Retirement, age, gender and mental health: findings from the 45 and Up Study.
OBJECTIVES
To examine the relationships of retirement and reasons for retirement with psychological distress in men and women at the age of 45-79 years.


METHOD
Data from 202,584 Australians participating in the large-scale 45 and Up Study was used. Psychological distress was measured by the Kessler psychological distress scale. Associations between different work status and reasons for retirement with psychological distress were assessed for men and women at different ages using logistic regression.


RESULTS
Being fully retired or unemployed was associated with the high levels of psychological distress compared to being in paid work for men and women aged 45-64 (p < 0.0001), and for men aged 65-74 years (p ≤ 0.0014). At the age of 75-79 years, there was no difference in psychological distress between different work statuses. Among retirees, retirement due to ill health, being made redundant or caring duty was associated with the high level of psychological distress.


CONCLUSION
The association between work and mental health underscores the importance of policies and strategies to encourage and enable people to continue in the workforce after age 55, particularly for men. Important reasons for retirement with worse mental health outcomes include redundancy, ill health and needing to care for family or a friend. These circumstances will affect whether a person can continue working and their risk of poor mental health, and both considerations should be addressed in developing approaches for maintaining older workers or assisting them with their retirement transition.
['Vo|Kha|K|', 'Forder|Peta M|PM|', 'Tavener|Meredith|M|', 'Rodgers|Bryan|B|', 'Banks|Emily|E|', 'Bauman|Adrian|A|', 'Byles|Julie E|JE|']
D000367:Age Factors D000368:Aged D004651:Employment D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008603:Mental Health D008875:Middle Aged D009517:New South Wales D012179:Retirement D012737:Sex Factors D013315:Stress, Psychological D014478:Unemployment
retirement age gender mental health reasons for retirement