The proposed five-year plan will train the candidate and foster her launch into an independent interdisciplinary research career. The candidate's overall research goal is to identify links between biological indicators of stress, coping behaviors and daily psychological well-being. It is important to first identify the most effective coping behaviors so that they can be later targeted in interventions. The plan includes three steps: 1) enhance knowledge of biological systems involved in stress response and biological indicators of stress, 2) collect daily diary data to examine links between biological indicators of stress, coping with interpersonal tensions, and daily psychological well-being, 3) use the knowledge gained to write an R01 to examine biological indicators of stress, coping strategies and implications for later mental and physical illness. Interpersonal tensions are the most common and detrimental source of stress for well-being. Research indicates that people are most likely to use avoidance (e.g., do nothing) to deal with interpersonal problems and the use of avoidance increases with age, but there is a lack of research on the implications of daily avoidance. The proposed research will assess how people respond to daily tensions, whether responses vary across adulthood, and associations between coping strategies, biological indicators of stress, and well-being. The daily diary project will include a regionally representative sample of 108 adults ages 40 to 80+ from the Detroit Tri-County area. Participants will complete a baseline interview regarding social relationships, demographics, and personality followed by daily phone interviews regarding tensions each night for 14 days. On days 6 through 9, participants will provide salivary samples four times a day (waking, 30 minutes after waking, before lunch, and bed time) as well as salivary samples after they experience interpersonal tensions all of which will be analyzed for cortisol, DHEA-S, and alpha-amylase. It is predicted that older people will report greater avoidance and that avoidance will be more highly associated with well-being (lower cortisol, higher DHEA-S, lower alpha-amylase, higher self-reported well-being) among older adults. It is also hypothesized that certain types of avoidance are more beneficial (e.g., accepting the situation) than others (e.g., walking away) for well-being. This study will be the first to identify the types of daily interpersonal coping strategies that are beneficial/harmful for well-being. These goals parallel the National Institutes on Aging missions to: 1) improve the health and quality of life of older people; and 2) understand the biological and psychological pathways through which social relationships may influence health. This project is relevant for public health because negative relations and chronic stress are associated with health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression. Thus, identifying the most beneficial coping strategies will help to improve the health and well-being of adults as they age. ? ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Career Transition Award (K99)
Project #
1K99AG029879-01A2
Application #
7532874
Study Section
National Institute on Aging Initial Review Group (NIA)
Program Officer
Nielsen, Lisbeth
Project Start
2008-08-15
Project End
2010-07-31
Budget Start
2008-08-15
Budget End
2009-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$97,240
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
Department
Type
Schools of Social Work
DUNS #
073133571
City
Ann Arbor
State
MI
Country
United States
Zip Code
48109
Birditt, Kira S; Tighe, Lauren A; Nevitt, Michael R et al. (2018) Daily Social Interactions and the Biological Stress Response: Are There Age Differences in Links Between Social Interactions and Alpha-Amylase? Gerontologist 58:1114-1125
Cheng, Yen-Pi; Birditt, Kira S; Zarit, Steven H et al. (2015) Young Adults' Provision of Support to Middle-Aged Parents. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 70:407-16
Birditt, Kira S; Nevitt, Michael R; Almeida, David M (2015) Daily interpersonal coping strategies: Implications for self-reported well-being and cortisol. J Soc Pers Relat 32:687-706
Bangerter, Lauren R; Kim, Kyungmin; Zarit, Steven H et al. (2015) Perceptions of Giving Support and Depressive Symptoms in Late Life. Gerontologist 55:770-9
Antonucci, Toni C; Ajrouch, Kristine J; Birditt, Kira S (2014) The convoy model: explaining social relations from a multidisciplinary perspective. Gerontologist 54:82-92
Birditt, Kira S (2014) Age differences in emotional reactions to daily negative social encounters. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 69:557-66
Birditt, Kira S; Newton, Nicky; Hope, Susannah (2014) Implications of marital/partner relationship quality and perceived stress for blood pressure among older adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 69:188-98
Fingerman, Karen L; Cheng, Yen-Pi; Cichy, Kelly E et al. (2013) Help with ""strings attached"": offspring perceptions that middle-aged parents offer conflicted support. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 68:902-11
Kim, Kyungmin; Eggebeen, David J; Zarit, Steven H et al. (2013) Agreement between aging parent's bequest intention and middle-aged child's inheritance expectation. Gerontologist 53:1020-31
Fingerman, Karen L; Cheng, Yen-Pi; Birditt, Kira et al. (2012) Only as happy as the least happy child: multiple grown children's problems and successes and middle-aged parents' well-being. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 67:184-93

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