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The global financial crisis and psychological health in a sample of Australian older adults: A longitudinal study

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  • Sargent-Cox, Kerry
  • Butterworth, Peter
  • Anstey, Kaarin J.

Abstract

Economic stress and uncertainty is argued to increase older adults’ vulnerability to physical health decline and mental distress. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research that examines the relationship between a large historical economic event, such as the recent global financial crisis (GFC), and health outcomes for older adults. This study provides a unique opportunity to compare self-reported health status and psychological functioning (number of depression and anxiety symptoms) in 1973 older Australian adults (mean age of 66.58 years (SD = 1.5)) prior to the GFC (2005–2006), with their status four years later during the GFC period (2009–2010). Latent difference score models revealed a significant difference in depression and anxiety symptoms over the two measurement occasions, indicating poorer psychological functioning for those who reported an impact as a result of the economic slowdown. These effects were not explained by demographic or socio-economic factors. Interaction effects showed that those participants who were surveyed within the acute salience period of the GFC (April to September 2009) were significantly less likely to report poorer psychological health over time compared to those who were surveyed after September 2009. This interesting timing effect is discussed in terms of potential time-lags in the negative effects of economic stress on health outcomes, as well as the possible protective effects of social norms that may be created by a large scale economic crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Sargent-Cox, Kerry & Butterworth, Peter & Anstey, Kaarin J., 2011. "The global financial crisis and psychological health in a sample of Australian older adults: A longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(7), pages 1105-1112.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:73:y:2011:i:7:p:1105-1112
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.063
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    3. Maria A Barceló & Montserrat Coll-Negre & Gabriel Coll-de-Tuero & Marc Saez, 2016. "Effects of the Financial Crisis on Psychotropic Drug Consumption in a Cohort from a Semi-Urban Region in Catalonia, Spain," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(2), pages 1-25, February.
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    5. Giovanni Piumatti, 2020. "Longitudinal Trends in Self-Rated Health During Times of Economic Uncertainty in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 599-633, April.
    6. Kostis, Pantelis C. & Kafka, Kyriaki I. & Petrakis, Panagiotis E., 2018. "Cultural change and innovation performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 306-313.
    7. Melisa Bubonya & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Daniel Christensen & Sarah E. Johnson & Stephen R. Zubrick, 2019. "The Great Recession and Children’s Mental Health in Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-19, February.
    8. Jelena Arsenijevic & Milena Pavlova & Bernd Rechel & Wim Groot, 2016. "Catastrophic Health Care Expenditure among Older People with Chronic Diseases in 15 European Countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, July.
    9. Sarah A. Burgard & Jennifer A. Ailshire & Lucie Kalousova, 2013. "The Great Recession and Health," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 650(1), pages 194-213, November.
    10. Zheng, Jason & Morstead, Talia & Sin, Nancy & Klaiber, Patrick & Umberson, Debra & Kamble, Shanmukh & DeLongis, Anita, 2021. "Psychological distress in North America during COVID-19: The role of pandemic-related stressors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    11. Rosenthal, Lisa & Carroll-Scott, Amy & Earnshaw, Valerie A. & Santilli, Alycia & Ickovics, Jeannette R., 2012. "The importance of full-time work for urban adults' mental and physical health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1692-1696.
    12. Bergmans, Rachel S. & Wegryn-Jones, Riley, 2020. "Examining associations of food insecurity with major depression among older adults in the wake of the Great Recession," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    13. Yilmazer, Tansel & Babiarz, Patryk & Liu, Fen, 2015. "The impact of diminished housing wealth on health in the United States: Evidence from the Great Recession," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 234-241.
    14. Kafka, Kyriaki I. & Kostis, Pantelis C., 2021. "Post-materialism and economic growth: Cultural backlash, 1981–2019," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 901-917.
    15. Ketevan Glonti & Vladimir S Gordeev & Yevgeniy Goryakin & Aaron Reeves & David Stuckler & Martin McKee & Bayard Roberts, 2015. "A Systematic Review on Health Resilience to Economic Crises," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, April.
    16. Hall, James & Goranitis, Ilias & Kigozi, Jesse & Guariglia, Alessandra, 2021. "New evidence on the impact of the Great Recession on health-compromising behaviours," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).

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