Health and wellbeing through work and retirement transitions in mature age: understanding pre-post and retrospective measures of change.
The capacity to measure change is essential in examining successful adaptation to ageing. Few studies measuring change have compared findings using pre-post approaches (employing difference scores) with those from retrospective approaches (employing self-ratings). Where this has occurred, differences have been attributed either to ceiling and floor effects or to the operation of social comparison (Choi, 2002, 2003). Our study compared pre-post and retrospective measures of change in health, health behaviors, and wellbeing over periods of 1 and 3 years among retirees. Retrospective measures were found to be more positive than pre-post measures. This discrepancy was associated with floor and ceiling effects and with a robust self-image, but not with recency, social comparison, or social desirability response sets. Pre-post difference scores have limitations as indicators of change, particularly where ceiling effects operate. A retrospective perception of improvement, combined with deterioration in scores, may result from successful psychological adaptation as people grow older.
Wells
Yvonne
Y
Lincoln Centre for Research on Ageing, Australian Institute for Primary Care, La Trobe University, Victoria, Australia. y.wells@latrobe.edu.au
de Vaus
David
D
Kendig
Hal
H
Quine
Susan
S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept