do not align with previous studies. The disadvantage in socioeconomic status, health, and psychological well-being completely explain racial differences in prayer, but this difference in meditation persist even after adjusting for those factors. Our findings call for further research on contextually influenced underlying individual motivations that drive older adults of different racial and social economic groups to engage in various contemplative practices. Further research is also warranted on how older adults, particularly Blacks differentiate between private prayer and meditation.

Leisure Activities and the Subjective Well-Being of Older Adults in Croatia

GeroPsych ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljiljana Kaliterna Lipovčan ◽  
Tihana Brkljačić ◽  
Zvjezdana Prizmić Larsen ◽  
Andreja Brajša-Žganec ◽  
Renata Franc
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Leisure Activities ◽  
Leisure Activity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Perceived Health ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Financial Status

Abstract. Research shows that engagement in leisure activities promotes well-being among older adults. The objective of the current study was to examine the relationship between subjective well-being (flourishing) and leisure activities (total number of different activities in the previous year) in a sample of older adults in Croatia, thereby considering the variables of sex, marital status, financial status, and self-perceived health. The differences in the examined variables between the groups of older adults who reported to be engaged in new activities with those who did not were also examined. The sample of N = 169 older adults aged 60 years and above was drawn from a convenience sample of adult internet users in Croatia. Participants reported their self-perceived health and the number of leisure activities they engaged in over the previous year as well as completing the Flourishing Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that older adults who were engaged in more various leisure activities, who perceived better financial status, and who were married reported higher levels of flourishing. A comparison of the two groups of older adults with and without engagement in leisure activities showed that those engaged in at least one leisure activity were more likely to be women, reported higher levels of flourishing, and perceived their own financial status as better. This study indicated that engaging in leisure activities in later life might provide beneficial effects for the well-being of older adults.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document