This competing continuation project will employ the 7-decade longitudinal Terman data to examine relationships between theoretically key behavioral and psychosocial predictors and longevity/cause of death/healthy aging. This interdisciplinary research will test hypothesized relations involving the mechanisms of physical activity patterns, risk- taking, religiosity and contentment, changes in social integration across time, explanatory style and resilience, gender diagnostics, substance use, and facets of personality as they predict health many years later. The design is an archival prospective cohort study, using statistical survival analyses and related regression analyses. Because of the long-term nature and richness of the data, this project can compare competing models, can examine long-term effects and time-related changes, and can compare major causes of death. This is consistent with calls for intensive studies of individual differences in behavior patterns, health and disease. Much of the raw data come from the archive begun in 1921 by L. Terman, plus extensive additional data already collected by this project on date of death, cause of death, smoking, and various indexes of personality and social stability. The subjects are 856 men and 672 women followed from their childhood in the 1920's until the present, the longest continuous cohort study every conducted. Following up on the ongoing research, which uncovered links between major psychosocial patterns earlier in life and subsequent premature death in middle and old age, the present project will employ reliable behavioral patterns and psychosocial indices to compare models containing these and related later-life psychosocial stresses and resources. This project thus aims to provide hard-to-obtain information relevant to understanding the influence of these social, individual, and behavioral factors on longevity and cause of death across the life span.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AG008825-11
Application #
6627917
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-RPHB-4 (01))
Program Officer
Nielsen, Lisbeth
Project Start
1990-08-01
Project End
2005-01-31
Budget Start
2003-02-01
Budget End
2004-01-31
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$196,630
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Riverside
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
627797426
City
Riverside
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92521
Kern, Margaret L; Reynolds, Chandra A; Friedman, Howard S (2010) Predictors of physical activity patterns across adulthood: a growth curve analysis. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 36:1058-72
Friedman, Howard S; Kern, Margaret L; Reynolds, Chandra A (2010) Personality and health, subjective well-being, and longevity. J Pers 78:179-216
Elder, Glen H; Clipp, Elizabeth C; Brown, James Scott et al. (2009) The Life-Long Mortality Risks Of World War II Experiences. Res Aging 31:391-412
McCullough, Michael E; Friedman, Howard S; Enders, Craig K et al. (2009) Does devoutness delay death? Psychological investment in religion and its association with longevity in the Terman sample. J Pers Soc Psychol 97:866-82
Kern, Margaret L; Friedman, Howard S; Martin, Leslie R et al. (2009) Conscientiousness, career success, and longevity: a lifespan analysis. Ann Behav Med 37:154-63
Taga, Keiko A; Friedman, Howard S; Martin, Leslie R (2009) Early personality traits as predictors of mortality risk following conjugal bereavement. J Pers 77:669-90
Kern, Margaret L; Friedman, Howard S (2008) Early educational milestones as predictors of lifelong academic achievement, midlife adjustment, and longevity. J Appl Dev Psychol 30:419-430
Friedman, Howard S (2008) The multiple linkages of personality and disease. Brain Behav Immun 22:668-75
Kern, Margaret L; Friedman, Howard S (2008) Do conscientious individuals live longer? A quantitative review. Health Psychol 27:505-12
Martin, Leslie R; Friedman, Howard S; Schwartz, Joseph E (2007) Personality and mortality risk across the life span: the importance of conscientiousness as a biopsychosocial attribute. Health Psychol 26:428-36

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