The overall objective of the study is to continue to follow the health of a socially diverse cohort of 600 men who have been prospectively followed for 40 years. Two subordinate goals are to relate current and future aging to past assessments of adaptive psychological style and to study the vicissitudes of retirement in these men. The specific goals for next year are: (1) to complete gathering physical examinations on the 200 college men in the study; (2) to complete analyzing blind assessments of the defensive styles of the inner city men; (3) to send questionnaires to the 400 inner city men in the study; (4) to analyze data collected over the past 5 years; and (5) to study the determinants of successful marriages. Major questions asked would be: 1) How does pre-existing mental health affect deterioration of physical health? 2) What familial, childhood, and premorbid psychological variables are associated with early aging, schizophrenia, personality disorder, etc.? 3) What is the natural history of marital and occupational careers over the adult life cycle? What is their relation to psychopathology? 4) Can defense mechanisms be made operational especially within the framework of DSM III?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
1R01MH039799-01
Application #
3377669
Study Section
(EPSA)
Project Start
1985-01-15
Project End
1987-03-31
Budget Start
1985-01-15
Budget End
1987-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
1985
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Dartmouth College
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
041027822
City
Hanover
State
NH
Country
United States
Zip Code
Vaillant, G E; Roston, D; McHugo, G J (1992) An intriguing association between ancestral mortality and male affective disorder. Arch Gen Psychiatry 49:709-15
Vaillant, G E (1991) The association of ancestral longevity with successful aging. J Gerontol 46:P292-8
Vaillant, G E; Schnurr, P P; Baron, J A et al. (1991) A prospective study of the effects of cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse on mortality. J Gen Intern Med 6:299-304
Vaillant, G E; Vaillant, C O (1990) Natural history of male psychological health, XII: a 45-year study of predictors of successful aging at age 65. Am J Psychiatry 147:31-7
Peterson, C; Seligman, M E; Vaillant, G E (1988) Pessimistic explanatory style is a risk factor for physical illness: a thirty-five-year longitudinal study. J Pers Soc Psychol 55:23-7
Vaillant, G E; Schnurr, P (1988) What is a case? A 45-year study of psychiatric impairment within a college sample selected for mental health. Arch Gen Psychiatry 45:313-9
Phillips, K A; Vaillant, G E; Schnurr, P (1987) Some physiologic antecedents of adult mental health. Am J Psychiatry 144:1009-13
Vaillant, G E; McCullough, L (1987) The Washington University Sentence Completion Test compared with other measures of adult ego development. Am J Psychiatry 144:1189-94