The Great Recession, Life Events, and Mental Health of Older Adults

• Published in: International journal of aging & human development Vol. 84; no. 3; pp. 294 - 312
• Main Authors: Pruchno, Rachel, Heid, Allison R., Wilson-Genderson, Maureen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.03.2017; Baywood Publishing Co., Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Caregivers; Depression - psychology; Economic Recession; Female; Health Status; Humans; Illnesses; Life Change Events; Life events; Male; Mental depression; Mental health; Middle Aged; Older people; Personal experiences; Recessions; Symptoms; Unemployment - psychology; United States > US; New Jersey; life events; economic recession; depression; depressive symptoms; mental health
• ISSN: 0091-4150; 1541-3535; 1541-3535
• DOI: 10.1177/0091415016671722

Historical events and personal experiences have the potential to alter the way people age. Using a life-course model, we examined how the Economic Recession of 2008 and experienced life events affected the mental health of 3,393 older adults in New Jersey. Data collected between 2006 and 2012 revealed a significant increase in mean depressive symptoms. Multinomial logistic regression analyses indicated that people with incident depression were more likely to have lost a job, become a caregiver, experienced a major illness, or have a family member with a major illness than people with no depression. Compared with the incident depression group, those with remitted depression were less likely to report having lost a job or experienced a major illness. Modeling the effects of individual life events and the economic recession on depression enriches understanding about the association between macro socioeconomic events, life events, and the mental health of older adults.