The Differential Impact of Retirement on Informal Caregiving, Volunteering, and Grandparenting: Results of a Three-Year Panel Study

Objectives Research on retirees’ engagement in informal caregiving, formal volunteering, and grandparenting often views retirement as a permanent exit from the workforce. Retirement processes are, however, increasingly diverse: some retire fully while others remain in paid work after retirement from a career job. A relevant but understudied question is how these different retirement processes relate to changes in engagement in unpaid productive activities. Building on role theory, we hypothesize that full and working retirees face different consequences of retirement and, therefore, differ in engagement in unpaid productive activities. Methods We analyze data that were collected in 2015 and 2018 among 4,882 Dutch individuals aged 60-65 and employed at baseline. Around half had fully retired at follow-up and ten percent worked after their retirement. At follow-up, more respondents are regularly volunteering (from 17% to 27%) and grandparenting (from 39% to 53%) than at baseline, while caregiving remains rather stable (from 33% to 30%). Results Conditional change models show that full retirement is associated with an increased likelihood of volunteering and grandparenting, but not caregiving. Engagement in post-retirement work is related to an increased likelihood of looking after the grandchildren, but not to volunteering or providing informal care. Discussion Our findings suggest that volunteering is important for replacing weak ties after full retirement, while grandparenting might be a new, central role in retirement – irrespective of work engagement. Retirees seem to engage in unpaid productive activities for different reasons.

Are one-year changes in adherence to the 24-hour Movement Guidelines associated with depressive symptoms among youth?

Background: There remains a need for prospective research examining movement behaviours in the prevention and management of mental illness. This study examined whether changes in adherence to the 24-hour Movement Guidelines (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA], sleep duration, screen time) were associated with depression symptoms among youth.Methods: Conditional change models were used to analyze two waves of longitudinal questionnaire data (2016/17, 2017/18) from students in grades 9-12 (N=2292) attending 12 schools in Ontario and British Columbia, Canada, as part of the COMPASS study. One-year change in adherence to the MVPA, screen time, and sleep duration guidelines were modeled as predictors of depressive symptoms, adjusting for covariates and prior year depressive symptoms. Models were stratified by sex.Results: Continued adherence to sleep guidelines and transitioning from inadequate to sufficient sleep were associated with lower depressive symptoms than continued nonadherence, and continued adherence was associated with lower depression than transitioning from sufficient to short sleep. For screen time, transitioning from exceeding guidelines to guideline adherence was associated with lower depressive symptoms than continued nonadherence. MVPA guideline adherence was not associated with depression scores, when controlling for sleep and screen time guideline adherence change and covariates. When combined, meeting additional guidelines than the year prior was associated with lower depressive symptoms among females only.Conclusions: Adherence to the sleep guidelines emerged as the most consistent predictor of depression symptoms. Promoting adherence to the Movement Guidelines, particularly sleep, should be considered priorities for youth mental health at a population level.

Are one-year changes in adherence to the 24-hour movement guidelines associated with depressive symptoms among youth?

Background There remains a need for prospective research examining movement behaviours in the prevention and management of mental illness. This study examined whether changes in adherence to the 24-hour movement guidelines (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA], sleep duration, screen time) were associated with depression symptoms among youth.Methods Conditional change models were used to analyze two waves of longitudinal questionnaire data (2016/17, 2017/18) from students in grades 9-12 (N=2292) attending 12 schools in Ontario and British Columbia, Canada, as part of the COMPASS study. One-year change in adherence to the MVPA, screen time, and sleep duration guidelines were modeled as predictors of depressive symptoms, adjusting for covariates and prior year depressive symptoms. Models were stratified by sex.Results Continued adherence to sleep guidelines and transitioning from inadequate to sufficient sleep were associated with lower depressive symptoms than continued nonadherence, and continued adherence was associated with lower depression than transitioning from sufficient to short sleep. For screen time, transitioning from exceeding guidelines to guideline adherence was associated with lower depressive symptoms than continued nonadherence. MVPA guideline adherence was not associated with depression scores, when controlling for sleep and screen time guideline adherence change and covariates. When combined, meeting additional guidelines than the year prior was associated with lower depressive symptoms among females only.Conclusions Adherence to the sleep guidelines emerged as the most consistent predictor of depression symptoms. Promoting adherence to the movement guidelines, particularly sleep, should be considered priorities for youth mental health at a population level.