Associations between Driving Cessation and Mental Health among Rural and Urban Older Adults

Driving cessation is robustly associated with poor mental health outcomes among older adults; however, the magnitude of this relationship may differ by rurality. This study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between driving cessation and life satisfaction and depressive symptoms and assessed whether these relationships were moderated by rurality. Data is from participants in the 2014 and 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (mean age = 73; 58% female) with information on either depressive symptoms (n=5,650) or life satisfaction (n=1,931). Multivariate linear regression models were built to test whether rurality moderated the relationship between driving status and two mental health outcomes (life satisfaction and depressive symptoms). Models tested (1) unadjusted associations and (2) associations adjusted for age, gender, race/ethnicity, years of education, partnership status, current employment, and number of chronic conditions. We found that limited driving and inability to drive were significantly associated (p<0.05) with worse cross-sectional life satisfaction; however, there were no significant longitudinal associations for this relationship. Driving status was significantly associated (p<0.05) with heightened cross-sectional and longitudinal depressive symptoms. No moderation by rurality was observed in both unadjusted and adjusted models (p>0.05). Findings support the importance of policy and programming to support the mental health of older adults across the rural-urban continuum as they experience limitations in their driving ability.