Patterns of social engagement in the transition to later life

doi:10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.016

Maturitas

Volume 88, June 2016, Pages 90-95

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2016.03.016 Get rights and content

Highlights

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Examining social change in midlife provides a context for interpreting social activity in ageing.
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This study examined 493 women in the decade prior to later life, beginning at age 45–55.
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The results demonstrate two key social loss events—leaving full-time work and ‘emptying the nest’.
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There was evidence that participants were beginning to compensate for this social loss by establishing new social activities such as volunteering and grandparenting.

Abstract

As social roles in later life are shaped by significant life events and changes occurring in the late-life transition, examining social engagement in midlife may provide a context for interpreting the ageing social identity. This is particularly important for women, who are heavily dependent on social relationships and are more influenced by social losses and change.

Objective

To examine major social changes occurring in the decade prior to late-life, starting from approximately 45–55 years of age.

Study design

The study accessed data from the longitudinal prospective Women’s Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP). Participants were 493 women who had completed at least one assessment in the first 12 years of the study.

Results

Living with a partner was common and stable amongst participants, while the proportion with children still at home decreased markedly (79–44%). Full-time employment also decreased as participants approached the average retirement age (40–13%). Volunteer work was popular throughout the study, increasing slightly with age, and minding grandchildren was common at the end of the study period (80%).

Conclusions

Taken together, these findings suggest a notable deficit in participants’ social lives as they transition into later life, but with some evidence of compensation by increasing other social activities.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were from the epidemiologically sampled longitudinal prospective Women’s Healthy Ageing Project (WHAP) which was initiated as the Melbourne Women’s Midlife Health Project. Briefly, a longitudinal cohort of Caucasian women within the Melbourne metropolitan area were identified by random telephone dialling in 1991 and re-interviewed annually over eight years then intermittently over five years. Details of the study protocol are outlined elsewhere [16].

Measures and procedure

Assessments were conducted

Results

The sample for the current study included 493 women who were interviewed at least once between 1992 and 2004. Sample sizes and age ranges for each timepoint are shown in Table 2.

Marriage rates remained high and relatively stable across the study years, with a 5% decrease between 1992 and 2004 (Fig. 2). Similarly, the proportion of participants living with a partner remained high. The proportion living alone increased slightly from 1993 onwards, coinciding with the increase in sample divorce

Discussion

This longitudinal prospective research catalogues the changes in fundamental social roles in Australian women during the midlife to later life transition. The length of this study, with multiple assessments spanning over 12 years, enable a detailed inspection of the major changes occurring during this period and provide insight into the social identities of women as they age.

One of the most prominent changes occurring during this period was to household composition. The proportion of

Conclusion

The results of this study provide context for social engagement as individuals progress into later life. Change in employment status is clearly a key event in ageing. The decline in full-time work and dramatic rise in the number of non-workers presents an opportunity for exploring new social roles. While there was a slight increase in volunteerism and casual or occasional work that coincided with decreasing employment rates, there was still a large proportion of the sample that was not

Contributors

KB is the primary author of the paper. KB formulated the study design and wrote the paper.

LD established the initial study design and oversaw the project.

CB assisted with the structure of the study, and contributed to the writing and editing of the paper.

CS contributed to the study concept, and the writing and editing of the paper.

Conflict of interest

CS has provided clinical consultancy and been on scientific advisory committees for the Australian CSIRO, Alzheimer's Australia, University of Melbourne and other relationships which are subject to confidentiality clauses. She has been a named Chief Investigator on investigator driven collaborative research projects in partnership with Pfizer, Merck, Piramal, Bayer and GE. Her research program has received support from NHMRC, Alzheimer's Association, Collier Trust, Scobie and Claire McKinnon

Funding

This research is funded by Alzheimer’s Australia, Australian Menopausal Society, Brain Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, Shepherd Foundation, the Scobie and Claire McKinnon Foundation, the Collier Trust Fund, the Ramaciotti Foundation, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, the J.O. & J.R. Wicking Trust, Piramal Life Sciences, Mason Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

Ethical approval

The current study received approval from the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Council (HREC 931149). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to assessment at each timepoint. All data was de-identified.

Provenance and peer review

This article has undergone peer review.

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View full text

Patterns of social engagement in the transition to later life

Highlights

Abstract

Objective

Study design

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Participants

Measures and procedure

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Contributors

Conflict of interest

Funding

Ethical approval

Provenance and peer review

Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs.

J. Aging Stud.

Obstet. Gynecol.

Eur. Manage. J.

The social connectedness of older adults: a national profile

Am. Sociol. Rev.

Social isolation in America: changes in core discussion networks over two decades

Am. Sociol. Rev.

Social networks among men and women: the effects of age and socioeconomic status

J. Gerontol. B: Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci.

Loneliness in older adults: an embodied experience

J. Gerontol. Nurs.

Assessing the loneliness of older people with cerebral palsy

Disabil. Rehabil.

Tracking changes in social relations throughout late life

J. Gerontol. B: Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci.

Network and health changes among older Dutch adults

J. Soc. Issues

Multiple role occupancy and social participation among midlife wives and husbands in the United Kingdom

Int. J. Aging Hum. Dev.

Social isolation and loneliness: differences between older rural and urban Manitobans

Can. J. Aging

Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course

J. Gerontol. B: Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci.

Social support and subsequent disability: it is not the size of your network that counts

Age Ageing

The role of gender in the association of social capital, social support, and economic security with self-rated health among older adults in deprived communities in Beirut

Qual. Life Res.