The Impact of Changes in Subjective Health on Depressive Symptom Trajectories

• In Event: 322 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. Subjective Health Assessment

Abstract

Are the ways in which we experience changes in health a stressor that may lead to long term mental health outcomes? In this research, I examine the trajectories of individual health variation to see how depressive scores change over time. Using data from the Health and Retirement study (HRS), I find that individuals who are consistently doing better than their overall modal health have slightly less overall depressive scores. Those that have consistently more negative health than their overall modal health, however, have much higher depressive scores. I suggest that experiencing health that deviates from one's typical health is itself a stressor that affects depressive symptoms over a long period of time. This health instability might have implications for how individuals experience health and illness, and may affect social experiences through things such as social ties.

Author

• Matthew Perry, State University of New York-Buffalo