Association of employment and hobbies with depressive symptoms: A cross-sectional study

Investigations on the effect of employment on mental health in older adults have been limited; however, the impact of hobbies on mental health is evident. Moreover, the association between the combination of these activities and the development of depressive symptoms later in life remains unclear. We examined the association of the combination of employment and hobbies with depressive symptoms.

The participants were 4440 older adults from a cohort study conducted in Japan (mean age: 71.9 ± 5.4 years). Employment status and participation in hobbies were assessed along with depressive symptoms. Employment status was defined as full-time (≥35 h/week), long part-time (20-34 h/week), short part-time (<20 h/week) or not working. Participants were categorized into eight groups based on different combinations of work status and whether they participated in hobbies. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Geriatric Depression Scale, with a score ≥6 defined as having depressive symptoms. A binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the association of the combined engagement in employment and hobbies with depressive symptoms.

Full-time work and hobbies were independently associated with lower odds ratios for depressive symptoms. The combination of employment and hobbies was associated with lower odds ratios for depressive symptoms than employment or hobbies alone. Engaging in part-time work and hobbies had the lowest odds ratio for depressive symptoms of all assessed categories.

Policymakers should consider funding public mental health education campaigns to promote engagement in employment and hobbies.