Retirement and Epigenetic age Acceleration Among Older U.S. Adults

Purpose

This study examined associations of older men’s and women’s retired status with their biological age acceleration, and mediation of these linkages by depressive symptoms.

Methods

Data were from the 2010–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, nationally representative of older U.S. adults. Age acceleration was proxied through newly available epigenetic measures. Doubly robust estimation was used to establish baseline linkages, and heterogenous treatment effect models to examine variations in effects by one’s increasing propensity to be retired. Mediation analysis was through a recently developed regression-with-residuals (RWR) approach for structural nested mean models.

Results

Six years after treatment assessment, women retired at baseline showed faster aging than those fully employed. Retired men’s subsequent depressive symptoms were lower, with sparse results also supporting their slower senescence. Associations did not significantly change with increasing propensity for being retired, for either gender.

Conclusion

Results provide novel evidence for retirement’s gender-specific senescence effects. Potential lifestyle mechanisms remain unexplored. Individual and policy implications are discussed.