Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T04:00:51.394Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life transitions and leisure activity engagement among older Americans: findings from a national longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2018

Yura Lee ,
Iris Chi  and
Jennifer A. Ailshire
Yura Lee*
Affiliation:
Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, Department of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Iris Chi
Affiliation:
USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Jennifer A. Ailshire
Affiliation:
USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lee626@uwm.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

One of the major aspects of successful ageing is active engagement in later life. Retirement and widowhood are two significant life transitions that may largely influence leisure engagement patterns among older adults. Limited findings exist regarding the impact of life transitions on leisure activity engagement due to the scarcity of longitudinal data with repeated measurement of older individuals’ leisure engagement. This study longitudinally examined changes in leisure activity engagement as influenced by retirement and widowhood using five waves of national panel data from the Health and Retirement Study and its supplementary Consumption and Activities Mail Survey. Multi-level modelling was conducted with retirement and widowhood status as time-varying variables. Socio-economic status, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, self-rated health and functional limitations were also included as time-varying and time-invariant covariates. Findings show that engagement in mental, physical, social and household activities significantly decreased during an eight-year period. Moreover, transition from working to retired status was associated with increased engagement in mental, social and household activities but decreased engagement in physical activities among men only. Transition from married to widowhood status was associated with decreased engagement in household activities among women only. Encouraging active leisure engagement among individuals who experience either or both life transitions may help maintain their health after transition.

Keywords

retirementwidowhoodleisure activitiesHealth and Retirement StudyConsumption and Activities Mail Survey
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , March 2020 , pp. 537 - 564
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, KB, Leibbrandt, S and Moon, H (2011) A critical review of the literature on social and leisure activity and wellbeing in later life. Ageing & Society 31, 683–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agahi, N, Silverstein, M and Parker, MG (2011) Late-life and earlier participation in leisure activities: their importance for survival among older persons. Activities, Adaptation and Aging 35, 210–222.Google Scholar
Armstrong, GK and Morgan, K (1998) Stability and change in levels of habitual physical activity in later life. Age and Ageing 27, supplement 3, 17–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atchley, RC (1989) A continuity theory of normal aging. Gerontologist 29, 183–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Azevedo, MR, Araújo, CLP, Reichert, FF, Siqueira, FV, da Silva, MC and Hallal, PC (2007) Gender differences in leisure-time physical activity. International Journal of Public Health 52, 8–15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baltes, PB (1987) Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: on the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology 23, 611–626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, PB, Reese, HW and Lipsitt, LP (1980) Life-span developmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology 31, 65–110.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barnett, I, van Sluijs, EM and Ogilvie, D (2012) Physical activity and transitioning to retirement: a systematic review. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 43, 329–336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berger, U, Der, G, Mutrie, N and Hannah, MK (2005) The impact of retirement on physical activity. Ageing & Society 25, 181–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonsang, E, Adam, S and Perelman, S (2012) Does retirement affect cognitive functioning? Journal of Health Economics 31, 490–501.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bridges, W (2004) Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes. Cambridge: Da Capo Press.Google Scholar
Carr, D and Utz, R (2001) Late-life widowhood in the United States: new directions in research and theory. Ageing International 27, 65–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, P-J, Wray, L and Lin, Y (2014) Social relationships, leisure activity, and health in older adults. Health Psychology 33, 516–523.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crimmins, EM, Kim, JK, Langa, KM and Weir, DR (2011) Assessment of cognition using surveys and neuropsychological assessment: the Health and Retirement Study and the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 66B, supplement 1, 162–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cumming, E and Henry, WE (1961) Growing Old: The Process of Disengagement. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Dunstan, DW, Salmon, J, Healy, GN, Shaw, JE, Jolley, D, Zimmet, PZ and Owen, N (2007) Association of television viewing with fasting and 2-h postchallenge plasma glucose levels in adults without diagnosed diabetes. Diabetes Care 30, 516–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evenson, KR, Rosamond, WD, Cai, J, Diez-Roux, AV and Brancati, FL (2002) Influence of retirement on leisure-time physical activity: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 155, 692–699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Friedman, E and Havighurst, R (eds) (1954) The Meaning of Work and Retirement. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Fry, PS (2001) The unique contribution of key existential factors to the prediction of psychological well-being of older adults following spousal loss. Gerontologist 41, 69–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fultz, NH, Fisher, GG and Jenkins, KR (2004) Does urinary incontinence affect middle-aged and older women's time use and activity patterns? Obstetrics and Gynecology 104, 1327–1334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, H, Ashton-Shaeffer, C, Green, J and Autry, C (2003) Leisure in the lives of retirement-aged women: conversations about leisure and life. Leisure/Loisir 28, 203–230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glass, TA, Mendes de Leon, CF, Bassuk, SS and Berkman, LF (2006) Social engagement and depressive symptoms in late life: longitudinal findings. Journal of Aging and Health 18, 604–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gustman, AL and Steinmeier, TL (2000) Retirement outcomes in the Health and Retirement Study. National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA, Working Paper 7588.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamer, M and Stamatakis, E (2014) Prospective study of sedentary behavior, risk of depression, and cognitive impairment. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 46, 718–723.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Havighurst, RJ (1963) Successful aging. Processes of Aging: Social and Psychological Perspectives 1, 299–320.Google Scholar
Hong, S-I, Hasche, L and Bowland, S (2009) Structural relationships between social activities and longitudinal trajectories of depression among older adults. Gerontologist 49, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, FB, Li, TY, Colditz, GA, Willett, WC and Manson, JE (2003) Television watching and other sedentary behaviors in relation to risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus in women. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 289, 1785–1791.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurd, M and Rohwedder, S (2009) Methodological innovations in collecting spending data: the HRS Consumption and Activities Mail Survey. Fiscal Studies 30, 435–459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurd, MD, Rohwedder, S, Belli, RF, Stafford, FP and Alwin, DF (2007) Time-use in the Older Population: Variation by Socio-economic Status and Health. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.Google Scholar
Idler, EL, Kasl, SV and Lemke, JH (1990) Self-evaluated health and mortality among the elderly in New Haven, Connecticut, and Iowa and Washington counties, Iowa, 1982–1986. American Journal of Epidemiology 131, 91–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iso-Ahola, SE, Jackson, E and Dunn, E (1994) Starting, ceasing, and replacing leisure activities over the lifespan. Journal of Leisure Research 26, 227–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iwasaki, Y and Smale, BJ (1998) Longitudinal analyses of the relationships among life transitions, chronic health problems, leisure, and psychological well-being. Leisure Sciences 20, 25–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jakes, RW, Day, NE, Khaw, KT, Luben, R, Oakes, S, Welch, A, Bingham, S and Wareham, NJ (2003) Television viewing and low participation in vigorous recreation are independently associated with obesity and markers of cardiovascular disease risk: EPIC-Norfolk population-based study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 57, 1089–1096.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janke, MC, Davey, A and Kleiber, D (2006) Modeling change in older adults’ leisure activities. Leisure Sciences 28, 285–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janke, MC, Nimrod, G and Kleiber, DA (2008 a) Reduction in leisure activity and well-being during the transition to widowhood. Journal of Women & Aging 20, 83–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Janke, MC, Payne, LL and Van Puymbroeck, M (2008 b) The role of informal and formal leisure activities in the disablement process. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 67, 231–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juster, FT and Suzman, R (1995) An overview of the Health and Retirement Study. Journal of Human Resources 30, S7–S56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, JE and Moen, P (2002) Retirement transitions, gender, and psychological well-being: a life-course, ecological model. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 57B, 212–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koeneman, MA, Chinapaw, MJM, Verheijden, MW, van Tilburg, TG, Visser, M, Deeg, DJH and Hopman-Rock, M (2012) Do major life events influence physical activity among older adults: the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 9, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lachman, ME, Agrigoroaei, S, Murphy, C and Tun, PA (2010) Frequent cognitive activity compensates for education differences in episodic memory. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 18, 4–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lahti, J, Laaksonen, M, Lahelma, E and Rahkonen, O (2011) Changes in leisure-time physical activity after transition to retirement: a follow-up study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 8, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lazear, EP (1986) Retirement from the labor force. In Ashenfelter, OC and Layard, R (eds), Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol. 1. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, pp. 305–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, YS (2005) Gender differences in physical activity and walking among older adults. Journal of Women & Aging 17, 55–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lucas, M, Mekary, R, Pan, A, Mirzaei, F, O'Reilly, ÉJ, Willett, WC, Koenen, K, Okereke, OI and Ascherio, A (2011) Relation between clinical depression risk and physical activity and time spent watching television in older women: a 10-year prospective follow-up study. American Journal of Epidemiology 174, 1017–1927.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McCoach, DB and Kaniskan, B (2010) Using time-varying covariates in multilevel growth models. Frontiers in Psychology 1, 1–12.Google ScholarPubMed
Morrow-Howell, N, Putnam, M, Lee, YS, Greenfield, JC, Inoue, M and Chen, H (2014) An investigation of activity profiles of older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 69B, 809–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nimrod, G (2007) Expanding, reducing, concentrating and diffusing: post retirement leisure behavior and life satisfaction. Leisure Sciences 29, 91–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nomaguchi, KM and Bianchi, SM (2004) Exercise time: gender differences in the effects of marriage, parenthood, and employment. Journal of Marriage and Family 66, 413–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paillard-Borg, S, Wang, H-X, Winblad, B and Fratiglioni, L (2009) Pattern of participation in leisure activities among older people in relation to their health conditions and contextual factors: a survey in a Swedish urban area. Ageing & Society 29, 803–821.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, I (1996) Participation in leisure activities by older adults after a stressful life event: the loss of a spouse. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 42, 123–142.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pienta, AM and Franks, MM (2006) A closer look at health and widowhood: do health behaviors change after the loss of a spouse? In Carr, D, Nesse, RM and Wortman, CB (eds), Spousal Bereavement in Late Life. New York, NY: Springer, pp. 117–142.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M and Sorensen, S (2001) Influences on loneliness in older adults: a meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 23, 245–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radloff, LS (1977) The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raudenbush, SW and Bryk, AS (2002) Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods, 2nd Edn.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Rohwedder, S and Willis, RJ (2010) Mental retirement. Journal of Economic Perspectives 24, 119–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenkoetter, MM, Garris, JM and Engdahl, RA (2001) Postretirement use of time: implications for preretirement planning and postretirement management. Activities, Adaptation & Aging 25, 1–18.Google Scholar
Rowe, JW and Kahn, RL (1997) Successful aging. Gerontologist 37, 433–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubenstein, C and Shaver, P (1982) The experience of loneliness. In Peplau, LA and Perlman, D (eds), Loneliness. A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy. New York, NY: Wiley, pp. 206–223.Google Scholar
Rundek, T and Bennett, DA (2006) Cognitive leisure activities, but not watching TV, for future brain benefits. Neurology 66, 794–795.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Şener, A, Terzioğlu, RG and Karabulut, E (2007) Life satisfaction and leisure activities during men's retirement: a Turkish sample. Aging & Mental Health 11, 30–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silverstein, M, Gans, D and Yang, FM (2006) Intergenerational support to aging parents: the role of norms and needs. Journal of Family Issues 27, 1068–1084.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silverstein, M and Parker, MG (2002) Leisure activities and quality of life among the oldest old in Sweden. Research on Aging 24, 528–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, JD and Willett, JB (2003) Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis: Modeling Change and Event Occurrence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slingerland, AS, van Lenthe, FJ, Jukema, JW, Kamphuis, CBM, Looman, C, Giskes, K, Huisman, M, Venkat Narayan, KM, Mackenbach, JP and Brug, J (2007) Aging, retirement, and changes in physical activity: prospective cohort findings from the GLOBE Study. American Journal of Epidemiology 165, 1356–1363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
South, SJ and Spitze, G (1994) Housework in marital and nonmarital households. American Sociological Review 59, 327–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strain, LA, Grabusic, CC, Searle, MS and Dunn, NJ (2002) Continuing and ceasing leisure activities in later life: a longitudinal study. Gerontologist 42, 217–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szinovacz, ME (2000) Changes in housework after retirement: a panel analysis. Journal of Marriage and Family 62, 78–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Touvier, M, Bertrais, S, Charreire, H, Vergnaud, AC, Hercberg, S and Oppert, JM (2010) Changes in leisure-time physical activity and sedentary behaviour at retirement: a prospective study in middle-aged French subjects. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 7, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Utz, RL, Carr, D, Nesse, R and Wortman, CB (2002) The effect of widowhood on older adults’ social participation: an evaluation of activity, disengagement, and continuity theories. Gerontologist 42, 522–533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verghese, J, Lipton, RB, Katz, MJ, Hall, CB, Derby, CA, Kuslansky, G, Ambrose, AF, Sliwinski, M and Buschke, H (2003) Leisure activities and the risk of dementia in the elderly. New England Journal of Medicine 348, 2508–2516.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, H-X, Karp, A, Winblad, B and Fratiglioni, L (2002) Late-life engagement in social and leisure activities is associated with a decreased risk of dementia: a longitudinal study from the Kungsholmen Project. American Journal of Epidemiology 155, 1081–1087.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, JYJ, Zhou, DHD, Li, J, Zhang, M, Deng, J, Tang, M, Gao, C, Lian, Y and Chen, M (2006) Leisure activity and risk of cognitive impairment: the Chongqing aging study. Neurology 66, 911–913.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilcox, S, Evenson, KR, Aragaki, A, Wassertheil-Smoller, S, Mouton, CP and Loevinger, BL (2003) The effects of widowhood on physical and mental health, health behaviors, and health outcomes: the Women's Health Initiative. Health Psychology 22, 513–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed