Historical Change in Midlife Trajectories of Self–Rated Health, Health Conditions, and Grip Strength: Comparison of the United States with Mexico, Europe, South Korea, and China

Empirical evidence has documented that later-born cohorts of middle-aged adults in the U.S. are reporting poorer mental and physical health than earlier-born cohorts. However, less is known about whether this is specific to the U.S. or generalizes to other nations and to what extent this is found for both self-report and objective indicators of physical health and how this might differ between men and women. Our study aims to examine similarities and differences in historical change of midlife development in self-rated health, health conditions, and grip strength by using harmonized data comprising longitudinal panel surveys from the U.S., Mexico, 13 nations in Europe, South Korea, and China. Results from multilevel models, stratified by gender, revealed historical stability in self-rated health and health conditions for middle-aged men in the U.S., whereas middle-aged women demonstrated historical declines in self-rated health and historical increases in health conditions. Historical improvements in self-rated health were observed for both men and women in England, Mediterranean Europe, Nordic Europe, and China. Historical decreases in health conditions were observed for both men and women in England and Mexico. Both men and women in the U.S. and China exhibited historical declines in grip strength, whereas both men and women in Nordic Europe and South Korea showed historical improvements. Our discussion focuses on better understanding these national gender differences in historical trends by considering how the dynamically changing historical context impacts ways of living and health care systems and the implications for developmental outcomes at the individual and population level.