The Social Structuring of Mental Health over the Adult Life Course: Advancing Theory in the Sociology of Aging

Autor/inn/en	Clarke, Philippa; Marshall, Victor; House, James; Lantz, Paula
Titel	The Social Structuring of Mental Health over the Adult Life Course: Advancing Theory in the Sociology of Aging
Quelle	In: Social Forces, 89 (2011) 4, S.1287-1313 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0037-7732
Schlagwörter	Aging (Individuals); Sociology; Social Theories; Interdisciplinary Approach; Experience; Social Environment; Time Perspective; Mental Health; Models; Educational Attainment; Employment Experience; Marital Status; Income; Context Effect; Depression (Psychology); Older Adults; Longitudinal Studies; Data Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Aging; Altern; Soziologie; Gesellschaftstheorie; Fächerübergreifender Unterricht; Fächerverbindender Unterricht; Interdisziplinarität; Erfahrung; Soziales Umfeld; Zeitbezug; Psychohygiene; Analogiemodell; Bildungsabschluss; Bildungsgut; Occupational experience; Job experience; Work experience; Berufserfahrung; Familienstand; Einkommen; Älterer Erwachsener; Longitudinal study; Longitudinal method; Longitudinal methods; Längsschnittuntersuchung; Auswertung
Abstract	The sociology of aging draws on a broad array of theoretical perspectives and social theories from several disciplines, but rarely has it developed its own theories or theoretical perspectives. We build on past work to further advance and empirically test a model of mental health framed in terms of structural theorizing and situated within the life course perspective. Whereas most prior research has been based on cross-sectional data, we utilize four waves of data from a nationally representative sample of American adults (Americans' Changing Lives Study) collected prospectively over a 15-year period and find that education, employment, and marital status, as well as their consequences for income and health, effectively explain the increase in depressive symptoms after age 65. We also found significant cohort differences in age trajectories of mental health that were partly explained by historical increases in education. We demonstrate that a purely structural theory can take us far in explaining later life mental health. (Contains 7 notes, 7 figures, and 3 tables.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of North Carolina Press. 116 South Boundary Street, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288. Tel: 800-848-6224; Tel: 919-966-7449; Fax: 919-962-2704; e-mail: uncpress@unc.edu; Web site: http://uncpress.unc.edu/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10