Retirement, aging, psychosocial adaptation and mental health. Findings of the TURVA project.

This article deals with certain preliminary findings obtained in a long-term prospective study begun in 1982 using the interview method; the first follow-up was carried out in 1986, the method consisting of a postal inquiry and the collection of recorded data. The sample consists of 200 randomly selected inhabitants of Turku born in 1920 and 189 individuals of the same age living in rural municipalities in the vicinity of Turku. During the 4-year follow-up period the subjects' biopsychosocial situation remained almost unchanged, showing that, for most people, retirement is not a stressor of crucial importance or a life crisis. Of the variables relating to the initial survey, poor subjective physical health, self-assessed work disability, poor financial situation, change into a taciturn and timid individual in adolescence, the spouse's poor mental equilibrium, an excess of leisure time and general dissatisfaction with life were associated with subsequent mental disturbance as measured by use of the General Health Questionnaire.