Alison Milne (2020). Mental Health in Later Life: Taking a Lifecourse Approach. Bristol: Policy Press, 360 pp. ISBN 9781447305712 (paperback)

Abstract Self-acknowledgement and integration of racial and sexual identities are significant to one’s overall sense of identity because of their implications for mental health and wellbeing. These issues are important as one ages because older people experience a wide range of factors that add layers to their ability to (re)integrate subsets of their identity into their overall self-identity such as age and age-related disabilities. This study examined the intersection of race and sexual identities on overall health status in older Black gay men, a demographic group that has historically received less attention. Data from the Social Justice Sexuality (SJS) survey of LGBTQ+ people of color which occurred over a 12-month period in the United States were analyzed. Participants (N=160), 50 years and over, responded to questions about their sexuality, social identity, family dynamics, community connection and engagement, and mental and physical health. Results show an association of mental wellbeing with racial and sexual identities. Further, results show that a strong sense of connection to other sexual minorities is positively associated with mental health in older Black gay men. We discuss the implication of findings for mental health interventions targeting this gendered population.

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Profile Groups Based on Lifestyle and Differences in Mental Health and Cognition

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1301 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 404-404

Author(s):

Joseph Kim ◽

Kyuree Kim

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Latent Class ◽

Mail Survey ◽

Later Life ◽

Self Rated Health ◽

Final Sample ◽

Group 2 ◽

Mean Differences

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the profiles of older adults according to lifestyle. Data for the study were from the 2017 Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS). CAMS 2017 is a questionnaire mailed to a sub-sample of respondents from the Health and Retirement Study. Participants were limited to older adults 65 and older, and the final sample consisted of 1136 older adults. The sample included 443 men and 693 women. Caucasians comprised 82.0% of the participants. Lifestyle was measured through items assessing the amount of time spent on activities. Due to high skewness, the items were dichotomized, 0=no time spent on activity and 1=time spent on the activity. Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify groups based on lifestyle. LCA is a person-centered approach for identifying unobserved subgroups based on similarity in responses to items. Three lifestyle groups were identified. Group 1 was “Outgoing” with 471 individuals. Group 2 was “Adequate” with 229 individuals. Group 3 was “Inactive” with 436 individuals. An ANOVA was then conducted to assess mean differences in self-rated health, cognition, depressive symptoms, and loneliness for the three lifestyle groups. The “Outgoing” and “Adequate” groups had significantly higher scores on self-rated health and cognition, and in addition, significantly lower scores on depressive symptoms and loneliness compared to the “Inactive” group. No significant differences were observed between the “Outgoing” and “Adequate” groups. An implication from this study is the importance of maintaining an active lifestyle in later life for better mental health and cognition.

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The Impact of Military Service Exposures and Psychological Resilience on the Mental Health Trajectories of Older Male Veterans

Journal of Aging and Health ◽

10.1177/0898264320975231 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 089826432097523

Author(s):

Stephanie Ureña ◽

Miles G. Taylor ◽

Dawn C. Carr

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Depressive Symptom ◽

Military Service ◽

Later Life ◽

Traumatic Experiences ◽

Psychological Resilience ◽

Previous Exposure ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Symptom Trajectories ◽

The Impact

Objectives: We examine the impact of exposure to the dead, dying, and wounded (DDW) during military service on the later-life depressive symptom trajectories of male United States veterans, using psychological resilience as an internal resource that potentially moderates negative consequences. Methods: The Health and Retirement Study (2006–2014) and linked Veteran Mail Survey were used to estimate latent growth curve models of depressive symptom trajectories, beginning at respondents’ first report of resilience. Results: Veterans with higher levels of resilience do not have increased depressive symptoms in later life, despite previous exposure to DDW. Those with lower levels of resilience and previous exposure to DDW experience poorer mental health in later life. Discussion: Psychological resilience is important for later-life mental health, particularly for veterans who endured potentially traumatic experiences. We discuss the importance acknowledging the role individual resources play in shaping adaptation to adverse life events and implications for mental health service needs.

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Association between accessibility to elementary school and depression in older Adults: JAGES Study

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckaa166.108 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽

Author(s):

M Nishida ◽

M Hanazato ◽

K Kondo

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Elementary School ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Local Community ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Later Life ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Intergenerational Exchange ◽

Geographical Accessibility

Abstract Background The connection in a local community has diluted in an aging society, and the importance of intergenerational exchange has increased for older adults' health. Some positive effects of intergenerational exchange have reported. For example, a reciprocal intergenerational exchange contributes to better mental health in later life. However, there is little evidence of the relationship between neighborhood environments causing intergenerational exchange and the health status of older adults. This study investigated the association between geographical accessibility to elementary school, enhancing intergenerational exchange, and depression in older adults. Methods The data were retrieved from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) 2016, a population-based study of independently living people ≥65 years old. The dependent variable is depression evaluated by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS≥5). The geographical accessibility to elementary School is the distance between the representative points of their residences and the nearest elementary school. Logistic regression analysis calculates the odds ratio to determine the association between depression and accessibility to elementary school and compare models to examine the effect of intermediate factors. Results Overall, 20.4% of the participants had depression. Compared with the longest distance from elementary school (≥950m), the odds ratio was 0.91 (95% CI = 0.86, 0.96) for the nearest category (<330m), 0.91 (95% CI = 0.87, 0.96) for the second-nearest (330-490m) and 0.94 (95% CI = 0.89, 0.99) for the third (490-670m) in model 1. After adjusting for intermediate factors, the odds ratio was 0.94 for the first and second-nearest groups. Conclusions Geographical accessibility to elementary school was associated with decreased depression for older adults. The result indicates that older adults' daily meetings with children around elementary schools can result in a positive effect on their mental health. Key messages Geographical accessibility to elementary school was associated with decreased depression for older adults. The neighborhood design enhancing intergenerational exchange might be useful for age-friendly cities.

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Parallel Process Latent Growth Modeling of the Relationships Between Social Cohesion and Mental Health in Later Life

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.983 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 307-307

Author(s):

Sok An ◽

Kyeongmo Kim ◽

Minhong Lee

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Social Cohesion ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Initial Level ◽

Later Life ◽

Health Problems ◽

Latent Growth ◽

Functional Disabilities ◽

Score Range ◽

Over Time

Abstract Previous literature suggests that social factors (e.g., social cohesion, social support) are protective predictors of mental health problems. However, there might be a reciprocal relationship between social factors and mental health and the relationship changes over time. Therefore, this study examined the longitudinal relationship between community social cohesion and mental health using a latent growth curve model with 8 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS; 2011-2018), a nationally representative panel study of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. Social cohesion measured the perceived level of mutual trust by three items (score range: 0-6) and mental health was measured by PHQ-4 (score range: 0-12). The final model including covariates (age, gender, functional disabilities) fit the data well: χ2=1036.383, p<.001; RMSEA=.037; CFI=.960; and SRMR=.070. Initial level of social cohesion was negatively associated with initial level of mental health problem (β=−.23, p< .001), suggesting that higher levels of social cohesion was associated with lower levels of mental health problems. The covariance between social cohesion slope and mental health slope was significant (β=−.16, p< .01), suggesting an increase in social cohesion was associated with a decrease in mental health problems over time. Functional disabilities significantly influenced mental health over time, while functional disabilities did not influence social cohesion consistently. This study adds to the growing literature on the ways mental health status and social connection have reciprocal relationships over time. Therefore, mental health status in later life could be decreased by improving social cohesion and connectedness with the community.

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Psychosocial Links Between Internet Use and Mental Health in Later Life: A Systematic Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence

Journal of Applied Gerontology ◽

10.1177/0733464815595509 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 36 (12) ◽

pp. 1471-1518 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Anna K. Forsman ◽

Johanna Nordmyr

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Internet Use ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Positive Association ◽

Later Life ◽

Individual Level ◽

Information And Communication

Research on the role of information and communication technology (ICT) use for active aging is limited. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the link between Internet use and mental health among older adults. The review was conducted based on searches in 9 electronic databases (2002-2014). A meta-synthesis approach was applied, examining quantitative (18) and qualitative (14) studies. The findings from the synthesis of quantitative statistical data indicate an overall positive association between Internet use and mental health and its psychosocial covariates in later life. The psychosocial links between Internet use and mental health identified from the qualitative data were (a) enhanced interpersonal interaction at individual level, (b) increased access to resources within the community, and (c) empowered social inclusion at society level. The results highlight the multi-level psychosocial links between Internet use and mental health, which may be applied in initiatives targeting healthy aging in various settings.

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Socio-Economic Family Background and Adult Children’s Health in Germany: The Role of Intergenerational Transmission of Education

European Sociological Review ◽

10.1093/esr/jcaa063 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Oliver Arránz Becker ◽

Katharina Loter

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Life Course ◽

Intergenerational Transmission ◽

Parental Education ◽

Panel Study ◽

Later Life ◽

Children's Health ◽

Children’S Health ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Intergenerational Transmission Of Education

Abstract This study examines consequences of parental education for adult children’s physical and mental health using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel study. Based on random-effects growth curve models (N = 15,144 West German respondents born between 1925 and 1998 aged 18–80), we estimate gender-, age-, and cohort-specific trajectories of physical and mental health components of the SF-12 questionnaire for low and high parental education measured biennially from 2002 to 2018. Findings suggest more persistent effects of parental education on physical than mental health. In particular, both daughters and sons of the lower educated group of parents (with neither parent qualified for university) exhibit markedly poorer physical health over the whole life course and worse mental health in mid-life and later life than those of higher educated parents. Thus, children’s health gradients conditional on parental education tend to widen with increasing age. Once children’s educational attainment is held constant, effects of parental education on children’s health mostly vanish. This suggests that in the strongly stratified West German context with its rather low social mobility, intergenerational transmission of education, which, according to our analyses, has been declining among younger cohorts, contributes to cementing long-term health inequalities across the life course.

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The association between childhood neighborhood relationship and mental health in middle and later life: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study

Archives of Public Health ◽

10.1186/s13690-021-00714-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jian Sun ◽

Hongye Luo ◽

Chaofan Li ◽

Qianqiang Wang

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Older Adults ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Regression Models ◽

Later Life ◽

Ordinary Least Squares ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Logit Regression ◽

Neighborhood Relationship ◽

Research Gap

Abstract Background It is unclear that whether childhood neighborhood relationship is associated with mental health among middle-aged and older adults. To overcome this research gap, this study aimed to investigate the association between childhood neighborhood relationship and mental health among the middle-aged and older adults in China. Methods The data of this study was sourced from the 2014 and 2015 waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. We used ordinary least squares and logit regression models to explore the association between childhood neighborhood relationship and mental health among the middle-aged and older adults in China. Results The regression results indicate that the middle-aged and older adults who lived in place where neighbors had close-knit relationships at childhood was significantly associated with decreased odds of suffering from depressive symptoms (OR = 0.4259, p < 0.001). Furthermore, compared to the middle-aged and older adults who lived in place where neighbors were not close-knit at childhood, those who lived in place where neighbors were close-knit at childhood had a reduced CES–D score (coefficient = − 2.7822, p < 0.001). Conclusion This study demonstrates the importance of living in place where neighbors had close-knit relationships at childhood. The integrated interventions, including maintaining close-knit neighborhood relationships and strengthening the construction of community, may be useful to improve mental health.

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Listening to Religious Music and Mental Health in Later Life

The Gerontologist ◽

10.1093/geront/gnu020 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 55 (6) ◽

pp. 961-971 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Matt Bradshaw ◽

Christopher G. Ellison ◽

Qijuan Fang ◽

Collin Mueller

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Later Life ◽

Religious Music

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