The double burden of poverty and marital loss on the mental health of older Australian women; a longitudinal regression analysis using 17 annual waves of the HILDA cohort

The Impact of Subjective Poverty on the Mental Health of the Elderly in China: The Mediating Role of Social Capital

Reducing subjective poverty among the elderly is an important aspect of poverty governance and is a necessary part of implementing the healthy aging strategy in China. In both China and the majority of low- and middle-income countries, systematic research on the relationship between subjective poverty and the mental health of the elderly needs to be expanded. In this study, we aimed to examine how social capital, including bonding and bridging social capital, mediate the relationship between subjective poverty and mental health among the elderly in China. Relying on the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) data, we used ordered probit (oprobit) regression, propensity score matching (PSM), and instrumental variable (IV) regression to estimate the effects of subjective poverty on mental health. The results indicate that subjective poverty has a significant negative impact on the mental health of the elderly in China. More importantly, social capital, including bonding and bridging social capital, partially mediates the relationship between subjective poverty and mental health. We believe that, in the process of implementing the government's healthy aging strategy in China, society and government should recognize the importance and value of subjective poverty governance for the elderly. In particular, the construction of a social relationship network that centers on bonding and bridging social capital could be instrumental in dealing with subjective poverty among the elderly and safeguarding their mental health and wellbeing.

Happiness and mental health of older adults: multiple mediation analysis

Introduction

This study aims to explore the influence mechanism of older adult mental health. As the aging population grows, the mental health of older adults becomes a significant public health and social issue, with happiness serving as a key dimension of mental health.

Methods

This study utilizes public data from CGSS to investigate the relationship between happiness and mental health, with Process V4.1 used for mediating effects analysis.

Results

The findings suggest a positive predictive effect of happiness on mental health, with three mediating paths identified: independent mediating effect paths of income satisfaction and health, as well as a multiple mediating effects path through income satisfaction and health.

Discussion

The study suggests that improving the multi-subject mental health support service system for older adults and creating public values for mental health risk coping mechanisms. This helps to understand the complex relationship between aging on individual and social levels. These results provide empirical support for healthy aging among older adults and future policymaking.

Volunteer peer support frameworks supporting older women living alone

Volunteer peer support is an approach that enables a supportive connection between volunteers and a sub-set of community members with shared experiences or interests. To implement co-designed strategies to support older women to maintain independence and optimise wellbeing in Australia, a volunteer peer support approach was proposed. There was limited literature describing volunteer peer support frameworks to underpin interventions of this kind; and given the increasing desire for engagement of individuals and communities, articulation of the key components of such a framework is warranted. In this paper, we define volunteers and peer support, and outline existing frameworks for volunteering and peer support. We then describe the volunteer peer support framework developed for this intervention, outlining the key requirements. This information will enable others to develop an effective and sustainable structure for peer support volunteer services.

Linking widowhood and later-life depressive symptoms: Do childhood socioeconomic circumstances matter?

Objectives: Widowhood and adverse childhood socioeconomic circumstances (CSC) have both been linked to increased levels of depressive symptoms in old age. Beyond their independent impact on depressive symptoms, experiencing adverse CSC may also trigger a cascade of cumulative adversity and secondary stressors across the life course that shapes how individuals weather stressful life events later on.Method: We examine whether exposure to adverse CSC moderates the relationship between later-life widowhood and depressive symptoms using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2017).Results: Mixed-effects models revealed that both widowhood and adverse CSC were associated with increased levels of depressive symptoms among men and women. Associations between widowhood and depressive symptoms, however, were not moderated by CSC for both genders.Conclusion: Persisting differences in the levels of mental health in response to later-life widowhood did not further widen in the presence of disparities experienced early in the life course. This may reflect the life-altering impact of this age-normative, yet stressful life event across the social strata.

Maternal depression and economic well-being: A quasi-experimental approach

Maternal depression is associated with adverse impacts on the health of women and their children. However, further evidence is needed on the extent to which maternal depression influences women's economic well-being and how unmeasured confounders affect estimates of this relationship. In this study, we aimed to measure the association between maternal depression and economic outcomes (income, employment, and material hardship) over a 15-year time horizon. We conducted longitudinal analyses using the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, an urban birth cohort study in the United States. We assessed the potential contribution of time-invariant unmeasured confounders using a quasi-experimental approach and also investigated the role of persistent versus transient depressive symptoms on economic outcomes up to 15 years after childbirth. In models that adjusted for time-invariant unmeasured confounders, maternal depression was associated with not being employed (an adjusted risk difference of 3 percentage points (95% CI 0.01 to 0.05)) and experiencing any material hardship (an adjusted risk difference of 14 percentage points (95% CI 0.12 to 0.16)), as well as with reductions in the ratio of household income to poverty by 0.10 units (95% CI -0.16 to -0.04) and annual household income by $2114 (95% CI -$3379 to -$850). Impacts at year 15 were strongest for those who experienced persistent depression. Results of our study strengthen the case for viewing mental health support services as interventions that may also foster economic well-being, and highlight the importance of including economic impacts in assessments of the cost-effectiveness of mental health interventions.