Biomedical subjects

Daniel K Mroczek

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel K Mroczek.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Daily stressors and memory failures in a naturalistic setting: findings from the VA Normative Aging Study.

Laboratory studies of stress and memory have generally found that people with more stress tend to have poorer cognitive performance. The present investigation examined the relationship between stressors and memory failures in a naturalistic setting via a daily diary study of 333 older adults in the VA Normative Aging Study. Multilevel models indicated that on days when people experienced stressors, particularly interpersonal stressors, they were more likely to report memory failures. These stressors were also associated with an increase in memory failures from one day to the next. The findings may be important for preventions to mitigate age-related cognitive decline.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed2005

Change in life satisfaction during adulthood: findings from the veterans affairs normative aging study.

Change in life satisfaction was modeled over a 22-year period in 1,927 men. A curvilinear relationship emerged. Growth-curve models indicated that life satisfaction peaked at age 65 and then declined, but showed significant individual differences in rate of change. Extraversion predicted variability in change, with higher levels associated with a high and flat life satisfaction trajectory. Time-varying physical health and marital status were associated with higher life satisfaction. Proximity to death was associated with a decline in life satisfaction. On measurement occasions that were within 1 year before death, trajectories showed steeper decline, and this effect was not attributable to declines in self-rated physical health. The findings are at odds with prior (cross-sectional) research showing that subjective well-being improves with aging.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

The effect of daily stress, personality, and age on daily negative affect.

The current study examined whether stress reactivity becomes stronger or weaker with age. Daily stress and daily negative affect were modeled using 1,012 subjects from the National Study of Daily Events (NSDE), an 8-day daily diary study. Age ranged from 25 to 74. Data were modeled using within-person HLM techniques. Daily stress and neuroticism interacted in their effect on daily negative affect. There was a stronger association between daily stress and negative affect for persons high in neuroticism as compared to those low on the trait. In addition, daily stress and age interacted in their effect on daily negative affect. There was a stronger association between daily stress and negative affect for older as compared to younger adults. Results suggest heightened reactivity to stressors in older adulthood, perhaps due to kindling effects. Changes in the aging brain may explain this effect. Our investigations illuminate the complexities that characterize the set of associations among negative affect, stress, personality, and age, and point to potential aging or cohort effects.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Predicting intraindividual self-concept trajectories during adolescence.

The level and stability of both global and domain-specific self-concepts was examined in a study of 253 adolescents, aged 11-20. Intraindividual self-concept trajectories were calculated through growth curve modeling. Six of the self-concept domains were stable over time. In the remaining three domains, there was a significant increase in perceived competency. Growth curve modeling highlighted individual differences in both level and change in self-concept for each of the domains. These differences were partially accounted for by the adolescents' age and gender, suggesting that these variables are important determinants of adolescent self-concept.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Modeling intraindividual change in personality traits: findings from the normative aging study.

To advance an intraindividual life-span approach to the issue of stability and change, we studied personality trait trajectories in adulthood. Growth curves for extraversion and neuroticism were estimated for over 1600 men (initially aged 43-91) in the Normative Aging Study, who were followed over 12 years. We found significant individual differences in intraindividual change for both traits, as well as different trajectories for extraversion and neuroticism. The overall extraversion trajectory was best defined by a linear model, but neuroticism was characterized by quadratic decline with age. We then considered several variables as predictors of individual differences around these overall trajectories. Birth cohort, marriage or remarriage, death of spouse, and memory complaints were all significant predictors, explaining variability in both level and rate of personality trait change. These findings suggest that there is a good deal of variability in personality trajectories, and that some of this variability can be explained by birth cohort as well as by age-graded life events.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Personality structure and process, variance between and within: integration by means of a developmental framework.

Hooker and McAdams (2003) offer a six-foci model of personality organized around the concepts of structure and process. The structure and process distinction is essentially one of emphasizing within- or between-person variance, yet both types of variance are valuable, especially in personality development. Cattell (1966) understood the distinction and incorporated it into his concept of the data box. Hooker and McAdams's model shares aspects of Cattell's scheme but is more explicitly developmental. We argue that the concept of the developmental trajectory fits neatly into both the Cattell and Hooker-McAdams models and affords a data analytic framework for understanding both within- and between-person variance, allowing greater integration of process and structure approaches.

Aged↗