 |
- Site Index |
MEET THE RESEARCHER |
WHO'S WHO IN MPRC |
ACTIVITIES |
AFFILIATIONS |
Meet Our Researchers |
||||||||
| ||||||||
Recent Scientific Accomplishments Pearlin’s research focuses on what is referred to as the stress process, first articulated by him and now widely used by social scientists engaged in health research. It takes into account both exposure to health-related stressors that are associated with people’s social and economic statuses and various psycho-social resources that function as moderators of the deleterious effects of stressful experience. Some of Pearlin’s research has looked specifically at caregivers to people with Alzheimer’s Disease, a group chosen because of the many enduring hardships and demands that impinge on them. These caregivers provided a good opportunity to track the health effects of chronic stressors and led to the further elaboration of the stress process paradigm. Still more recently, his research has been directly concerned with the circumstances that contributed to health disparities among people of unequal statuses, a situation repeatedly documented by epidemiological inquiries. This research places the stress process within a life-course context, demonstrating that the health disparities that are apparent at mid- and late-life may have their origins in circumstances that existed at a much earlier age. Research reports of his work have appeared in a variety of journals, including the American Sociological Review, The Gerontologist, and the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. His work is also found in a large number of edited volumes, a few of which he served as co-editor. For virtually his entire career, Pearlin’s research has been supported by NIH, first as an NIMH investigator and subsequently through a series of R01 grants awarded by NIMH and NIA. His research into health disparities has been funded by two NIA grants. The first covered the years 2001 to 2005 and involved three waves of interviews. Currently, it is funded by a competing continuation grant, which covers the years 2005-2008 and provides for an additional two waves of interviews. These extensions enable a better opportunity to examine changes in health that might vary with changes in life conditions. In addition, Pearlin is co-Investigator (with Scott Schieman, P.I.) on a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health R01 grant to study health and conflict in the workplace. Future work in this area will utilize the data from the 2005-2008 follow-up. With Joan Kahn and Melissa Milkie, Pearlin will address several topics related to stress and its affect on aging and health. The study collects unique data on neighborhood disorder, perceived discrimination, emotions, self-concept, social relationships, as well as life course histories of family, health, work, and economic conditions. This will allow Pearlin to investigate several affects on health and aging of several stressors that are rarely measured in survey data. Pearlin is particularly interested in the heterogeneity in health trajectories, that is some elders will be observed to maintain uninterrupted good health, others continuous poor health, some will be seen to experience a sharp decline, and still others will display a mix of health decline and recovery. Concomitant with this greater heterogeneity is the expanded opportunity to identify the conditions that influence the course of health and well being of elders and to understand health disparities among groups of unequal statuses. Differences in exposure to stressors, past and present, and in the possession of social, personal, and material protective resources are being investigated as conditions shaping health trajectories and contributing to health disparities. | ||||||||
Maryland Population Research Center
0124N Cole Student Activities Building (#162)
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-405-6403
Fax: 301-405-5743