Work expectations, realizations, and depression in older workers.

Aims Of The Study: In this study, we explore whether ex ante work expectations, conditional on work force status at age 62, affect self-reported depressive symptoms at age 62.

Methods: Our sample includes 4,387 participants of the Health and Retirement Study, a national longitudinal survey of individuals born between 1931 and 1941, and their spouses. The sample is composed of workers who were less than 62 years of age at the study baseline (1992), and who had reached age 62 by the current study endpoint (2004).

The impact of occupation on self-rated health: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the health and retirement survey.

Background: The objective of this study is to estimate occupational differences in self-rated health, both in cross-section and over time, among older individuals.

Methods: We use hierarchical linear models to estimate self-reported health as a function of 8 occupational categories and key covariates. We examine self-reported health status over 7 waves (12 years) of the Health and Retirement Study.

Spousal concordance in health behavior change.

Objective: This study examines the degree to which a married individual's health habits and use of preventive medical care are influenced by his or her spouse's behaviors.

Study Design: Using longitudinal data on individuals and their spouses, we examine changes over time in the health habits of each person as a function of changes in his or her spouse's health habits. Specifically, we analyze changes in smoking, drinking, exercising, cholesterol screening, and obtaining a flu shot.

The persistence of depressive symptoms in older workers who experience involuntary job loss: results from the health and retirement survey.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between involuntary job loss among workers nearing retirement and long-term changes in depressive symptoms.

Methods: Analyzing data from the first four waves (1992-1998) of the Health and Retirement Survey, we used longitudinal multiple regression in order to assess whether involuntary job loss between Wave 1 and Wave 2 was associated with depressive symptoms at Wave 3 and Wave 4. The study sample included 231 workers who had experienced job loss in the Wave 1-Wave 2 interval and a comparison group of 3,324 nondisplaced individuals.

Poor mental health and smoking: interactive impact on wages.

Background: Studies have found important effects of poor mental health on labor market outcomes. The positive association between poor mental health and smoking has also been documented. This is the first study to document the separate and interactive impacts of smoking and mental health on wages.

Burning a hole in the budget: tobacco spending and its crowd-out of other goods.

Smoking is an expensive habit. Smoking households spend, on average, more than $US1000 annually on cigarettes. When a family member quits, in addition to the former smoker's improved long-term health, families benefit because savings from reduced cigarette expenditures can be allocated to other goods.

Survival expectations of the obese: Is excess mortality reflected in perceptions?

Objective: This study compared self-reported subjective life expectancy (i.e., probability of living to age 75) for normal-weight, overweight, and obese weight groups to examine whether individuals are internalizing information about the health risks due to excessive weight.

Involuntary job loss as a risk factor for subsequent myocardial infarction and stroke: findings from the Health and Retirement Survey.

Background: The role of stress in the development of cardiovascular disease is well established. Previous research has demonstrated that involuntary job loss in the years immediately preceding retirement can be a stressful life event shown to produce adverse changes in physical and affective health. The objective of this study was to estimate the risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke associated with involuntary job loss among workers nearing retirement in the United States.