SPRF-IBSS: Applying structural equation modeling to populations undergoing economic transition

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Economic transition is occurring rapidly in developing countries and resulting in a myriad of social, behavioral and biologic changes. This research focuses on immune function's relationship to behavioral, psychosocial and community factors. The first research question focuses on whether physical activity/sedentary behavior is a mediating influence on the relationship between lifestyle incongruity (an indicator of psychosocial stress) and immune function in indigenous Siberian adults. The second research question is whether community level market integration in indigenous Amazonian children and adults predictive of biological outcomes. The third research question is whether in community level market integration over a five year period predictive of biological outcomes in indigenous Amazonian children and adults. Intellectual Merit: These complex relationships require advanced bio-statistical techniques to properly analyze. This project focuses on learning structural equation modeling (SEM) and applying the versatile statistical method to questions regarding the biological outcomes of transition in indigenous populations. The research questions are assessed using data from a sample of Sakha (Yakut) adults of Siberia in 2009 and the Tsimane Annual Panel Survey in Bolivia in 2002-2009. The mediating effect of physical activity and sedentary behavior on the relationship between lifestyle incongruity and biological outcomes in Yakut adults will be assessed using SEM path analysis. The influence of community market integration and five year change in community market integration on biological outcomes in Tsimane? adults and children will be assessed using multi-level SEM.This research utilizes multi-disciplinary techniques to: 1) provide insight into the pathways through which psychosocial stress influences immune function; 2) advance understanding of the community influence on biology. The research team succesfully exploits the pairing of advanced statistical training and biology to advocate for quantitative approaches to measuring the effects of economic transition on physical health. Additionally, the proposed activities are interdisciplinary to the extent that the research draws from and speaks to issues that are pertinent within several fields including human biology, anthropology, sociology, health economics, physiology, demography, and behavioral ecology.Broader Impacts:Achieving the research goals and disseminating the findings to researchers and local populations increases understanding of the impacts of economic and social transition on biological outcomes in the developing world. It also increases awareness of the usefulness of advanced biostatistical techniques within human biology and bioanthropology research. In addition, this Fellowship project integrates research and education at many different levels.