Testing of significant changes in big-five personality factors over time in the presence and absence of memory impairment and life-related stress.

This study tests whether memory impairment and perceived increases in stress due to life changes independently contribute to similar personality changes, such as increased neuroticism and decreased conscientiousness. Longitudinal data from 12,912 participants aged 50+ from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2020) were analyzed using Latent Growth Curve Models (LGCMs). Six LGCMs were simultaneously estimated to examine how changes in personality across three data points spanning 8 years are predicted by both the classification of memory impairment (MI) statuses assessed via the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status and estimated increases in life stress.

Does the Impact of Episodic Memory Declines on Future Changes in Perceived Control Vary Based on Individuals' Experience With Cognitively Demanding Jobs?

Objectives: This study proposes and evaluates a scenario wherein cognitive demands experienced at work can amplify the positive cross-lagged association of a shift in control beliefs following changes in episodic memory.

Methods: From the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2018) for 9,998 participants aged 50 or above, we used repeated observations of memory and control beliefs, assessed with the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-modified (TICS-m) and self-mastery and perceived constraints questionnaires. A dual-Latent Change Score Model estimated the cross-lagged effects between memory and control beliefs, separately for individuals with prior high cognitive job demands and those without.

Are Changes in Somatic Health Reflected Differently in Updated Self-Ratings by Big-Five Personality Traits?

This longitudinal study tests whether the Big-Five personality traits influence the changes individuals make in self-rated health (SRH) as they adjust their initial level to account for information on concurrent changes in disease burden, activities of daily living (ADLs), and pain. A bi-variate Latent Growth Curve model was fitted to data to estimate longitudinal associations between SRH and each health measure across up-to-five repeated observations, collected from the year 2006 to 2018 from 13,096 participants in the Health and Retirement Study. Negative longitudinal associations between SRH and all three health reports were significantly stronger for those who are more conscientious.

Do Older Adults Adjust Their Control Beliefs According to Changes in Mobility Limitations? Evidence From a Large-Scale Observational Study.

Objectives: This study examines cross-over, time-lagged (cross-lagged) effects of nonintervened changes between mobility limitations and control constraints/self-mastery.

Methods: Using the Health and Retirement Study data from the years 2006 to 2016 from 10,690 participants, changes in mobility limitations, control constraints, and self-mastery were analyzed simultaneously with 3 latent change score models, to account for measurement error and pre-existing mobility issues prior to baseline.

Results: An increase in mobility limitations predicts a decrease in mastery observed in the next interval, but not the other way around.

The roles of non-heterosexuality outside of identity and gender non-conformity in Allostatic Load among young adults.

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study contrasted levels of Allostatic Load at the baseline and change observed between the age 20s and 30s, among self-identified Lesbians/Gays/Bisexuals and heterosexuals with non-heterosexual attraction/behavior (discordant heterosexuals), against heterosexuals without (concordant heterosexuals). In addition, the study tested if Allostatic Load differs for each of the sexual orientation group differs jointly or independently of gender non-conformity. The study found no Allostatic Load elevation for self-identified non-heterosexual men and women.

Widening, Narrowing, and Persistence of Socioeconomic Gaps Between Sexual Minorities and Heterosexuals Across Adulthood.

In socioeconomic attainment, same-sex sexuality (SSS) matters, as well as whether SSS is experienced in adolescence (early) or not until later in adulthood (late). Using data from 8912 participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, sexual minorities are identified as the early or late groups. Multilevel regression models were used to compare their income, occupational status, and education separately against heterosexuals, based on repeated measures taken in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

Would It Kill You to Retire? Testing Short/Long Term/Recurrent Effects of Retirement on All-Cause Mortality Risk.

This study traced all-cause mortality risk over the course of retirement and tested whether re-retirement impacts mortality risk differently than the first time. The study differentiated retirement on whether prompted by health (health retirement) or not (non-health retirement). Based on data from 1992 to 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the sample consists of 7747 women and 7958 men who were working at the baseline.

Age Profiles of Cognitive Decline and Dementia in Late Life in the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study.

Objectives: To better understand the temporal dynamics of progression from cognitive decline to onset of dementia in the dementia-free older population in the United States.

Methods: We used longitudinal data from a diverse national population-based sample of older adults (N = 531) in the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study from the Health and Retirement Study with repeated measures of cognitive function and dementia diagnosis during 12 years of follow-up from 1996 to 2009. We employed joint latent class mixed models to estimate the association between cognitive change and competing risks of dementia and nondementia death and identify heterogeneity in the age profiles of such association adjusting for baseline characteristics.

Does Retirement Get Under the Skin and Into the Head? Testing the Pathway from Retirement to Cardio-Metabolic Risk, then to Episodic Memory.

Many studies document significant causal impacts of retirement on cognitive abilities. It remains unclear if cognitive functioning could be hindered in post-retirement due to heightened physiological responses to stress. Using repeated observations of biomarkers, retirement status, and the word-recall test score from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 25,367; 15,343 among women and 10,024 among men), the study tests this pathway, separately for men and women.

Cardiometabolic Risk and Cognitive Decline: The Role of Socioeconomic Status in Childhood and Adulthood.

Socioeconomic conditions in childhood predict cognitive functioning in later life. It is unclear whether poor childhood socioeconomic status (SES) also predicts the acceleration of cognitive decline. One proposed pathway is via cardiometabolic risk, which has been linked to both childhood SES and earlier onset of cognitive impairment.

Does Gender Differentiate the Effects of Retirement on Cognitive Health?

Prior research on change in cognitive performance before and after retirement suffers from inattention to gender context. This study theoretically motivates the testing of gender differences in cognitive decline after retirement. I drew 67,905 observations of cognitive function based on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status from 18,453 participants (7,830 men and 10,623 women) in the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2014).

Does degree completion improve non-cognitive skills during early adulthood and adulthood?

Introduction: Non-cognitive skills, particularly in terms of risk-aversion, future-orientation, and conscientiousness, grow with age, and this phenomenon is known as personality maturation. However, significant variability in maturation among individuals exists. The technology of cognitive/non-cognitive skill formation suggests that the growth of non-cognitive skills is contingent on cognitive skills or human capital in general.

The developmental origins of health and disease in international perspective.

The developmental origins of health and disease and the comparative international approach are two important strands of research exploring population health. Despite the potential insights to be gained from integrating the two approaches, their nexus remains an underexplored frontier. The current study investigates international variation in the early life origins of health among aging cohorts in 13 countries.

The Life Course, Cohort Dynamics, and International Differences in Aging Trajectories.

In recent years, population health research has focused on understanding the determinants of later-life health. Two strands of that work have focused on (1) international comparisons of later-life health and (2) assessing the early-life origins of disease and disability and the importance of life course processes. However, the less frequently examined intersection of these approaches remains an important frontier.

Children's Sense of Control as a Determinant of Adult Health: Causation, Mediation, and Spuriousness.

Previous research suggests higher levels of education instill a greater sense of internal control that promotes health in adulthood. We propose that the sense of control has its origins in early childhood and that prior research has possibly misattributed a mediational role to sense of control in adulthood. Using a conceptual framework that includes these early influences, we employ data from the 1970 British Cohort Study ( N = 9,855), examining the extent to which the association between education and adult health is spurious due to these early childhood factors.