Impact of Housing and Neighborhood on Depression Among Older Adults in the Health and Retirement Study

Abstract Prior research has suggested that poor neighborhood and housing conditions can lead to worse psychological wellbeing. Most studies examine either neighborhood or housing conditions, but not both. Since neighborhood and housing conditions may be correlated it raises the question of whether one is a proxy for the other. We use data from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to examine associations between perceived neighborhood and housing conditions in 2006 and depressive symptoms (CES-D 8) score in 2008. We find that worse housing conditions and neighborhood safety are associated with more depressive symptoms two years later, even when controlling for prior depressive symptoms. Furthermore, housing and neighborhood conditions are independently related to increased depression symptoms over time. Our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between home and neighborhood environments and psychological wellbeing in older adults.

when they were five-years-old and recalled their age-five neighborhood conditions (Mage= 40.59 (7.91); n = 130). Age-five addresses were geocoded and linked with harmonized longitudinal Census tract boundaries and variables. Predictive models with a self-reported neighborhood conditions score, an objective neighborhood deprivation indicator, and other sociodemographic covariates indicated that poorer age-five self-reported neighborhood conditions were significantly associated with lower baseline (Cohen's d = -.24) and average daily (d = -.21) working memory performance. There were no associations with objective age-five neighborhoods. Results contribute to a growing literature on the role of psychosocial neighborhood contexts on cognition that may extend back to childhood neighborhoods.

DAILY FINANCIAL THOUGHTS AND INDICES OF MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH: THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
Jennifer Piazza, 1 Jonathan Rush, 2 Eric Cerino, 3 Jacqueline Mogle, 4 Robert Stawski, 5 Susan Charles, 6 and David Almeida, 7 1. California State University,Fullerton,California State University,Fullerton,California,United States,2. University of Victoria,Victoria,British Columbia,Canada,3. Northern Arizona University,Flagstaff,Arizona,United States,4. Penn State University,University Park,Pennsylvania,United States,5. Oregon State University,Corvallis,Oregon,United States,6. University of California,Irvine,Irvine,California,United States,7. Pennsylvania State University,University Park,Pennsylvania,United States The current study examined the associations between daily financial thoughts, socioeconomic status (SES), and indices of emotional (positive and negative affect (PA/NA)) and physical health (physical symptoms and cortisol). Participants (N = 782) from the National Study of Daily Experiences, a subsample of the Midlife in the United States Refresher survey, completed daily diary interviews and provided saliva samples, from which cortisol was assayed. Participants who, on average, reported more daily financial thoughts also reported more NA, less PA, more physical symptoms, and had higher cortisol AUCg (all p's < .05). These effects were more pronounced among people reporting lower SES. Daily fluctuations in financial thoughts also predicted daily fluctuations in NA, PA, and physical symptoms (all p's <. 01). Again, these associations were more pronounced among people reporting lower SES. Results indicate that intrusive, daily financial thoughts may be one pathway explaining the link between SES and health outcomes. Prior research has suggested that poor neighborhood and housing conditions can lead to worse psychological wellbeing. Most studies examine either neighborhood or housing conditions, but not both. Since neighborhood and housing conditions may be correlated it raises the question of whether one is a proxy for the other. We use data from the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to examine associations between perceived neighborhood and housing conditions in 2006 and depressive symptoms (CES-D 8) score in 2008. We find that worse housing conditions and neighborhood safety are associated with more depressive symptoms two years later, even when controlling for prior depressive symptoms. Furthermore, housing and neighborhood conditions are independently related to increased depression symptoms over time. Our research contributes to a deeper understanding of the relationship between home and neighborhood environments and psychological wellbeing in older adults.

FAMILY AND AGING IN CROSS-NATIONAL CONTEXTS
Chair: Jennifer Ailshire Discussant: Jennifer Ailshire The global aging of the population, combined with shifts in the structure and composition of families, has led to increased attention to the role of family and social relationships in the aging experience. The importance of family in determining healthy aging, however, may largely depend on the social, political, and economic context in which individuals are embedded. Cross-national investigations offer a unique opportunity to understand how family relationships and family caregiving influence health and well-being among older adults by comparing family dynamics across different sociocultural contexts. The HRS-family of surveys, which have been harmonized within the Gateway to Global Aging, provides remarkable opportunities for cross-national comparative analysis. The papers in this session use harmonized data from the Gateway to compare the influence of family on health across different social dimensions in multiple countries from around the world, including examinations of: 1) the impact of grandparenting on health of older adults in Europe and China; 2) psychological well-being among European older adults whose partners receive formal care; 3) the influence of parent-child relationships on health and well-being of older adults in China and the U.S.; and 4) how loneliness among older adults is patterned according to their living arrangements and relationship quality. The discussion will highlight the promises and challenges of cross-national research on families and aging and how harmonized aging data facilitates international comparisons.

GRANDCHILD CARING AND LATE-LIFE DEPRESSION: A COMPARATIVE LONGITUDINAL STUDY IN CHINA AND EUROPE Yazhen Yang, University of Southampton, Southampton, England, United Kingdom
The impact of grandparenting on the grandparents' health has been relatively under-studied, and international comparisons can provide useful lessons for grandparents and policymakers. This study examined country differences in the effects of grandchild care provision on the grandparents' depression in Italy, Spain, China, Denmark and Sweden using the longitudinal Harmonised CHARLS and SHARE data collected between 2010-5. Controlling for the grandparents' depression in 2011, grandparents providing nonintensive grandparental care in China, Sweden and Denmark in 2013 were less likely to report depression in 2015 compared to those who did not provide any care in 2013. Such effects were more pronounced among grandmothers compared to grandfathers. The results indicate that the effects of grandchild caring on the grandparents' depression in China was comparable to Denmark and Sweden. Future research can focus on identifying the causal pathways between grandparenting and wellbeing, and the implications of such pathways for older persons' wellbeing worldwide.

PARTNER CARE ARRANGEMENTS AND OLDER EUROPEANS' WELL-BEING: VARIATIONS BY GENDER AND CONTEXT
Ginevra Floridi, 1 Nekehia Quashie, 2 Karen Glaser, 3 and Martina Brandt, 2 1. Nuffield College,University of Oxford,Oxford,England,United Kingdom,2. Technische Universitat Dortmund,Dortmund,Germany,3. King's College London,London,England,United Kingdom Across Europe, partners are often primary caregivers to older adults with care needs. Yet, a variety of partner care arrangements may arise. Little is known about the interrelations between partners' care arrangements, (potential) caregivers' gender, and the context in which care is embedded. We use 2015 SHARE data from 17 countries on 3,465 couples aged 50+ where one partner receives care. We examine how life satisfaction and depressive symptoms of (potential) caregivers vary across five care arrangements: solo-care; shared formal; shared informal; outsourced formal; and outsourced informal. We explore heterogeneity by gender and across four contexts: Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. Outsourcing partners' care to formal or informal providers is linked with higher well-being among Northern and Western European women, but with lower well-being among women in Southern Europe, where traditional female caregiving responsibilities are stronger. Among men, outsourcing partner care is linked to higher well-being regardless of context. Western culture emphasizes independence in the childparent relationship while Chinese culture values interdependence between adult children and older parents. This study compared the association of child-parent relationships with older adults' multidimensional health over time in the U.S. and China. Two waves of data (2012-2015) from HRS and CHARLS were used (n=6,641, aged ≥65). Linear regression models were estimated. Results showed that, compared to Chinese older adults, fewer older Americans co-resided with or lived nearby their children, had less weekly contact, and fewer financial transfers from/to their children. Most childparent relationship variables were nonsignificant predictors of older Americans' health. However, a closer child-parent