The Longitudinal Association Between Retirement and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this study was to collect evidence of the relationship between retirement and depression through meta-analysis and further analyze the heterogeneity of results. The quality of the studies was rated based on 10 predefined criteria. We searched for articles published between 1980 and 2020, and a total of 25 longitudinal studies were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis results showed that retirement was associated with more depressive symptoms (d = 0.044, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.008, 0.080). The association of more depressive symptoms with involuntary retirement (d = 0.180, 95% CI: 0.061, 0.299) was stronger than with voluntary retirement (d = 0.086, 95% CI: -0.018, 0.190) and regulatory retirement (d = 0.009, 95% CI: -0.079, 0.097). Retirement was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms in Eastern developed countries (d = 0.126, 95% CI: 0.041, 0.210), and the association was stronger than that in Western developed countries (d = 0.016, 95% CI: -0.023, 0.055). We found that the transition to retirement was associated with higher risk of depression, and this association varied by the type of retirement and country. Further empirical studies are needed to explore the mechanism of retirement and depression and whether such an association is linked with socioeconomic position.

Automated summary

The meta-analysis confirmed the association between retirement and depression, indicating that retirement was related to more depressive symptoms, with a stronger association with involuntary retirement. In Eastern developed countries, retirement was significantly associated with more depressive symptoms, but the connection varied depending on the type of retirement and country.