MacArthur Foundation Research Network Research Articles

0365 Sleep Quality Associated with Perceived Stress and Autonomic Nervous System Measures: Implications for Sleep and Health Disparities

Abstract Introduction It is not known whether the restorative nature of sleep mediates the effects of perceived stress on the autonomic nervous system (ANS).This study explored the relationships between stress and autonomic biomarkers, and aimed to assess potential mediation by sleep quality. Methods A secondary data analysis was performed using data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS, MIDUS II & Milwaukee). Multiple regression models examined the association between perceived stress using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and two autonomic biomarkers-heart rate variability(HRV) (n=888) and urine catecholamines (n=1,058). The roles of sleep quality (using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)) and race/ethnicity were explored in post-hoc analyses. Results No statistically significant relationships were found between PSS and autonomic stress measures. However, perceived stress (b=0.09;p<0.01; 95% CI=0.06,0.13) and the covariate Likert stress scale at baseline (b=0.13;p=<0.04;95% CI=0.005,0.26) were significantly related to PSQI. Post hoc analyses explored racial differences. Baseline stress, PSS, depressive symptoms and PSQI scores were significantly higher in Blacks/African-Americans than Non-Hispanic Whites. Yet, Blacks/African-Americans had lower sympathetic responses (epinephrine means 1.56 vs 2.00;t=-4.82;p<0.01, norepinephrine means, 24.15 vs 27.30;t=3.14;p<0.01) and higher parasympathetic responses (lnHF, natural log of High Frequency HRV means 5.48 vs 4.75; t=6.17;p<0.01), compared to Non-Hispanic Whites. Conclusion Blacks/African-Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites had significant differences in their sleep quality and ANS biomarkers. Sleep quality may play a role in the effect of discrimination on mental and physical health. Different stress sources may lead to variable expression in biomarkers of autonomic tone. Future prospective studies incorporating longitudinal biomarkers and alternative statistical models will help elucidate the relationships among stress, sleep, and the pathways linking these factors to poor health, and effect targeted treatments. Support The MIDUS I study was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network. MIDUS II was supported by the NIA(P01-AG020166), M01-RR023942(Georgetown), M01-RR00865(UCLA) and 1UL1RR025011(UW) grants. Many thanks to Dr. James McNally, Dr. Barry Radler, Dr. Gayle Love and Suzanne Hodge for access to the Milwaukee dataset.

Promoting resilience, reducing depression in older adults.

The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging defined "successful aging" as active engagement in life, maintenance of high cognitive and physical function, and avoidance of disease (Rowe and Kahn, 1987). Closely aligned with "successful aging" is resilience, that is, the ability to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity.

Longitudinal changes in the genetic and environmental influences on the epigenetic clocks across old age: Evidence from two twin cohorts.

BackgroundMeasures based on DNA methylation, epigenetic clocks, have recently gained attraction as predictors of mortality and age-related pathologies. However, the origins of variation in these measures are not well understood.MethodsIn a pooled sample of 104 Swedish and Danish twin pairs, we estimated, at the mean age of 70 (baseline) and 79 years (follow-up), the genetic and environmental influences on the Horvath and Levine clocks.FindingsA model incorporating additive genetic (A) and person-specific environmental (E) influences best explained the variation in both clocks. Heritability was estimated at 55% at baseline and at 51% at follow-up for the Horvath clock and 34% at baseline and 41% at follow-up for the Levine clock. For the Horvath clock, new sources of A influences emerged at follow-up, whereas for the Levine clock, the same A influences accounted for the genetic variance at both measurement occasions. The cross-time phenotypic correlations, 0·52 for the Horvath clock and 0·36 for the Levine clock, were mediated primarily by genetic factors, whereas the person-specific environmental factors were completely different at the two measurement occasions.InterpretationFor both clocks, new sources of person-specific environmental influences emerge with age. The epigenetic clocks might thus be responsive to new environmental stimuli even at old age.FundNIH (R01;AG04563;AG10175;AG028555) the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Aging, FAS/FORTE (97:0147:1B;2009-0795), Swedish Research Council (825-2007-7460;825-2009-6141;521-2013-8689;2015-03255;2015-06796;2018-02077), FORTE (2013-2292), the Strategic Research Program in Epidemiology at KI, VELUX FOUNDATION, NIA (P01-AG08761), the EU (FP7/2007-2011;259679) and The Danish National Program for Research Infrastructure 2007 (9-063256).

Neuroscience and the Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system acts directly on bodies, but fundamentally it cares about minds. As neuroscience progresses, it will increasingly be able to probe the objective, physical organ of the brain and reveal secrets from the subjective mind. This is already beginning to affect the criminal justice system, a trend that will only increase. This review article cannot begin even to sketch the full scope of the new field of law and neuroscience. The first workshop on the subject was held in 2003 ( Garland 2004 ), but the field already has its own casebook ( Jones et al. 2014 ) and the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience (2018) shows more than 1,700 publications in the area between 1984 and 2017. Greely (2009) divided the implications of law into five different categories: prediction, mind-reading, responsibility, treatment, and enhancement. This article examines only three points: the current use of neuroscience to understand and explain criminal behavior, the possibilities of relevant neuroscience-based prediction, and plausible future applications of neuroscience to the treatment of criminals. But first, we discuss the human brain and how it works.

0815 SLEEP DURATION IS A PATHWAY LINKING SLEEP TIMING TO OBESITY IN MIDLIFE WOMEN

Women in midlife are susceptible to experiencing poor sleep and are at risk for obesity. Research identifies poor sleep as a risk factor for obesity in this population. Though sleep duration has been extensively researched in regard to weight outcomes in midlife women, sleep timing is a relatively novel aspect of sleep linked to obesity. However, it is unclear how sleep timing may contribute to weight outcomes in this population. The current study explored the connection between sleep timing and weight, considering sleep duration as a potential mediator in this association. The study is an archival analysis of data from the Midlife in the United States-II study (MIDUS-II), Project 4. The sample consisted of 126 women between the ages of 40 to 64 (M = 52.90, SD = 6.94). Measures included actigraphy (i.e., sleep duration, mean sleep timing) and an objective assessment of obesity (i.e., BMI, waist circumference). A mediation model using Hayes’ SPSS PROCESS macro was used to assess study aims. After controlling for selected covariates, sleep timing was not directly associated with BMI (95% CI [-.0106, .0110]) or waist circumference (95% CI [-.0229, .0349]). However, sleep duration was a significant mediator of sleep timing and BMI (95% CI [.0001, .0123]), and sleep timing and waist circumference (95% CI [.0007, .0378]). Sleep timing was indirectly associated with weight outcomes in the current sample. Specifically, late sleep timing was associated with decreases in sleep duration, which influenced obesity. Delayed sleep timing, therefore, has implications for weight outcomes in this population via sleep duration. This finding highlights the importance of understanding how sleep behavior impacts weight in midlife women. Although sleep timing alone may not impact weight, findings can inform clinical recommendations regarding preventative and interventional approaches to weight management in this population. The MIDUS I study (Midlife in the U.S.) was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. The MIDUS II research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (P01-AG020166) to conduct a longitudinal follow-up of the MIDUS I investigation.

The impact of health and education on future labour force participation among individuals aged 55–74 in the United States of America: the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society

ABSTRACTChronic disease, mobility limitations and low physical functioning are determinants of an earlier age of retirement. Therefore, long-term population trends in these factors may have an impact on the proportion of individuals near traditional retirement age who continue to work. Our objective is to develop a projection model that accounts for trends in these factors in order to estimate the proportion of the population aged 55–74 with the capacity to participate in the labour force. We used logistic regression models to quantify how chronic disease, mobility and functional status predict labour force participation among individuals aged 55–59. Next, we obtained estimates of the population prevalence of each of these predictors for the years 2010–2050. We then used estimated coefficients from the logistic regression models to predict the age-specific probability of capacity for work up to the age of 74. We find that population capacity for work depends on trends in disability and on level of education. Future population capacity for work depends on trends in functional limitations primarily in the population with lower levels of education. Changes in functional limitations, changes in the environment, technology and social policy targeted towards individuals with lower levels of education could result in mitigation of future decreasing capacity for work in the population near retirement age.

Successful Aging of Societies

As America ages, policy-makers' preoccupations with the future costs of Medicare and Social Security grow. But neglected by this focus are critically important and broader societal issues such as intergenerational relations within society and the family, rising inequality and lack of opportunity, productivity in late life (work or volunteering), and human capital development (lifelong education and skills training). Equally important, there is almost no acknowledgment of the substantial benefits and potential of an aging society. The MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society offers policy options to address these issues and enhance the transition to a cohesive, productive, secure, and equitable aging society. Such a society will not only function effectively at the societal level but will provide a context that facilitates the capacity of individuals to age successfully. This volume comprises a set of papers, many of which are authored by members of the MacArthur Network, focusing on various aspects of the opportunities and challenges facing the United States while it passes through its current demographic transformation. This essay provides a general overview of the strategy the Network has used to address the various components of this broad subject.

The Future of Intergenerational Relations in Aging Societies

As the pressure mounts to reduce the public costs of supporting rapidly aging societies, responsibility for supporting elderly people will increasingly fall on their family members. This essay explores the family's capacity to respond to these growing challenges. In particular, we examine how family change and growing inequality pose special problems in developed nations, especially the United States. This essay mentions a series of studies supported by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society that aim to examine the future of intergenerational exchange. We focus particularly on adults who have dependent and young-adult children and who must also care for elderly parents, a fraction of the population that will grow substantially in the coming twenty-five years.

National survey of midlife development in the United States.

The National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) was first funded by the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development. An interdisciplinary network of scholars from multiple disciplines such as psychology, epidemiology, and sociology was involved with the project. Some prominent investigators of the original MIDUS development included Orville Brim (John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation on Successful Midlife Development), Paul Baltes (Max Planck Institute for Human Development), and Ronald Kessler (Harvard Medical School). The focus of MIDUS was conceptually broad, examining a collection of behavioral, psychological, and social factors associated with age-related variations in health and well-being extending from midlife into older adulthood (Brim, Ryff, & Kessler, 2004). Data collection began from 1995 through 1996, with the original MIDUS sample consisting of 7,108 predominantly Caucasian participants aged 25 to 74 years. This wide age range combined with strategic sampling design captures the developmental variation needed to examine the foundations of midlife change and aging processes. Along with the national probability sample (N1⁄4 3,487), MIDUS also includes a selective oversampling of metropolitan areas (N1⁄4 757), a sibling sample of the main respondents (N1⁄4 950), and a national sample of twin pairs (N1⁄4 1,914). With a diverse team of coinvestigators, MIDUS measures were oriented to collect a wide array of information in different content areas. Content areas included demographic and life history factors, physical and mental health histories, behavioral patterns, relationship and social network characteristics, exercise and dietary activities, occupational information, childhood characteristics, religiousness, financial data, and future interests and hopes. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development 2014, Vol. 79(4) 329–331 ! The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0091415015574174 ahd.sagepub.com

Law and neuroscience: recommendations submitted to the President's Bioethics Commission.

1. Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor, New York Alumni Chancellor’s Chair in Law, and Professor of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Director, MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience 2. Harrison Foundation Professor of Medicine and Law, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, Director, Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy, Professor of Public Policy, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia 3. Sackler Professor for Developmental Psychobiology, Director, Sackler Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College 4. Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 5. John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law, Director of the UCSF/UCHastings Consortium on Law, Science H Stanford University 15. Professor of Law, Professor of Philosophy & Psychology, Yale University ∗Corresponding author. E-mail: owen.jones@vanderbilt.edu

Baseline Purpose Oriented Life and Cognitive Outcomes (P04.220)

Objective: We examined 1) the relationship between purpose oriented life measured in midlife and the outcome of late life cognitive function, 2) whether engagement in physical, social, and cognitive activities mediated the relationship between purpose oriented life and cognitive function. Background Purpose oriented life was reported to be associated with decreased incidence of dementia. Additionally, purposed oriented life has been hypothesized to be potentially neuroprotective, but this has not been empirically validated. Design/Methods: A historical cohort study derived from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study, an NIH funded nationwide community-based sample that investigates midlife exposure and cognitive outcomes in late life. The sample for this study constituted of 1003 participants (Aged 51 to 75 at baseline i.e. in 1995). At least there was one follow-up data on cognitive function during the ten years follow up period. Purpose oriented life at baseline and follow-up was measured by a Purpose in Life (PIL) questionnaire. Other measures included demographic and health information (baseline and follow-up), self-report questionnaire of leisure activities at follow-up, and telephone-administered composite measures of episodic memory and executive function at follow up. Results: Overall, there was a statistically significant but very small decline in PIL over time [baseline: mean (SD) = 16.05 (3.76); follow-up: M= 15.63 (3.66); t = 5.35, p Conclusions: A higher sense of purpose at baseline is associated with a higher cognitive function in late life. Leisure activities appear to mediate the impact of purpose oriented life on cognitive outcomes. Supported by: A grant from the National Institute on Aging (P01-AG020166) to conduct a longitudinal follow-up of the MIDUS (Midlife in the U.S.) investigation for collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data. The original study was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development for collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data. Disclosure: Dr. Lin has nothing to disclose. Dr. Topazian has nothing to disclose. Dr. Geda has nothing to disclose.

Staying on Course: Three-Year Results of the National Guard Youth Challenge Evaluation

High school dropouts face an uphill battle in a labor market that increasingly rewards skills and postsecondary credentials: they are more likely than their peers to need public assistance, be arrested or incarcerated, and less likely to marry. This report presents results from a rigorous evaluation of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, an intensive residential program that aims to “reclaim the lives of at-risk youth” who have dropped out. More than 100,000 young people have completed the program since it was launched in the early 1990s. MDRC is conducting the evaluation in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood. The 17-month ChalleNGe program is divided into three phases: Pre-ChalleNGe, a two-week orientation and assessment period; a 20-week Residential Phase; and a one-year Postresidential Phase featuring a mentoring program. During the first two phases, participants live at the program site, often on a military base. The environment is “quasi-military,” though there are no requirements for military service. The evaluation uses a random assignment design. Because there were more qualified applicants than slots, a lottery-like process was used to decide which applicants were admitted to the program. Those who were admitted (the program group) are being compared over time with those who were not admitted (the control group); any significant differences that emerge between the groups can be attributed to ChalleNGe. About 3,000 young people entered the study in 10 ChalleNGe programs in 2005-2006.

Abstract B20: Examining measures of socioeconomic status for cancer disparities research

Abstract Background: Recent advances in cancer disparities research highlight the importance of understanding the relationship between race, SES, and cancer outcomes. However, SES is often difficult to operationalize in nuanced ways in health-related studies. This paper examines the utility of two emerging measures of subjective social status adapted from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Socioeconomic Status and Health Socio-demographic questionnaire. I also analyze responses of parents within the same family, and examine discrepancies in parental reports of SES. Method: Data come from an IRB-approved mixed-methods study of parents of pediatric cancer patients. Patients were sampled through a Pediatric Oncology clinic at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Northeast US. For two-parent families we attempted to recruit both parents to the study. Data come from the survey component of the study, and analyses focus on respondents’ responses to income, education, and subjective social status measures. The first subjective social status measure asks participants to place themselves on a ladder that represents the US social hierarchy, and the second asks respondents to place themselves on a ladder that represents their self-defined community (Singh-Manoux et al. 2003; Singh-Manoux et al. 2005). Findings: The final sample consisted of 74 parents of pediatric cancer patients. Seventy-eight percent of the sample was White, and 22% was Black. As expected, I find significant associations between respondent income and their subjective social status. The poorest respondents were significantly more likely to place themselves on the bottom third of both the US and community ladders, while respondents who made more than $50,000 annually were more likely to put themselves in the top of both ladders (US ladder: x2 = 34.646, p <.001; Community ladder x2 = 16.356, p<.050). Education was significantly associated with respondents’ responses to the US ladder (x2 = 16.023, p <.010), but not the community ladder. Black respondents were significantly more likely than White respondents to place themselves in the bottom third of the US ladder (x2 = 12.536, p < .010) but there was no significant difference between White and Black respondents’ responses to the community ladder. Twenty-five of the families in the sample were represented by two parents, which allowed examination of discrepancies in parental reporting of income and both measures of subjective social status. Parents with lower household income were significantly more likely to have discrepancies between parents in responding to the community ladder (x2 = 26.449 p< .010), but not the US ladder. Black respondents were significantly more likely to have discrepancies between parental reports of household income (x2 = 11.431 p< .010), and responses to the community ladder (x2 = 22.546 p< .001), than white respondents. There were no significant associations between respondent income or education and parental discrepancies in responses to items measuring total household income, or the US ladder. Conclusions: Findings have important implications for measurement and design of future cancer disparities research. The associations between income, education and the US ladder were in the expected directions. For this sample, the US ladder seems to be capturing a traditional conception of class. Parents in two-parent families were fairly consistent in their responses to the US ladder, suggesting reliability of the measure. The parents’ responses to the community ladder were less predictable, and suggest that this measure may be capturing a distinct dimension of SES beyond acting as a proxy for income or education. Results suggest that the MacArthur US ladder item may be an appropriate measure used to triangulate respondent SES, or in place of income or education items in studies where researchers want to use alternate SES measures. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):B20.

Child's Telomeres May Tell of Early-Life Adversity

Child's Telomeres May Tell of Early-Life Adversity

Introduction to the Special Section on Assisted Outpatient Treatment in New York State

Introduction to the Special Section on Assisted Outpatient Treatment in New York State

Assessing Outcomes for Consumers in New York's Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program

Assessing Outcomes for Consumers in New York's Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program

In This Issue

In This Issue

Aging in America in the Twenty‐first Century: Demographic Forecasts from the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society

The aging of the baby boom generation, the extension of life, and progressive increases in disability-free life expectancy have generated a dramatic demographic transition in the United States. Official government forecasts may, however, have inadvertently underestimated life expectancy, which would have major policy implications, since small differences in forecasts of life expectancy produce very large differences in the number of people surviving to an older age. This article presents a new set of population and life expectancy forecasts for the United States, focusing on transitions that will take place by midcentury. Forecasts were made with a cohort-components methodology, based on the premise that the risk of death will be influenced in the coming decades by accelerated advances in biomedical technology that either delay the onset and age progression of major fatal diseases or that slow the aging process itself. Results indicate that the current forecasts of the U.S. Social Security Administration and U.S. Census Bureau may underestimate the rise in life expectancy at birth for men and women combined, by 2050, from 3.1 to 7.9 years. The cumulative outlays for Medicare and Social Security could be higher by $3.2 to $8.3 trillion relative to current government forecasts. This article discusses the implications of these results regarding the benefits and costs of an aging society and the prospect that health disparities could attenuate some of these changes.

Facts and Fictions about an Aging America by the Macarthur Foundation Research Network on an Aging Society

The dramatic increase in life expectancy in the United States and all other developed nations in the 20th century is one of the greatest cultural and scientific advances in our history. Yet, we are woefully unprepared to address the challenges–such as potential conflicts aggravated by generational differences–and take advantage of the opportunities–unleashing the productivity inherent in a healthy elderly population, for example–that stand before us.

Mandated community treatment: a promising concept for world psychiatry?

Much of the international debate on or treatment orders assumes that court-ordered treatment in the community is simply an extension of long-existing policies authorizing involuntary commitment as a hospital inpatient. In fact, however, outpatient commitment is only one of many forms of being used to mandate adherence to psychiatric treatment in community settings. In the social welfare system, benefits disbursed by money managers and the provision of subsidized housing are both used to assure treatment adherence. Similarly, for people who commit a criminal offense, adherence to psychiatric treatment may be made a condition of probation. Favorable disposition of a case by a mental health court may also be tied to treatment participation. Psychiatric advance directives can be thought of as a form of selfmandated treatment. The MacArthur Foundation's Research Network on Mandated Community Treatment is engaged in a broad program of research on the uses of leverage to promote adherence to psychiatric services in the United States.