Promoting health and well-being in later life: retirement as a transition point

Fadeeva, Anastasiia (2020) Promoting health and well-being in later life: retirement as a transition point. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

There is a growing demand for sustainable interventions to promote health and well-being in later life. One way to support older adults is to intervene during the retirement transition when individuals experience increased free time and a heightened need to develop new lifestyles (Moffatt & Heaven, 2017). However, to understand how retirement transition can serve as a ‘gateway’ for health interventions, exploring the mechanisms behind psychological adjustment to retirement is needed.

t is posited that one approach to understanding retirement adjustment is to apply self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). According to SDT, changes in well-being are predicted by satisfaction or frustration of basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. This PhD aimed to examine if SDT showed utility in understanding the complex process of retirement adjustment and to develop an intervention for supporting health and well-being in retirement.

Four empirical studies used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to address the research aims. The first longitudinal study tracked changes in well-being and other psychological factors including need satisfaction/frustration over retirement transition. A vignette study examined the effects of personality on the perception and behaviour responses to need supportive and thwarting events in retirement. A qualitative study further explored the role of individual and contextual contributors to retirement adjustment. The final study followed the Intervention Mapping approach (IM; Bartholomew et al., 2006) to design a retirement lifestyle planning initiative.

Results suggest that SDT can be used to understand retirement adjustment by 1) evidencing the link between need satisfaction and well-being in the target group; 2) suggesting an SDT-informed mechanism behind the effects of personality on retirement experiences; 3) explaining the role of psychological contributors (identity, social interaction, independence) and contextual factors in retirement adjustment through need satisfaction/frustration. The findings informed the development of a new ‘Backcasting’ intervention.

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