A Life Course Perspective on Social Connectedness and Adult Health

项目总结/摘要 功能障碍在中年和老年人中越来越普遍，五分之二的成年人超过 65岁以上，有某种形式的残疾，大多数是行动不便。许多老年人 能够在晚年保持功能能力，但有助于高水平功能的因素 其运作机制尚不清楚。该提案建立在先前的工作基础上， 通过调查社会联系在生活中的作用，社会关系对健康的重要性 作为成年期功能能力的预测指标。这次调查不仅包括婚姻， 成年时的家庭和朋友关系，以及童年时的父母慈爱和管教， 特定类型关系的生命周期时间。拟议的研究将使用现有的纵向数据 从全国代表性的中年在美国（MIDUS）研究追求三个中心目标。 首先，假设在整个生命过程中更大的社会联系可以预测更好的功能能力 在成年期和以后的生活中，通过更多的身体活动和/或更低的炎症循环水平， 生物标志物。第二，研究将确定生命过程之间的潜在差异关联， 社会经济地位（SES）不同层次的连通性和健康。最后，MIDUS中的孪生数据将被 在家庭内分析中使用，以突出对生命过程中的社会关系之间的潜在因果关系的关注。 连通性和成人功能状态。研究结果将表明，是否，何时以及如何生活过程中的社会 连通性预测功能能力，确定潜在的机制，通过这些机制，生活过程中的社会 连通性可能会影响健康，并加强或削弱潜在因果关系的情况， 协会.通过这种方式，研究结果将产生与理论和干预相关的见解， 在整个生命周期中保持健康、独立和功能。我的长期目标是发展一个 研究生涯专注于健康，衰老和生命历程，应用严格的设计和分析 更好地了解成人健康预测因素的方法。为了更好地为我的职业生涯做准备， 独立研究员，我正在寻求培训：1）培养强大的概念和方法 理解生命历程的观点; 2）更好地理解如何在不同的社会关系， 生命历程塑造成人健康和健康行为; 3）利用严格的设计来检查成人健康的预测因素 健康; 4）建立和维持跨学科研究的职业生涯。这些领域的培训和研究 伦理是完成研究目标和准备我启动一个职业生涯的整体，NIH资助 一项研究计划，调查成人健康的生物心理社会预测因素。

Project Summary/Abstract Functional impairment is increasingly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults, with 2 in 5 adults over the age of 65 having some form of disability, the majority being limitations on mobility. Many older adults are able to maintain functional capacity well into later life, but the factors that contribute to high levels of function and the mechanisms by which they operate are unclear. This proposal builds on prior work showing the importance of social relationships for health by investigating the role of social connectedness across the life course as a predictor of functional capacity in adulthood. This investigation will include not only marital but also family and friend relationships in adulthood, as well as parental affection and discipline in childhood to capture the life-course timing of specific types of relationships. The proposed study will use existing longitudinal data from the nationally representative Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study to pursue three central aims. First, greater social connectedness across the life course is hypothesized to predict better functional capacity in adulthood and later life by way of greater physical activity and/or lower circulating levels of inflammatory biomarkers. Second, the research will identify potential divergent associations between life-course connectedness and health at different levels of socioeconomic status (SES). Finally, twin data in MIDUS will be used in within-family analyses to sharpen the focus on potential causal associations between life-course social connectedness and adult functional status. Results will demonstrate whether, when, and how life-course social connectedness predicts functional capacity, identifying potential mechanisms through which life-course social connectedness may influence health and strengthening or weakening the case for potential causal associations. In this way, findings will generate theory- and intervention- relevant insights into the successful maintenance of health, independence, and function across the lifespan. My long-term goal is to develop a research career focused on health, aging, and the life course, applying rigorous designs and analytical methods to better understand predictors of adult health. To better prepare myself for my career as an independent researcher, I am seeking training to: 1) cultivate a strong conceptual and methodological understanding of the life course perspective; 2) better understand how diverse social relationships across the life course shape adult health and health behavior; 3) leverage rigorous designs to examine predictors of adult health; and 4) build and sustain a career in interdisciplinary research. Training in these areas and research ethics is integral to completing the research aims and preparing me to launch a career-long, NIH-funded research program investigating biopsychosocial predictors of adult health.