The accumulation of adversity in midlife: Effects on depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and character strengths.

Middle-aged adults are a central pillar of society because they comprise large segments of the workforce and bridge younger and older generations. Given the significant role that middle-aged adults play for the greater good of society, more research is warranted to evaluate in which ways adversity could accumulate or pile-up to impact pertinent outcomes. We used data from a sample of middle-aged adults (n = 317, age 50-65 at baseline, 55% women) who were assessed monthly for a period of 2 years to examine whether the accumulation of adversity was predictive of depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and character strengths (generativity, gratitude, the presence of meaning, and search for meaning). Greater accumulation of adversity was associated with reporting more depressive symptoms, lower life satisfaction, and the lower presence of meaning and the effects remained for depressive symptoms when accounting for concurrent adversity. More concurrent adversity was associated with reporting more depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction and lower levels of generativity, gratitude, and the presence of meaning. Analyses that targeted specific domains of adversity showed that the accumulation of adversity associated with close family members (i.e., spouse/partner, children, and parents), and financial, and work domains showed the strongest (negative) associations across each outcome. Our findings demonstrate that monthly adversity take its toll on pertinent midlife outcomes and points to future research targeting mechanisms underlying our findings as well as resources that promote positive outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Examining Racial Disparities in Historical Change of Mental and Physical Health Across Midlife and Old Age in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether racial disparities are narrowing or widening with historical time among U.S. middle-aged and older adults, and test the extent to which educational attainment moderates racial disparities over historical time. METHODS: Multilevel models were applied to longitudinal data on middle-aged (ages 40-65) and older adults (ages 66 and older) from the Health and Retirement Study. Historical change was indexed as cohort or birth year. The outcomes of focus were depressive symptoms, episodic memory, health conditions, functional limitations, and self-rated health. RESULTS: Results revealed a differential pattern of racial disparities in historical change between midlife and old age. Across midlife and old age, on average, Blacks and Hispanics reported poorer levels of mental and physical health, compared with Whites. In midlife, racial disparities narrowed with historical time; later-born cohorts of Hispanics but not Whites reported fewer depressive symptoms than their earlier-born peers. Likewise, historical improvements in health were stronger among Hispanics and Blacks than Whites. Conversely, in old age, later-born cohorts across race consistently showed historical improvements in each of the outcomes examined. Regarding educational attainment, we observed little consistent evidence that health-promoting effects of educational attainment differ across race and cohort. Examining questions about heterogeneity, results revealed that in midlife and old age there was greater heterogeneity between race across each of the outcomes. DISCUSSION: Our discussion elaborates on reasons behind the documented racial differences in historical changes among U.S. middle-aged and older adults, and how the protective role of education is changing over time.

Historical change in midlife health, well-being, and despair: Cross-cultural and socioeconomic comparisons.

Recent empirical evidence has documented that U.S. middle-aged adults today are reporting lower mental and physical health than same-aged peers several decades ago. Individuals who attained fewer years of education have been most vulnerable to these historical changes. One overarching question is whether this phenomenon is confined to the U.S. or whether it is transpiring across other high-income and upper-middle-income nations. To examine this question, we use nationally representative longitudinal panel data from 5 nations across different continents and cultural backgrounds (U.S., Australia, Germany, South Korea, and Mexico). Results revealed historical improvements in physical health for people in their 40s and early 50s across all five nations. Conversely, the direction of historical change in mental health vastly differed across nations. Later-born cohorts of U.S. middle-aged adults exhibit worsening mental health and cognition. Australian middle-aged adults also experienced worsening mental health with historical time. In contrast, historical improvements for mental health were observed in Germany, South Korea, and Mexico. For U.S. middle-aged adults, the protective effect of education diminished in later-born cohorts. Consistent across the other nations, individuals with fewer years of education were most vulnerable to historical declines or benefited the least from historical improvements. We discuss potential reasons underlying similarities and differences between the U.S. and other nations in these historical trends and consider the role of education. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).