Centre for Mental Health Research, Building 63, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.
Soc Sci Med. 2011 Oct;73(7):1105-12. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.06.063. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
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.
经济压力和不确定性被认为会增加老年人身体健康下降和心理困扰的脆弱性。然而，目前很少有研究探讨像最近的全球金融危机（GFC）这样的重大历史经济事件与老年人健康结果之间的关系。本研究提供了一个独特的机会，可以比较 1973 年澳大利亚老年人（平均年龄为 66.58 岁，标准差为 1.5）在全球金融危机之前（2005-2006 年）和之后四年的全球金融危机期间（2009-2010 年）的自我报告健康状况和心理功能（抑郁和焦虑症状的数量）。潜在差异得分模型显示，在两次测量中，抑郁和焦虑症状存在显著差异，表明那些报告因经济放缓而受到影响的人的心理功能较差。这些影响不能用人口统计学或社会经济因素来解释。交互作用表明，那些在全球金融危机急性凸显期（2009 年 4 月至 9 月）接受调查的参与者与那些在 2009 年 9 月之后接受调查的参与者相比，随着时间的推移，报告心理健康状况较差的可能性显著降低。从经济压力对健康结果的负面影响可能存在时间滞后，以及大规模经济危机可能产生的社会规范的可能保护作用等方面，对这一有趣的时间效应进行了讨论。
