Older Undergraduates: Feeling Younger and Happier? The Mental Health Benefits of Being Off-time

• In Event: 3422 - Section on Aging and Life Course Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 09. Transitions to Adulthood

Abstract

Most research on off-time role transitions (e.g., being an undergraduate older than 25) indicates a negative relationship with mental health; few studies have examined their potential for benefitting mental health. The current study does so by explicitly linking off-time status, “felt age” (how old we feel compared to our chronological age), and mental health to examine felt age as a possible mechanism through which off-time transitions may benefit mental health. Using a paired subsample of 638 adults between ages 25-74 from the MIDUS I (National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States) dataset, I compare adults not currently attending college at an off-time age (“on-timers”) and current off-time adult college attendees (“off-timers”). Regression results show that off-timers feel younger than their chronological ages compared to on-timers, and have higher levels of positive affect than on-timers. These stronger positive affect levels are fully mediated by off-timers feeling younger than their chronological ages. Off-time status had no significant effect on negative affect levels. Contrary to predictions, neither social class of origin, nor its interaction with off-time status, was significant for positive or negative affect. Findings indicate the need to more thoroughly examine aspects of off-time transitions and their effects, and suggest that mental health may be improved by older adults’ engagement in activities that are typically only expected for younger people.

Author

• Dawn R. Norris, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse