The social and psychosocial aspects of ELSA

1. The social and psychosocial aspects of ELSA Dr. Panayotes (Panos) Demakakos ELSA team UCL Department of Epidemiology & Public Health 1st ELSA user day London, 17 Nov 2008

2. Main objective of ELSA: • … to provide data necessary for an exploration of the unfolding dynamic relationships between health and functioning, social participation and networks, and economic position and well-being, as people plan for, move into and progress beyond retirement.

3. Issues (among others) that can be explored using the ELSA data • The progression of health from middle-age to early old age to older old age(causal chain of disease, onset of disease, progression/prognosis of disease, and specific pathogenic processes) • The determinants of well-being and quality of life at older ages • Cognitive functioning and mental health at older ages • Disability and the compression of morbidity • The examination of socioeconomic and health inequalities in an ageing population • Social participation and social relationships at older ages • Retirement and post retirement labor market activity • ...genetics, health behaviours, expectations, life history, and determinants of SES …

4. Psychosocial measures

5. What follows is just some of the psychosocial measures…

6. Quality of life measures (1)

7. Quality of life measures (2) …plus an “experimental module” using Ryff’s psychological well-being measure exclusively on w2 interview. From w2 interview and on

8. Social participation measures (1)

9. Social participation measures (2) …plus questions on volunteering i.e. Did you do any of these activities during the last month, that is since ^date a month ago? IF YES, PROBE: Which ones? 1 Paid work 2 Self-employment 3 Voluntary work 4 Cared for a sick or disabled adult 5 Looked after home or family 6 Attended a formal educational or training course 96 None of these OR How often ^if at all do you do ^any voluntary work? Is it ... 1 ... twice a month or more, 2 about once a month, 3 every few months, 4 about once or twice a year, 5 less than once a year, 6 or, never?

10. Social networks/relationships measures

11. Loneliness/social isolation …plus one more question on feeling lonely introduced in w3.

12. Other psychosocial measures – demand control

13. Subjective social status ladder

14. Main SE classificatory variables • …the usual suspects: • Education* (highest qualification obtained) and other related variables (e.g. age at exit from f/t education) • Occupational class* (NS-SEC) • Income (all types) • Plus… • Wealth (all types) • Paternal occupation at age 14 and other transgenerational variables • Subjective social status (ladder score) • Relative deprivation • …and many other indicators such as consumption, ownership of goods etc • *w2/w3 variables soon to be archived

15. Social, psychosocial and economic research that has already been done (1) Chapters from the ELSA Reports (biannual official ELSA publications) • Socio-demographic characteristics of the ELSA sample: Gjonça and colleagues’ chapters in w1/w2 reports. • Socio-economic status, work and retirement: Banks and colleagues’ chapters in w1/w2/w3 reports • Social relationships, social participation, loneliness and other related concepts: w1 report: Janevic and Hyde’s chapters; w2 report: Demakakos and colleagues’ chapter; and w3 report Tomaszewski & Barnes’s chapter. • Well-being and life-satisfaction: w2 report: Demakakos and colleagues’ chapter; and w3 report: Emerson & Muriel’s chapter. • Resilience: w3 report: Demakakos and colleagues’ chapter. • Perceptions of age and ageing: Demakakos and colleagues’ chapter in w2 report.

16. Social, psychosocial and economic research that has already been done (2) Other Major Reports (not including purely economic stuff) • Barnes, M., Blom, A., Cox, K., and Lessof, C. (2006). The Social Exclusion of Older People: Evidence from the first wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) - Final Report. Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London • Demakakos P. (2008). Being socially excluded and living alone in old age: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Policy Unit – Age Concern England. • Policy Unit – Age Concern England. (2008). Out of sight - out of mind. Social exclusion behind closed doors. Age Concern England. (a report based on reference ii) • Ross, M., Lloyd, A., Weinhardt, M. and Cheshire, H. (2008). Living and Caring? An investigation of the experience of older carers. London: ILC-UK.

17. Social, psychosocial and economic research that has already been done (3) – Papers on SES and related concepts • Banks J, Marmot M, Oldfield Z, et al. Disease and disadvantage in the United States and in England. JAMA. 2006;295(17):2037-45. • Hyde M, Jones IR. The long shadow of work - does time since labour market exit affect the association between socioeconomic position and health in a post-working population. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(6):533-9. • Montgomery SM, Netuveli G, Hildon Z, et al. Does financial disadvantage at older ages eliminate the potential for better health? J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(10):891-5. • Demakakos P, Nazroo J, Breeze E, et al. Socioeconomic status and health: the role of subjective social status. Soc Sci Med. 2008;67(2):330-40. • Lang IA, Llewellyn DJ, Langa KM, et al. Neighborhood deprivation, individual socioeconomic status, and cognitive function in older people: analyses from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2008;56(2):191-8. • Lang IA, Llewellyn DJ, Langa KM, et al. Neighbourhood deprivation and incident mobility disability in older adults. Age Ageing. 2008;37(4):403-10.

18. Social, psychosocial and economic research that has already been done (4) – Papers on other psychosocial issues Health Behaviours • Lang I, Gardener E, Huppert FA et al. Was John Reid right? Smoking, class, and pleasure: a population-based cohort study in England. Public Health. 2007;121(7):518-24. • Lang I, Guralnik J, Wallace RB, et al. What level of alcohol consumption is hazardous for older people? Functioning and mortality in U.S. and English national cohorts. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55(1):49-57. • Lang IA, Rice NE, Wallace RB, et al. Smoking cessation and transition into retirement: analyses from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Age Ageing. 2007;36(6):638-43. • Lang I, Wallace RB, Huppert FA, et al.Moderate alcohol consumption in older adults is associated with better cognition and well-being than abstinence. Age Ageing. 2007 May;36(3):256-61. Quality of life (CASP-19) • Netuveli G, Wiggins RD, Hildon Z, et al. Quality of life at older ages: evidence from the English longitudinal study of aging (wave 1). J Epidemiol Community Health. 2006;60(4):357-63. • Blane D, Netuveli G, Montgomery SM. Quality of life, health and physiological status and change at older ages. Soc Sci Med. 2008;66(7):1579-87. • Llewellyn DJ, Lang IA, Langa KM, et al. Cognitive function and psychological well-being: findings from a population-based cohort. Age Ageing. 2008;37(6):685-9. Other issues • Chou KL. Reciprocal relationship between pain and depression in older adults: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. J Affect Disord. 2007;102(1-3):115-23. • Demakakos P, Gjonca E, Nazroo J. Age identity, age perceptions, and health: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007 Oct;1114:279-87. • Gilleard C, Hyde M, Higgs P. Community and communication in the third age: the impact of internet and cell phone use on attachment to place in later life in England. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2007 Jul;62(4):S276-83. • Chou KL.Combined effect of vision and hearing impairment on depression in older adults: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. J Affect Disord. 2008 Feb;106(1-2):191-6.

19. E-Mail: p.demakakos@ucl.ac.uk THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION : )