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Title: Trajectories of Mental Health and the Impact of Economic Well-Being across Middle Aged Adults
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Lee, Jaewon |
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Trajectories of Mental Health and the Impact of Economic Well-Being across Middle Aged Adults Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Social Work, Michigan State University, 2018 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT) Keyword(s): Depression (see also CESD); Economic Well-Being; Health, Mental/Psychological; Net Worth Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Mental health is one of several important factors to sustain one's well-being, and as such, poor mental health can lead to significant problems in one's quality of life. Although mental illnesses are prevalent in middle-aged adults and the importance of mental health in general has been discussed in many studies, mental health across middle-aged adults has received less attention. Levels of depression have changed over time and lack of economic resources influences mental health. The purpose of this study is to examine trajectories of mental health among middle-aged adults, to investigate which factors influence the trajectories of mental health, and to explore the effects of economic well-being on mental health during middle age. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79), which is a nation-wide representative data set for individuals in the United States, was used for analysis. A sample of 834 individuals who discussed their mental health status at four points in time (34, 36, 40, and 50 years of age) was analyzed. The latent growth model was conducted using M-plus statistical package. The research questions are as follows: 1) What are the trajectories of mental health among middle aged-adults (34 to 50 years of age)? 2) Is economic well-being (net worth and employment) associated with mental health? Major findings reported in this study were that the trajectories of mental health show non-linear change, with lowest levels of depression at 40 and higher levels of depression at 34, 36, and 50 years of age. Male, self-esteem, cognitive ability, health insurance, employment, and net worth predicted lower intercepts of depression. In addition, even after including time-varying covariates, the trajectories of mental health still show non-linear change. Employment was associated with lower risks of depression at 34, 36, 40, and 50 years, and net worth was also associated with lower risks of depression at 34, 36, and 50 years. |
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Bibliography Citation
Lee, Jaewon. Trajectories of Mental Health and the Impact of Economic Well-Being across Middle Aged Adults. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Social Work, Michigan State University, 2018. |