The Depths of Despair Among US Adults Entering Midlife

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 109; no. 5; pp. 774 - 780
• Main Authors: Gaydosh, Lauren, Hummer, Robert A, Hargrove, Taylor W, Halpern, Carolyn T, Hussey, Jon M, Whitsel, Eric A, Dole, Nancy, Harris, Kathleen Mullan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Public Health Association 01-05-2019
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescents; Adult; Adults; Age; AJPH Open-Themed Research; Attitude to Health - ethnology; Child development; Cohort Studies; Commuting; Correlation analysis; Depression - ethnology; Drug overdose; Drug use; Education; Epidemiology; Ethnic groups; Ethnicity; Ethnicity - statistics & numerical data; Female; Health Status; Hispanic people; Humans; Indicators; Life expectancy; Liver diseases; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental Health; Middle age; Minority & ethnic groups; Mortality; Narcotics; Other Race/Ethnicity; Population; Prescription drugs; Public health; Race; Regression analysis; Rural areas; Rurality; Socioeconomic Factors; Stagnation; Subgroups; Suicidal behavior; Teenagers; Trends; United States; White people; Young Adult; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305002

To test whether indicators of despair are rising among US adults as they age toward midlife and whether this rise is concentrated among low-educated Whites and in rural areas.
We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative study of US adolescents in 1994. Our sample was restricted to individuals who participated in 1 or more of 5 waves (1994-2017) and self-identified as non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, or Hispanic (n = 18 446). We examined change in indicators of despair from adolescence to adulthood using multilevel regression analysis, testing for differences by race/ethnicity, education, and rurality.
We found evidence of rising despair among this cohort over the past decade. This increase was not restricted to low-educated Whites or to rural areas.
Results suggest that generally rising despair among the young adult cohort now reaching midlife that cuts across racial/ethnic, educational, and geographic groups may presage rising midlife mortality for these subgroups in the next decade.