@mastersthesis {12425, title = {Involuntary Delayed Retirement and Mental Health of Older Adults Following the Great Recession}, year = {2022}, school = {University of Calgary}, address = {Calgary, Alberta}, abstract = {This thesis examines whether involuntary delayed retirement (IDR) is associated with multiple measures of mental health in working older adults (age 65+) in the United States following the Great Recession. In addition, two other related aims are also addressed in this thesis: 1) whether IDR is associated with multiple measures of mental health through a lower sense of control, and 2) whether a sense of control buffers the association between IDR and multiple mental health measures. Data were derived from the Health and Retirement Study, focusing on two combined waves of working older adults in 2010 and 2012 (N=947). IDR was measured as wanting to stop working but not being able to due to financial constraints. In addition, mental health outcomes included depression, anxiety, anger-in and anger-out, and life satisfaction. Using Stata 16.0, primary analyses were conducted with ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The bootstrapping approach to testing mediation was followed for testing whether the sense of control mediated each association between IDR and the mental health outcomes. Interactions were tested to assess whether the sense of control moderated the relationship between IDR and the mental health outcomes. Results showed that older adults who worked after retirement age (age 65+) often experienced IDR. Furthermore, the results showed a lack of overall association between IDR and multiple mental health outcomes, but also demonstrated indirect relationships between IDR and depression, anxiety, anger-out, and life satisfaction through a sense of control. In addition, the sense of control did not act as a buffering agent in the relationship between IDR and mental health. While there is no overall association, there is an indirect deleterious effect, which suggests that IDR may have additional beneficial effects that should be investigated in future research. The findings also suggest that a sense of control is an essential mental health resource for older adults who work past retirement age. Mental health researchers, therefore, should pay more attention to a sense of control because the sense of control will help older adults maintain positive mental health even if they are required to work past retirement age.}, keywords = {Great Recession, involuntary delayed retirement, Mental Health}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/1880/114643}, author = {Raihan, Mohammad Mojammel Hussain} }