The price of mental well-being in later life: the role of financial hardship and debt
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marshall2021 - p. 1339
The present study was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the tenth wave (2010) of the HRS, a nationally representative study of individuals > 50 years of age that was designed to investigate the experience of persons as they advance from work to retirement, with an emphasis on economic well-being and health.
marshall2021 - p. 1339
Hardship indicators were selected based on items available in the HRS that measured hardship across 3 domains: (1) difficulty in meeting financial obligations; (2) food insecurity/deprivation; and (3) medication need.
marshall2021 - p. 1339
The financial domain was measured by asking, “How difficult is it for you/your family to meet monthly payments on your/your family’s bills?” Food insecurity was measured by asking, “In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you felt you should because there wasn’t enough money to buy food?” Medication need was measured by asking, “Have you ended up taking less medication than was prescribed for you because of cost?”
marshall2021 - p. 1339
Both debt variables were also selected based on items available in the HRS and included: (1) credit card debt; and (2) medical debt.
marshall2021 - p. 1340
The presence of depressive symptoms was assessed using the eight-item modified version of the 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale (Radloff, 1977). All eight items prompted dichotomous yes/no responses. Of the eight CES-D statements, six were phrased negatively (felt depressed, felt everything s/he did was an effort, experienced restless sleep, could not get going, felt lonely, felt sad) and two were phrased positively (enjoyed life, was happy).
marshall2021 - p. 1340
nxiety was measured using the 5 items of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck, Epstein, Brown, & Steer, 1988) which are included in the HRS psychosocial questionnaire (Clarke, Fisher, House, Smith, & Weir, 2008). Anxiety was assessed by asking participants if they experienced any of the following five items: (1) fear of the worst happening; (2) nervousness; (3) hand trembling; (4) fear of dying; and (5) feelings of faintness. Responses were rated on a fourpoint Likert-type scale ranging from 0 “never” to 3 “most of the time.”
marshall2021 - p. 1340
Socio-demographic variables included race (white, African American, Latino); age (years); education (< 12 years, 12 years, > 12 years); sex (male or female); marital status (single, married, separated/divorced/widowed); total household income; and employment status (employed, unemployed, retired).