Hamm Sara I, Teerawichitchainan Bussarawan, Zimmer Zachary, Nguyễn Minh Huu
Department of Family Studies and Gerontology, Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology/Centre for Family and Population Research, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2025 Jul 25;80(8). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbaf108.
War disrupts millions of lives, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where armed conflicts are most frequent. Although war has received extensive research attention, its long-term impact on productive aging remains unclear. This study investigates how early-life war exposure affects productive aging among older Vietnamese war survivors and examines the moderating role of past military service and gender.
Data come from the Vietnam Health and Aging Study (N = 2,447 war survivors aged 60+). Latent class analysis identifies patterns of later-life engagement across five domains: work, in-kind support, caregiving, community involvement, and self-development. Multinomial logistic regression analyses assess the associations between war exposure, military role, gender, and productive aging profiles.
The analysis identifies five engagement patterns: High Engagers, Altruistic, Low Engagers, Civic Developers, and Active Workers. Greater war exposure is associated with profiles reflecting higher levels of engagement. Military role moderates this relationship: formal military veterans are more likely to be classified as Active Workers under high exposure conditions. Informal military members, by comparison, are more likely to be classified as Low Engagers. Gender further moderates these patterns, with women less likely to belong to profiles marked by high levels of public participation.
To promote productive aging in conflict-affected LMICs, policymakers should consider the long-term effects of early-life war exposure, past military service, and gendered disparities. By addressing these inequalities through early-life interventions, we can potentially improve long-term engagement outcomes.
战争扰乱了数百万人的生活，在武装冲突最为频繁的低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs）尤其如此。尽管战争已受到广泛的研究关注，但其对生产性老龄化的长期影响仍不明确。本研究调查早年经历战争如何影响越南老年战争幸存者的生产性老龄化，并检验过去的军事服役经历和性别的调节作用。
数据来自越南健康与老龄化研究（N = 2447名60岁及以上的战争幸存者）。潜在类别分析确定了五个领域晚年参与的模式：工作、实物支持、照顾他人、社区参与和自我发展。多项逻辑回归分析评估战争经历、军事角色、性别与生产性老龄化概况之间的关联。
分析确定了五种参与模式：高参与度者、利他主义者、低参与度者、公民开发者和积极工作者。更多的战争经历与反映更高参与水平的概况相关。军事角色调节了这种关系：在高暴露条件下，正规军退伍军人更有可能被归类为积极工作者。相比之下，非正规军成员更有可能被归类为低参与度者。性别进一步调节了这些模式，女性不太可能属于以高公众参与水平为特征的概况。
为了在受冲突影响的低收入和中等收入国家促进生产性老龄化，政策制定者应考虑早年战争经历、过去的军事服役经历和性别差异的长期影响。通过早年干预解决这些不平等问题，我们有可能改善长期参与结果。
