research study on human development

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• Published: 29 July 2021

The evolution of our understanding of human development over the last 10 years

• Ali H. Brivanlou   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1761-280X 1 &
• Norbert Gleicher   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0202-4167 2 , 3 , 4  

Nature Communications volume  12 , Article number:  4615 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Developmental biology
• Embryogenesis

As it fulfills an irresistible need to understand our own origins, research on human development occupies a unique niche in scientific and medical research. In this Comment, we explore the progress in our understanding of human development over the past 10 years. The focus is on basic research, clinical applications, and ethical considerations.

What basic research has taught us about human development

Over the last decade, progress in understanding our own development was mostly driven by the emergence and combination of remarkable new technologies. New molecular biology tools such as single-cell RNA-sequencing (sc-RNA-seq) unveiled the earliest genetic signature of the three cell lineages of the human blastocyst and allowed for the discovery of human-specific signatures 1 , 2 , 3 . CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has offered further access to in vitro functional studies in human blastocysts 4 . However, as we discuss below, an ethical line was crossed when a group claimed that genetically modified human embryos had been transferred, leading to births 5 when neither public opinion nor a consensus within the scientific community had been reached regarding whether crossing the germline in in vitro fertilization (IVF) was safe and ethically acceptable.

On the embryology side, the development of an in vitro attachment platform for human blastocysts offered a first glance into post-implantation events up to 12 days 1 , 3 , 5 , 6 . This paved the way for several important discoveries, including the observation that the human embryo can self-organize to generate embryonic and extraembryonic germ layers, yolk sac, and amniotic cavities in the absence of maternal influences 5 , 6 ; and the presence of a transient embryonic tissue of trophectodermal lineage, adjacent to the yolk sac, therefore named, yolk-sac trophectoderm ( ysTE ) 5 . The presence of these seemingly human-specific populations was independently confirmed by sc-RNA-seq 1 .

The marriage of stem cell biology with bioengineering gave birth to the field of synthetic embryology 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 . This technology uses human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) cultured on geometrically confined micropatterned substrates to generate 2D in vitro models of human conceptuses, such as models of the gastrula ( gastruloids ) 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , or parts of the embryo, such as cerebroids and neuruloids 14 . Thousands of nearly identical self-organizing human embryonic structures allow for standardization and reproducibility, which cannot be achieved in standard organoid structures 15 . Cells within these structures can be tracked and quantified in real time with sub-cellular resolution, using sophisticated quantification code, including artificial intelligence 14 .

Human gastruloids induce formation of the primitive streak and have enabled the deciphering of the molecular network underlying gastrulation—the most crucial moment of our lives 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 . 3D models of human epiblasts can spontaneously break axial symmetry, thus providing an assay for the elucidation of molecular events underlying the emergence of antero–posterior polarity 11 , 16 . A highly homogenous population of self-organizing 3D models of amniotic ectoderm-like cells can be obtained by combining microfluidic and microculture approaches 17 .

Finally, the development of interspecies chimeras provided the most stringent in vivo validation of human embryo models 9 , 10 , 18 . Unimaginable in human models, inter-species chimeras have become the next best choice to test whether hESC behavior in self-organizing gastruloids , as observed on microchips, would also occur in an embryonic environment 10 , 18 , 19 . Human/bird chimeras generated from transplanting human gastruloids into early chick embryos in ovo unexpectedly proved more efficient than previous methods 9 , 19 . They allowed for the observation of an entire self-organizing embryonic axis in bird eggs 9 . As birds are closer to dinosaurs than to humans, this high rate of success with these chimeras further suggested that these early patterning events must be highly conserved.

Translational clinical applications that arose from basic research

The past 10 years bore witness to significant clinical progress in reproductive medicine, often translated from basic research. Successful human uterus transplantation and the subsequent birth of healthy offspring was, for example, only achieved after years of meticulous laboratory work in animals 10 . Significant improvements in cryopreservation technology for human eggs and ovarian tissue were also preceded by research in model systems 10 , 20 . Practical clinical applications have been developed for women in need of cancer treatment that are toxic to ovaries. In these cases, oocytes and/or ovarian tissue can be cryopreserved for later use in fertility treatments once the patient is cured of her cancer 21 . This ever-evolving technology has already proven to result in live births, and has also become an integral part of routine infertility treatments with IVF, giving rise to the brand-new concept of fertility extension through egg-freezing.

Diagnostic technologies to assess retrieved eggs and preimplantation-stage embryos in the IVF process have been disappointing. For example, tracking extended embryo culture to blastocyst-stage with time-lapse imaging failed to improve embryo selection 22 . That chromosomal-abnormal embryos increase with maternal (but not paternal) age has been interpreted to mean that chromosomal abnormalities were a principal cause for lower implantation chances and higher miscarriage risks among older women. This assumption led to the rapidly growing utilization of chromosomal testing of human embryos prior to embryo transfer in a procedure recently renamed preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) 23 . The hypothesis behind PGT-A is to exclude chromosomal-abnormal embryos from the transfer, thereby improving implantation potentials of remaining euploid embryos.

Here too, clinical evidence was unable to confirm the hypothesis 24 . Moreover, basic research demonstrated a self-correction mechanism in mouse 25 and human embryos 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 that arose during embryogenesis that was cell lineage-specific to the embryonic cell lineage. In contrast, PGT-A biopsies are obtained from the extraembryonic-derived trophectoderm, rendering any diagnostic procedure at the blastocyst stage ineffective. In addition, mathematical modeling demonstrated that results from a single trophectoderm biopsy could not be extrapolated to the whole embryo 30 . Transfer of PGT-A “chromosomal-abnormal diagnosed embryos” has resulted in the births of over 400 chromosomal-normal offspring 20 , 21 .

In recent years, increasing attention has also been given to the quickly evolving understanding of how interdependent lifestyle and human fertility are 31 , 32 , 33 , including the influence of diet on the microbiome, as in many other areas of medicine.

The ethical significance of understanding human development

Whether in clinical medicine or in the research laboratory, human embryology has remained an ethical minefield, strongly influenced by socio-political and religious considerations. At the core of the controversy resides the special moral value of the human embryo, a subject that has come to the forefront again with the ascent of human embryonic stem cell research 34 . There is, however, little consensus as to how to answer a previously raised question: “ what is an embryo ?” 35 . The term pre-embryo, first introduced in 1986, was defined as the interval up to the appearance of the primitive streak, which marks biological individuation at ~14 days post-fertilization. This definition designated the period beyond 14 days as the time when a pre-embryo attains special moral status 36 , 37 . Paradoxically, the term pre-embryo has been replaced by the indiscriminate use of the term embryo, whether at preimplantation cleavage or blastocyst-stages or post-implantation before day 14. It was suggested that the distinction was important for ethical, moral, and biological relevance. The principal reason is simple: Until a pre-embryo becomes an embryo, there is no way of knowing whether implantation has taken place, whether a pregnancy is developing, whether there is a single pregnancy or twinning, or whether fertilization ended up in a benign (hydatidiform mole) or even in a malignant tumor (choriocarcinoma) 35 . Assigning advanced moral value to embryos at those early stages is, therefore, difficult to defend.

The past 10 years have witnessed innumerous ethical debates related to this subject, each with its own social, historical, and religious justifications, reflecting cultural diversities in human populations. Most are triggered by scientific breakthroughs. We summarize here the major ethical challenges preoccupying reproductive research and clinical practice.

We have already briefly referred to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. While the use of sc-RNA-seq to identify the molecular blueprint of human development has not elicited significant controversy, CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing of human embryos has been a topic of intense discussions and is currently permissible only in vitro 38 . An alleged attempt in China of implanting human genome-edited embryos into the uterus supposedly led to two births (one a twin birth). Though widely discussed in the media, neither attempt was published in the medical literature, and therefore cannot be verified 5 , 38 .

The ethical debates surrounding the 14-day rule, quiescent since the early IVF days, experienced a rebirth that was prompted by in vitro human embryo attachment studies and the emergence of synthetic human embryos. Within this context, we note that self-organizing embryo models are nothing more than cells in culture and are certainly not embryos. Regardless of scientific merits, in the U.S., the National Institutes of Health (NIH) currently prohibits the use of public funds for the study of synthetic embryos “for ethical reasons”. After being under an NIH moratorium for more than a year, research on chimeras is now, however, again permitted, though human/non-human primate chimeras remain prohibited.

These ongoing ethical debates mostly also mirror those surrounding the lack of U.S. federal funding for clinical IVF and related research, as well as hESCs-derived model embryos. In this context, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM)’s Ethics in Embryo Research Task Force recently made an important statement: “ Scientific research using human embryos advances human health and provides vital insights into reproduction and disease ” 39 .

Provided certain guidelines and safeguards are followed, research with already existing embryos or embryos specifically produced for research should be ethically acceptable as a means of obtaining new knowledge that may benefit human health. ASRM also pointed out that scientists and society must understand which research questions necessitate the use of human embryos.

It is gratifying to acknowledge the history and vitality of ongoing debates, especially since they increasingly mimic decision-making processes in the medical field. These debates are meant to be based on cost-benefit and/or risk-benefit assessments. These debates will, unquestionably, continue and, indeed, considering that every intervention has consequences, must be decided based on careful considerations, including all relevant stakeholders and all parts of society.

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Acknowledgements

We like to thank Min Yang, Jean Marx Santel, Adam Souza, and Amir Brivanlou, for data gathering and critical reading of the manuscript, and constructive criticism.

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Ali H. Brivanlou

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A.H.B. and N.G. are co-founders of OvaNova Inc. A.H.B. is a co-founder of Rumi Scientific Inc.

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Brivanlou, A.H., Gleicher, N. The evolution of our understanding of human development over the last 10 years. Nat Commun 12 , 4615 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24793-3

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• Toni M. Walker, Paul J. Frick, Tatiana M. Matlasz, Emily L. Robertson, Amy J. Mikolajewski, Colter Mitchell , Nestor Lopez-Duran, Christopher Stephen Monk , Luke Williamson Hyde . 2021. Psychometric Properties of a Semistructured Interview to Assess Limited Prosocial Emotions . Assessment (28) :1755-1764.   
• Arianna M. Gard, Andrea M. Maxwell, Daniel S. Shaw, Colter Mitchell , Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sara S. McLanahan, Erika E. Forbes, Christopher Stephen Monk , Luke Williamson Hyde . 2021. Beyond family-level adversities: Exploring the developmental timing of neighborhood disadvantage effects on the brain . Developmental Science 24 (1) :e12985.   
• Arianna M. Gard, Tyler C. Hein, Colter Mitchell , Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sarah S. McLanahan, Christopher Stephen Monk , Luke W. Hyde . 2021. Prospective longitudinal associations between harsh parenting and corticolimbic function during adolescence . Development and Psychopathology
• William Magee, Michael R Elliott , Marilyn Sinkewicz, Jessica Marie Finlay , Megan E Patrick . 2021. Who looks on the bright side? Optimistic and pessimistic perceptual-response reflexes over American adulthood . Advances in Life Course Research 51 :100452.   
• Philip Todd Veliz , Sean Esteban McCabe , James T. Eckner, John E Schulenberg . 2021. Trends in the Prevalence of Concussion Reported by US Adolescents, 2016-2020 . JAMA 325 (17) :1789-1791.   
• Jacqui Smith , Marina Larkina . 2021. Early-life Health as a Lifelong Precursor of Self-Related Views of Aging in Later Life . The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 76 (5) :894-899.   
• Abigail G. Richburg, Dominic P. Kelly, Pamela Davis-Kean , Abby Richburg . 2021. Depression, Anxiety, and Pubertal Timing: Current Research and Future Directions . University of Michigan Undergraduate Research Journal 15
• Schickedanz, Adam, José J. Escarce, Halfon, Neal, Narayan Sastry , Chung, Paul J. . 2021. Intergenerational Associations between Parents’ and Children’s Adverse Childhood Experience Scores . Children 8 (9) :747.   
• Rachel S. Bergmans, Jacqui Smith . 2021. Associations of mental health and chronic physical illness during childhood with major depression in later life . Aging & Mental Health 26 (9) :1813-1820.   
• John E Schulenberg , Weybright, Elizabeth H, Caldwell, Linda L . 2020. More Bored Today Than Yesterday? National Trends in Adolescent Boredom From 2008 to 2017 . Journal of Adolescent Health 66 (3) :360-365.   
• Sean Esteban McCabe , Tonda L. Hughes, Brady Thomas West , Rebecca J. Evans-Polce, Phil T Veliz, Kara Dickinson, Vita V. McCabe, Carol J. Boyd . 2020. Sexual Orientation, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Comorbid DSM-5 Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders . The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 81 (6)
• Tang,Sandra, Megan E Patrick . 2020. A latent class analysis of adolescents’ technology and interactive social media use: Associations with academics and substance use . Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies 2 (1) :50-60.   
• Goode,Joshua, Paula Fomby , Stefanie Mollborn, Aubrey Limburg . 2020. Children’s Technology Time in Two US Cohorts . Child Indicators Research 13 :1107-1132.   
• Robert Bozick, Narayan Sastry , Airan Liu . 2020. Health in Early Adolescence and Paid Employment . Youth & Society
• Corina Benjet, William G Axinn , Hermosilla,Sabrina, Schulz,Paul Chapin, Cole,Faith, Laura Sampson, Dirgha Jibi Ghimire . 2020. Exposure to Armed Conflict in Childhood vs Older Ages and Subsequent Onset of Major Depressive Disorder . JAMA Network Open 3 (11) :e2019848-e2019848.   
• Luke Williamson Hyde , Gard, Arianna Morgan, Rachel C. Tomlinson, S. Alexandra Burt, Colter Mitchell , Christopher Stephen Monk . 2020. An ecological approach to understanding the developing brain: Examples linking poverty, parenting, neighborhoods, and the brain . American Psychologist 75 (9) :1245-1259.   
• Neika Sharifian, Ketlyne Sol , Laura Beth Zahodne , Toni C Antonucci . 2020. Social Relationships and Adaptation in Later Life . Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology
• Michael I. Demidenko, Edward Huntley , Andrew Jahn, Moriah E. Thomason, Christopher Stephen Monk , Daniel P Keating . 2020. Cortical and subcortical response to the anticipation of reward in high and average/low risk-taking adolescents . Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 44 :100798.   
• Edward Huntley , Hilary A. Marusak, Sarah E. Berman, Clara G. Zundel, Joshua R.B. Hatfield, Daniel P Keating , Christine A. Rabinak . 2020. Adolescent substance use and functional connectivity between the ventral striatum and hippocampus . Behavioural Brain Research 390 :112678.   
• M. Elizabeth Zinn, Edward Huntley , Daniel P Keating . 2020. Resilience in adolescence: Prospective Self moderates the association of early life adversity with externalizing problems . Journal of Adolescence 81 :61-72.   
• Leigh G. Goetschius, Tyler C. Hein, Sara S. McLanahan, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Vonnie C. McLoyd, Hailey L. Dotterer, Nestor Lopez-Duran, Colter Mitchell , Luke Williamson Hyde , Christopher Stephen Monk , Adriene M. Beltz . 2020. Association of Childhood Violence Exposure With Adolescent Neural Network Density . JAMA Network Open 3 (9) :e2017850-e2017850.   
• Leigh G. Goetschius, Tyler C. Hein, Colter Mitchell , Nestor L. Lopez-Duran, Vonnie C. McLoyd, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sara S. McLanahan, Luke Williamson Hyde , Christopher Stephen Monk . 2020. Childhood violence exposure and social deprivation predict adolescent amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex white matter connectivity . Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 45 :100849.   
• Jenalee R. Doom, Melissa K. Peckins, Tyler C. Hein, Hailey L. Dotterer, Colter Mitchell , Nestor L. Lopez-Duran, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Sara McLanahan, Luke Williamson Hyde , James L. Abelson, Christopher Stephen Monk . 2020. Differential associations of parental harshness and parental disengagement with overall cortisol output at 15 years: Implications for adolescent mental health . Development and Psychopathology
• Tang,Sandra, Megan E Patrick . 2020. A latent class analysis of adolescents’ technology and interactive social media use: Associations with academics and substance use . Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies 2 (1) :50-60.   
• Laura Wray-Lake, Erin H. Arruda, John E Schulenberg . 2020. Civic development across the transition to adulthood in a national U.S. sample: Variations by race/ethnicity, parent education, and gender . Developmental Psychology 56 (10) :1948-1967.   
• Tang,Sandra, Pamela Davis-Kean , Waters, Nicholas, Ahmed, Sammy F . 2019. Executive function and academic achievement: Longitudinal relations from early childhood to adolescence . Journal of educational psychology 111 (3) :446-458.   
• Paula Fomby , Narayan Sastry . 2019. Data Collection on Sensitive Topics with Adolescents Using Interactive Voice Response Technology . methods, data, analyses 13 (1)
• Edward Huntley , Daniel P Keating , Maslowsky, Julie , Owotomo, Olusegun . 2019. Adolescent Risk Behavior: Differentiating Reasoned And Reactive Risk-taking . Journal of Youth and Adolescence
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Peters, Amy T, Burkhouse, Katie L, Kujawa, Autumn , Afshar, Kaveh , Fitzgerald, Kate D, Hajcak, Greg , Phan, K L . 2019. Impact of pubertal timing and depression on error-related brain activity in anxious youth . Developmental psychobiology 61 (1) :69-80.   
• Edward Huntley , Hehr, Aneesh , Marusak, Hilary A, Rabinak, Christine A . 2019. Effects of Duration and Midpoint of Sleep on Corticolimbic Circuitry in Youth . Chronic Stress 3
• Edward Huntley , Daniel P Keating , Demidenko, Michael I, Martz, Meghan E . 2019. Adolescent Health Risk Behaviors: Convergent, Discriminant and Predictive Validity of Self-Report and Cognitive Measures . Journal of Youth and Adolescence 48 (9) :1765-1783.   
• Luke Williamson Hyde , Colter Mitchell , Christopher Stephen Monk , Peckins, Melissa K, Roberts, Andrea G, Hein, Tyler C, Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne , McLanahan, Sara S, Lopez-Duran, Nestor L . 2019. Violence exposure and social deprivation is associated with cortisol reactivity in urban adolescents . Psychoneuroendocrinology 111 :104426.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kristine J Ajrouch , Noah J Webster . 2019. Convoys of social relations: Cohort similarities and differences over 25 years . Psychology and Aging 34 (8) :1158-1169.   
• Pamela Davis-Kean , Alexa Ellis . 2019. An overview of issues in infant and developmental research for the creation of robust and replicable science . Infant Behavior and Development 57 :101339.   
• Jennifer L. Maggs, Jeremy Staff, Megan E Patrick , Laura Wray-Lake . 2019. Very early drinking: Event history models predicting alcohol use initiation from age 4 to 11 years . Addictive Behaviors 89 :121-127.   
• Donald J. Hagler Jr., ..., John E Schulenberg , et al. . 2019. Image processing and analysis methods for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study . NeuroImage 202 :116091.   
• Kira S Birditt , Toni C Antonucci , Cranford, James A, Manalel, Jasmine A . 2018. Drinking Patterns Among Older Couples: Longitudinal Associations With Negative Marital Quality . The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 73 (4) :655-665.   
• John E Schulenberg , Megan E Patrick , Deborah Denise Kloska , Martz, Meghan E . 2018. "I Am So Bored!": Prevalence Rates and Sociodemographic and Contextual Correlates of High Boredom Among American Adolescents . Youth & Society 50 (5) :688-710.   
• Katherine Keyes , Patrick M O'Malley , John E Schulenberg , Gary, Dahsan S, Beardslee, Jordan , Prins, Seth J, Rutherford, Caroline . 2018. Age, period, and cohort effects in conduct problems among American adolescents from 1991 through 2015 . American Journal of Epidemiology 187 (3) :548-557.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Lord, Catherine, Kim, So Hyun, Grammer, Jennie , Benrey, Nurit . 2018. Stimulus processing and error monitoring in more-able kindergarteners with autism spectrum disorder: a short review and a preliminary Event-Related Potentials study . European Journal of Neuroscience 47 (6) :556-567.   
• Frederick J Morrison , McClelland, Megan , Geldhof, John , GestsdÛttir, Steinunn , Cameron, Claire , Bowers, Ed , Duckworth, Angela , Little, Todd , Grammer, Jennie . 2018. Self-Regulation . Handbook of Life Course Health Development :275-298.   
• Narayan Sastry , Paula Fomby , Katherine A McGonagle . 2018. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to Conduct Life Course Health Development Analysis . Handbook of Life Course Health Development :579-599.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Grammer, Jennie K, Gehring, William J . 2018. Associations between developmental changes in error-related brain activity and executive functions in early childhood . Psychophysiology 55 (3) :e13040.   
• Kira S Birditt , Hartnett, Caroline Sten, Fingerman, Karen L . 2018. Without the ties that bind: U.S. young adults who lack active parental relationships . Advances in Life Course Research 35 :103-113.   
• Pamela Davis-Kean , Meichu Chen , Olson, Sheryl L, Lansford, Jennifer E, Bates, John E, Pettit, Gregory S, Dodge, Kenneth A . 2018. Mapping the Growth of Heterogeneous Forms of Externalizing Problem Behavior Between Early Childhood and Adolescence: A Comparison of Parent and Teacher Ratings . Journal of abnormal child psychology 46 (5) :935-950.   
• Meichu Chen , Pamela Davis-Kean , Jackson, James Sidney, Nazroo, James , Zilanawala, Afshin , BÈcares, Laia , Kelly, Yvonne , Panico, Lidia , Sacker, Amanda . 2018. Socioemotional wellbeing of mixed race/ethnicity children in the UK and US: Patterns and mechanisms . SSM - Population Health 5 :147-159.   
• Barber, Jennifer S, Yasamin Yoko Kusunoki , Heather Gatny , Budnick, Jamie . 2018. The Dynamics of Intimate Partner Violence and the Risk of Pregnancy during the Transition to Adulthood . American Sociological Review 83 (5) :1020-1047.   
• Colter Mitchell , Luke Williamson Hyde , Christopher Stephen Monk , Hein, Tyler C, Mattson, Whitney I, Dotterer, Hailey L, Lopez-Duran, Nestor , Thomason, Moriah E, Peltier, Scott J, Welsh, Robert C . 2018. Amygdala habituation and uncinate fasciculus connectivity in adolescence: A multi-modal approach . NeuroImage 183 :617-626.   
• John E Schulenberg , Maslowsky, Julie , Jager, Justin . 2018. Substance Use and Abuse during Adolescence and the Transition to Adulthood are Developmental Phenomena: Conceptual and Empirical Consideration . Alcohol Use Disorders: A Developmental Science Approach to Etiology
• Megan E Patrick , John E Schulenberg , Rhew, Isaac C, Lewis, Melissa A, Abdallah, Devon A, Larimer, Mary E, Lee, Christine M . 2018. Alcohol motivations and behaviors during months young adults experience social role transitions: Microtransitions in early adulthood . Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 32 (8) :895-903.   
• Andrew L. Hicks, Mark S. Handcock, Narayan Sastry , Anne R. Pebley . 2018. Sequential Neighborhood Effects: The Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Concentrated Disadvantage on Children’s Reading and Math Test Scores . Demography 55 (1) :1-31.   
• Tang,Sandra, Megan E Patrick . 2018. Technology and interactive social media use among 8th and 10th graders in the U.S. and associations with homework and school grades . Computers in Human Behavior 86 :34-44.   
• Adam Schickedanz, Neal Halfon, Narayan Sastry , Paul J. Chung . 2018. Parents’ Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Children’s Behavioral Health Problems . Pediatrics 142 (2) :e20180023.   
• Grace Noppert , Candace S. Brown, Marianne Chanti-Ketterl, Katherine S. Hall, L. Kristin Newby, Harvey Jay Cohen, Miriam C. Morey . 2018. The Impact of Multiple Dimensions of Socioeconomic Status on Physical Functioning Across the Life Course . Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
• John E Schulenberg , Lloyd D Johnston , Patrick M. O'Malley, Jerald G Bachman , Richard Allen Miech , Megan E Patrick . 2018. Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2017. Volume II, College Students & Adults Ages 19-55 .
• Richard Allen Miech , Lloyd D Johnston , Patrick M. O'Malley, Jerald G Bachman , John E Schulenberg , Megan E Patrick . 2018. Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2017. Volume I, Secondary School Students .
• Megan E Patrick , Jennifer L Maggs , Wray-Lake, Laura . 2017. Early life predictors of alcohol-related attitudes among 11-year-old never drinkers . Addictive Behaviors 66 :26-32.   
• Kira S Birditt , Polenick, Courtney Allyn, Zarit, Steven H, Bangerter, Lauren R, Seidel, Amber J, Fingerman, Karen L . 2017. Intergenerational Support and Marital Satisfaction: Implications of Beliefs About Helping Aging Parents . Journal of Marriage and Family 79 (1) :131-146.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2017. Discontinuous Patterns of Cigarette Smoking from Age 18 to 50 in the U.S.: A Repeated-Measures Latent Class Analysis . Nicotine & tobacco research 20 (1) :108-116.   
• John E Schulenberg , Katherine Keyes , Wray-Lake, Laura , Shubert, Jennifer . 2017. The Developmental Course of Community Service Across the Transition to Adulthood in a National U.S. Sample . Developmental psychology 53 (12) :2397-2408.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kira S Birditt , Jacqui Smith , Wan, Wylie H . 2017. Work-Hour Trajectories and Depressive Symptoms Among Midlife and Older Married Couples . Work, Aging and Retirement 4 (1) :108-122.   
• Lindsay H Ryan , Newton, Nicky J, Chauhan, Preet K, Chopik, William J . 2017. Effects of pre-retirement personality, health and job lock on post-retirement subjective well-being . Translational Issues in Psychological Science 3 (4) :378-387.   
• Daniel P Keating . 2017. The Evolving Capacities of the Child: Neurodevelopment and Children’s Rights . Handbook of Children's Rights: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives :184-199.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Bauldry, Shawn , Shanahan, Michael J, Macmillan, Ross , Boardman, Jason D, O. Dean, Danielle , Cole, Veronica . 2016. Parental and adolescent health behaviors and pathways to adulthood . Social science research 58 :227-242.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , MacNamara, Annmarie , Vergés, Alvaro , Kujawa, Autumn , Fitzgerald, Kate D, Phan, K Luan . 2016. Age-related changes in emotional face processing across childhood and into young adulthood: Evidence from event-related potentials . Developmental psychobiology 58 (1) :27-38.   
• Megan E Patrick , Richard Allen Miech , Carlier,Carola, Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston , John E Schulenberg . 2016. Self-reported reasons for vaping among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in the US: Nationally-representative results . Drug and alcohol dependence 165 :275-278.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Sayer, Liana C, Bianchi, Suzanne M . 2016. Gender, Time Use, and Aging . Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences (Eighth Edition) :163-180.   
• Kira S Birditt , Toni C Antonucci , Tighe, Lauren A . 2016. Intergenerational Ambivalence in Adolescence and Early Adulthood: Implications for Depressive Symptoms Over Time . Developmental psychology 52 (5) :824-834.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Wolff, Jennifer L, Spillman, Brenda C, Kasper, Judith D . 2016. A National Profile of Family and Unpaid Caregivers Who Assist Older Adults With Health Care Activities . Jama Internal Medicine 176 (3) :372-379.   
• Mary Beth Ofstedal , Zimmer, Zachary , Jagger, Carol , Chiu, Chi-Tsun , Rojo, Florencia , Saito, Yasuhiko . 2016. Spirituality, religiosity, aging and health in global perspective: A review . Social Science and Medicine: Population Health 2 :373-381.   
• Philippa J Clarke , Guimarães, Joanna M. N., Tate, Denise , Coeli, Claudia Medina, Griep, Rosane Harter, Fonseca, a Jesus Mendes da, Santos, Itamar S, Melo, E Caetano Prates, Chor, Dora . 2016. Social mobility and subclinical atherosclerosis in a middle-income country: Association of intra- and inter-generational social mobility with carotid intima-media thickness in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) . Social science & medicine 169 :9-17.   
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• Jessica Danielle Faul , David R Weir , Erin Bakshis Ware , ..., et al. . 2016. Genetic variants linked to education predict longevity . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113 (47) :13366-13371.   
• Christopher Joseph Trentacosta , Pamela Davis-Kean , Colter Mitchell , Luke Williamson Hyde , Dolinoy, Dana . 2016. Environmental Contaminants and Child Development . Child Development Perspectives 10 (4) :228-233.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Wu, Minjie , Kujawa, Autumn , Lu, Lisa H, Fitzgerald, Daniel A, Klumpp, Heide , Fitzgerald, Kate D, Phan, K L . 2016. Age-related changes in amygdala-frontal connectivity during emotional face processing from childhood into young adulthood . Human brain mapping 37 (5) :1684-1695.   
• Steven G Heeringa , Zhu, Motao , Rudisill, Toni M, Swedler, David , Redelmeier, Donald A . 2016. The association between handheld phone bans and the prevalence of handheld phone conversations among young drivers in the United States . Annals of Epidemiology 26 (12) :833–837.e1.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Montroy, Janelle J, Bowles, Ryan P, Skibbe, Lori E, McClelland, Megan M . 2016. The development of self-regulation across early childhood . Developmental psychology 52 (11) :1744-1762.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Lisa F. Berkman, Axel Borsch-Supan, Laura L. Carstensen, Linda P. Fried, Frank F. Furstenberg, Dana Goldman, Jackson, James Sidney, Martin Kohli, S. Jay Olshansky, John Rother, John W. Rowe, Julie Zissimopoulos . 2016. Society and the individual at the dawn of the 21st Century . Handbook of the Psychology of Aging, Eighth Edition :41-62.   
• Kristine J Ajrouch , Toni C Antonucci , Abdulrahim, S . 2015. Family relations and health over the life course. A Lebanese perspective . Le Journal medical libanais.The Lebanese medical journal 63 (1) :8-14.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kristine J Ajrouch , Abdulrahim, S . 2015. Social Relations in Lebanon: Convoys Across the Life Course . The Gerontologist 22 (2) :825-835.   
• Michael R Elliott , Curry, A E, Pfeiffer, M R, Durbin, D R . 2015. Young driver crash rates by licensing age, driving experience, and license phase . Accident; Analysis and Prevention 80 :243-250.   
• Noah J Webster , Toni C Antonucci , Fuller-Iglesias, Heather . 2015. The complex nature of family support across the life span: Implications for psychological well-being . Developmental psychology 51 (3) :277-288.   
• Xu, Hongwei, Xie, Yu, Huang, Guoying . 2015. Cognitive Ability: Social Correlates and Consequences in Contemporary China . Chinese Sociological Review 47 (4) :287-313.   
• Katherine Keyes , John E Schulenberg , Jager, Justin . 2015. Historical Variation in Young Adult Binge Drinking Trajectories and Its Link to Historical Variation in Social Roles and Minimum Legal Drinking Age . Developmental psychology 51 (7) :962-974.   
• Katherine Keyes , Patrick M O'Malley , Richard Allen Miech , John E Schulenberg , Jager, Justin , Hamilton, Ava . 2015. National multi-cohort time trends in adolescent risk preference and the relation with substance use and problem behavior from 1976 to 2011 . Drug and alcohol dependence 155 :267-274.   
• Katherine Keyes , John E Schulenberg , Maslowsky, Julie , Hamilton, Ava . 2015. The Great Sleep Recession: Changes in Sleep Duration Among US Adolescents, 1991-2012 . Pediatrics 135 (3) :460-468.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Kujawa, Autumn , MacNamara, Annmarie , Fitzgerald, KateD , Phan, K L . 2015. Enhanced Neural Reactivity to Threatening Faces in Anxious Youth: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials . Journal of abnormal child psychology 43 (8) :1493-1501.   
• Helen G Levy , Leininger, Lindsey . 2015. Child Health and Access to Medical Care . Future of Children 25 (1) :65-90.   
• Jennifer L Maggs , Deborah Denise Kloska , Megan E Patrick , Patrick M O'Malley , John E Schulenberg , Staff, Jeremy . 2015. Predicting Young Adult Degree Attainment by Late Adolescent Marijuana Use . Journal of Adolescent Health 57 (2) :205-211.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Lloyd D Johnston , Patrick M O'Malley , Jerald G Bachman , John E Schulenberg , Megan E Patrick . 2015. Trends in use of marijuana and attitudes toward marijuana among youth before and after decriminalization: The case of California 2007-2013 . International Journal of Drug Policy 26 (4) :336-344.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Shanahan, M J, Boardman, J , Bauldry, S . 2015. The Sequencing of a College Degree during the Transition to Adulthood: Implications for Obesity . Journal of health and social behavior 56 (2) :281-295.   
• Daniel Almirall , Peris, Tara S, Compton, Scott N, Kendall, Philip C, Birmaher, Boris , Sherrill, Joel , March, John , Gosch, Elizabeth , Ginsburg, Golda , Rynn, Moira , McCracken, James T, Keeton, Courtney P, Sakolsky, Dara , Suveg, Cynthia , Aschenbrand, Sasha , Iyengar, Satish , Walkup, John T, Albano, Anne Marie, Piacentini, John . 2015. Trajectories of change in youth anxiety during cognitive-behavior therapy . Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 83 (2) :239-252.   
• Schoeni, Bob, Bianchi, Suzanne M, Hotz, V J, Seltzer, Judith A, Wiemers, Emily E . 2015. Intergenerational transfers and extended family roster: a new substudy of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics . Longitudinal and Life Course Studies 6 (3) :319-330.   
• John E Schulenberg , Maslowsky, Julie . 2015. Contribution of Adolescence to the Life Course: What Matters Most in the Long Run? . Research in Human Development 12 (3-4) :319-326.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley . 2015. Trends and timing of cigarette smoking uptake among US young adults: survival analysis using annual national cohorts from 1976 to 2005 . Addiction 110 (7) :1171-1181.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2015. Foods and beverages offered in US public secondary schools through the National School Lunch Program from 2011-2013: Early evidence of improved nutrition and reduced disparities . Preventive medicine 78 :52-58.   
• Megan E Patrick , Yeomans-Maldonado, Gloria . 2015. The effect of perceived risk on the combined used of alcohol and marijuana: Results from daily surveys . Addictive Behaviors Reports 2 :33-36.   
• Natalie Colabianchi , Zhu, Wenfei , Howard, Virginia J, Wadley, Virginia G, Hutto, Brent , Blair, Steven N, Vena, John E, Rhodes, David , Hooker, Steven P . 2015. Association Between Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Cognitive Function in Older Adults-The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke Study . Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 63 (12) :2447-2454.   
• Pamela Davis-Kean , Simonton, Sharon Z., Zilanawala, A , Nazroo, J , Sacker, A , Kelly, Y . 2015. Race/ethnic disparities in early childhood BMI, obesity and overweight in the United Kingdom and United States . International journal of obesity 39 (3) :520-529.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Guo, Ying , Sun, Shuyan , Breit-Smith, Allison , Connor, Carol McDonald . 2015. Behavioral engagement and reading achievement in elementary-school-age children: A longitudinal cross-lagged analysis . Journal of educational psychology 107 (2) :332-347.   
• Frederick J Morrison . 2015. The growth of self-regulation in the transition to school . Advances in reading intervention: research to practice to research :25-36.   
• Frederick J Morrison . 2015. Understanding Growth in Self-Regulation: International Contributions . Early Education and Development 26 (5-6) :893-897.   
• A. E. Curry, M. R. Pfeiffer, Michael R Elliott , D. R. Durbin . 2015. Association between New Jersey’s Graduated Driver Licensing decal provision and crash rates of young drivers with learners’ permits . Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention 21 (6) :421-423.   
• Allison E. Curry, Melissa R. Pfeiffer, Dennis R. Durbin, Michael R Elliott , Konny H. Kim . 2015. Young driver licensing: Examination of population-level rates using New Jersey’s state licensing database . Accident Analysis & Prevention 76 :49-56.   
• Katherine A McGonagle , Narayan Sastry . 2015. Cohort Profile: The Panel Study of Income Dynamics’ Child Development Supplement and Transition into Adulthood Study . International journal of epidemiology 44 (2) :415-422.   
• F. K. Winston, J. H. Mirman, A. E. Curry, M. R. Pfeiffer, Michael R Elliott , D. R. Durbin . 2015. Engagement with the TeenDrivingPlan and diversity of teens’ supervised practice driving: lessons for internet-based learner driver interventions . Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention 21 (1) :4-9.   
• Megan E Patrick , Patrick M. O'Malley . 2015. Trends in Drug Use Among Youth in the United States . Handbook of Adolescent Drug Use Prevention:Research, Intervention Strategies, and Practice :51-65.   
• Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , John E Schulenberg , Lloyd D Johnston , Bryant, Alison L, Merline, Alicia C . 2014. The decline of substance use in young adulthood: Changes in social activities, roles, and beliefs . :322.   
• Kira S Birditt , Nevitt, Michael R, Almeida, David M . 2014. Daily interpersonal coping strategies Implications for self-reported well-being and cortisol . Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 32 (5) :687-705.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Norbert Schwarz , Carr, Deborah S., Cornman, J C . 2014. Happy Marriage, Happy Life? Marital Quality and Subjective Well-Being in Later Life . Journal of marriage and the family 76 (5) :930-948.   
• Natalie Colabianchi , Coulton, CJ , Hibbert, JD , McClure, SM , Levers-Landis, CE , Davis, EM . 2014. Adolescent self-defined neighborhoods and activity spaces: spatial overlap and relations to physical activity and obesity. . Health Place 27 :22-29.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Frederick G Conrad , Norbert Schwarz , Stafford, Frank P., Cornman, J . 2014. Does Time Fly When You Are Having Fun? A Day Reconstruction Method Analysis . Journal of happiness studies 15 (3) :639-655.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Spillman, B C . 2014. Disability and care needs among older americans . The Milbank quarterly 92 (3) :509-541.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Spillman, Brenda C . 2014. The Residential Continuum From Home to Nursing Home: Size, Characteristics and Unmet Needs of Older Adults . The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 69 :S42-S50.   
• Steven G Heeringa , Kessler,Ronald C, Gadermann, A M, Stein, M B, Ursano, R J, Colpe, L J, Fullerton, C S, Gilman, S E, Gruber, M J, Nock, M K, Rosellini, A J, Sampson, N A, Schoenbaum, M , Zaslavsky, A M . 2014. Classifying U.S. Army Military Occupational Specialties using the Occupational Information Network . Military medicine 179 (7) :752-761.   
• Daniel Almirall , Griffin, B A, Ramchand, R , Slaughter, M E, Burgette, L F, McCaffery, D F . 2014. Estimating the causal effects of cumulative treatment episodes for adolescents using marginal structural models and inverse probability of treatment weighting . Drug and alcohol dependence 136 (March) :69-78.   
• Megan E Patrick , Griffin, Jamie . 2014. Nonresponse bias in a longitudinal measurement design examining substance use across the transition out of high school . Drug and alcohol dependence 143 :232-238.   
• Daniel Almirall , Murphy, Susan A., Kasari, Connie , Kaiser, Ann , Goods, Kelly , Nietfeld, Jennifer , Mathy, Pamela , Landa, Rebecca . 2014. Communication Interventions for Minimally Verbal Children With Autism: A Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial . Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 53 (6) :635-646.   
• Kenneth M Langa , Kuzma, E , Llewellyn, D J, Wallace, R B, Lang, I A . 2014. History of alcohol use disorders and risk of severe cognitive impairment: a 19-year prospective cohort study . The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry : Official Journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry 22 (10) :1047-1054.   
• Michael R Elliott , Mirman, J H, Curry, A E, Winston, F K, Wang, W , Schultheis, M T, Fisher Thiel, M C, Durbin, D R . 2014. Effect of theTteenDrivingPlan on the driving performance of teenagers before licensure: a randomized clinical trial . JAMA pediatrics 168 (8) :764-771.   
• Colter Mitchell . 2014. Born Together-Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study . Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 43 (2) :262-264.   
• Paula Fomby , Mollborn, Stefanie , Lawrence, Elizabeth , James-Hawkins, Laurie . 2014. When do socioeconomic resources matter most in early childhood? . Advances in Life Course Research 20 :56-69.   
• Daniel Almirall , Schuler, Megan S, Griffin, Beth Ann, Ramchand, Rajeev , McCaffrey, Daniel F . 2014. Effectiveness of treatment for adolescent substance use: is biological drug testing sufficient? . Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs 75 (2) :358-370.   
• John E Schulenberg , Jerald G Bachman , Matthew VanEseltine , Staff, Jeremy, Siennick, Sonja E, Osgood, D Wayne . 2014. Partnership Transitions and Antisocial Behavior in Young Adulthood: A Within-person, Multi-Cohort Analysis . Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 51 (6) :735-758.   
• Lloyd D Johnston , Slater, S , Chriqui, J , Chaloupka, F J . 2014. Joint use policies: are they related to adolescent behavior? . Preventive medicine 69 (Suppl 1) :S37-S43.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Swartz, J R . 2014. The role of corticolimbic circuitry in the development of anxiety disorders in children and adolescents . Current topics in behavioral neurosciences 16 :133-148.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Swartz, J R, Phan, K L, Angstadt, M , Klumpp, H , Fitzgerald, K D . 2014. Altered activation of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex in the context of emotional face distractors in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders . Depression and anxiety 31 (10) :870-879.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Natalie Colabianchi , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston , Hood, N E . 2014. Profits, commercial food supplier involvement, and school vending machine snack food availability: implications for implementing the new competitive foods rule . The Journal of school health 84 (7) :451-458.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2014. Accessibility over availability: associations between the school food environment and student fruit and green vegetable consumption . Childhood obesity (Print) 10 (3) :241-250.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2014. Alcohol and marijuana use patterns associated with unsafe driving among U.S. high school seniors: high use frequency, concurrent use, and simultaneous use . Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs 75 (3) :378-389.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2014. Energy Drinks, Soft Drinks, and Substance Use Among United States Secondary School Students . Journal of Addiction Medicine 8 (1) :6-13.   
• Lindsay H Ryan , Windsor, Tim D, Gerstorf, Denis , Pearson, Elissa , Anstey, Kaarin J . 2014. Positive and negative social exchanges and cognitive aging in young-old adults: Differential associations across family, friend, and spouse domains . Psychology and aging 29 (1) :28-43.   
• Kristine J Ajrouch , Toni C Antonucci , Abdulrahim, Sawsan . 2013. Stress, social relations, and psychological health over the life course: A focus on Lebanon . GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry 26 (1) :15-27.   
• Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , Freedman-Doan, Peter C. . 2013. Adolescent Work Intensity, School Performance, and Substance Use: Links Vary by Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status. . Developmental psychology 49 (11) :2125-2134.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Bernard, J A, Peltier, S J, Wiggins, J L, Jaeggi, S M, Buschkuehl, M , Fling, B W, Kwak, Y , Jonides, J , Seidler, R D . 2013. Disrupted cortico-cerebellar connectivity in older adults . NeuroImage 83 :103-119.   
• Kira S Birditt . 2013. Age Differences in Emotional Reactions to Daily Negative Social Encounters . The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 69 (4) :557-566.   
• Philippa J Clarke , Patrick M O'Malley , John E Schulenberg , Natalie Colabianchi , Lloyd D Johnston , Lee, H . 2013. College expectations in high school mitigate weight gain over early adulthood: Findings from a national study of American youth. LID - 10.1002/oby.20176 [doi] . Obesity 21 (7) :1321-1327.   
• Kenneth M Langa , Dutta, A , Henley, W , Robine, JM , Wallace, R B, Melzer, D . 2013. Longer Lived Parents: Protective Associations With Cancer Incidence and Overall Mortality . The journals of gerontology Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences 68 (11) :1409-1418.   
• Kira S Birditt , Fingerman, K L, Sechrist, J . 2013. Changing Views on Intergenerational Ties . Gerontology 59 (1) :64-70.   
• Paula Fomby , Bosick, Stacey J . 2013. Family Instability and the Transition to Adulthood . Journal of Marriage and the Family 75 (5) :1266-1287.   
• Vicki A Freedman , Schoeni, Bob, Martin, Leah, Spillman, B C, Andreski, P M, Cornman, J C, Crimmins, E M, Kramarow, E , Lubitz, J , Martin, Linda G, Merkin, S S, Seeman, T E, Waidmann, T A . 2013. Trends in late-life activity limitations in the United States: an update from five national surveys . Demography 50 (2) :661-671.   
• Kira S Birditt , Hartnett, Caroline Sten, Furstenberg, Frank F, Fingerman, Karen L . 2013. Parental Support During Young Adulthood: Why Does Assistance Decline With Age? . Journal of Family Issues 34 (7) :975-1007.   
• Daniela Elisabeth Hochfellner , Burkert, C . 2013. Employment in retirement: continuation of a working career or essential additional income? . Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie und Geriatrie 46 (3) :242-250.   
• Kenneth M Langa , Hurd, Michael D, Martorell, Paco , Delavande, Adeline , Mullen, Kathleen J . 2013. Monetary Costs of Dementia in the United States . New England Journal of Medicine 368 (14) :1326-1334.   
• John E Schulenberg , Jackson, Kristina M . 2013. Alcohol Use During the Transition From Middle School to High School: National Panel Data on Prevalence and Moderators. . Developmental Psychology 49 (11) :2147-2158.   
• John E Schulenberg , Patrick M O'Malley , Jerald G Bachman , Jager, J . 2013. Historical variation in drug use trajectories across the transition to adulthood: the trend toward lower intercepts and steeper, ascending slopes . Development and psychopathology 25 (2) :527-543.   
• Katherine Keyes , Richard Allen Miech . 2013. Age, period, and cohort effects in heavy episodic drinking in the US from 1985 to 2009 . Drug and alcohol dependence 132 (1-2) :140-148.   
• Philippa J Clarke , Latham, Kenzie . 2013. The Role of Neighborhood Safety in Recovery From Mobility Limitations: Findings From a National Sample of Older Americans (1996-2008) . Research on aging 35 (4) :481-502.   
• Sean Esteban McCabe , Brady Thomas West , Boyd, Carol J . 2013. Leftover Prescription Opioids and Nonmedical Use Among High School Seniors: A Multi-Cohort National Study . The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 52 (4) :480-485.   
• Michael R Elliott , Harlow, Sioban D., Paramsothy, P , Lisabeth, L D, Crawford, S L, Randolph, J F . 2013. Classifying menopause stage by menstrual calendars and annual interviews: need for improved questionnaires . Menopause (New York, N.Y.) 20 (7) :727-735.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Park, Sojung . 2013. Visible Women: Tales of Age, Gender and In/Visibility, by Christine Bell . Journal of women & aging 25 (2) :199-200.   
• Natalie Colabianchi , Pate, R R, O'Neill, J R, Liese, A D, Janz, K F, Granberg, E M, Harsha, D W, Condrasky, M M, O'Neil, P M, Lau, E Y, Taverno Ross, S E . 2013. Factors associated with development of excessive fatness in children and adolescents: a review of prospective studies . Obesity Reviews 14 (8) :645-658.   
• Megan E Patrick . 2013. Daily associations of alcohol use with sexual behaviour and condom use during Spring Break . Drug and Alcohol Review 32 (2) :215-217.   
• Megan E Patrick , Jennifer L Maggs , Lewis, Melissa A, Lee, Christine M . 2013. Semester and event-specific motives for alcohol use during Spring Break: Associated protective strategies and negative consequences . Addictive Behaviors 38 (4) :1980-1987.   
• Megan E Patrick , Sean Esteban McCabe , Singer, Eleanor, Boyd, Carol J, Cranford, James A . 2013. Incentives for college student participation in web-based substance use surveys . Addictive Behaviors 38 (3) :1710-1714.   
• Jacqui Smith , Lindsay H Ryan , Röcke, Christina . 2013. The Day-to-Day Effects of Conscientiousness on Well-Being . Research in Human Development 10 (1) :9-25.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Lord, Catherine, Swartz, J R, Wiggins, J L, Carrasco, M . 2013. Amygdala habituation and prefrontal functional connectivity in youth with autism spectrum disorders . Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 52 (1) :84-93.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2013. Middle and high school drug testing and student illicit drug use: a national study 1998-2011 . The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 52 (6) :707-715.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2013. Simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use among US high school seniors from 1976 to 2011: Trends, reasons, and situations . Drug and alcohol dependence 133 (1) :71-79.   
• Oyserman,Daphna R, Norbert Schwarz , Uskul, Ayse K, Lee, Spike W. S., Xu, Alison Jing . 2013. How Successful You Have Been in Life Depends on the Response Scale Used: The Role of Cultural Mindsets in Pragmatic Inferences Drawn from Question Format . Social Cognition 31 (2) :222-236.   
• Noah J Webster , Kristine J Ajrouch , Toni C Antonucci . 2013. Living Healthier, Living Longer: The Benefits of Residing in Community . Generations 37 (4) :28-32.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Wiggins, J L . 2013. A translational neuroscience framework for the development of socioemotional functioning in health and psychopathology . Development and psychopathology 25 (4 Pt 2) :1293-1309.   
• Barber, Jennifer S, Yasamin Yoko Kusunoki . 2013. Young Women’s Relationships, Contraception, and Unintended Pregnancy in the United States . Fertility Rates and Population Decline: No Time for Children?
• N. E. Hood, Natalie Colabianchi , Y. M. Terry-McElrath, Patrick M. O'Malley, Lloyd D Johnston . 2013. School wellness policies and foods and beverages available in schools . American Journal of Preventive Medicine 45 (2) :143-149.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Wong, Kristin M, Trinh, Sarah . 2012. The Role of the Family across the Lifespan . The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Couples and Family Relationships :49-65.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Bauldry, Shawn , Shanahan, Michael J, Boardman, Jason D, Macmillan, Ross . 2012. A life course model of self-rated health through adolescence and young adulthood . Social science & medicine 75 (7) :1311-1320.   
• Miles S Kimball , Benjamin, Daniel J., Heffetz, Ori , Rees-Jones, Alex . 2012. What Do You Think Would Make You Happier? What Do You Think You Would Choose? . American Economic Review 102 (5) :2083-2110.   
• Kira S Birditt , Toni C Antonucci . 2012. Enacted support during stressful life events in middle and older adulthood: An examination of the interpersonal context. . Psychology and aging 27 (3) :728-741.   
• Kira S Birditt , Hope, Susannah , Brown, Edna E, Orbuch, Terri L . 2012. Developmental Trajectories of Marital Happiness Over 16 Years . Research in Human Development 9 (2) :126-144.   
• Kira S Birditt , Wardjiman, E . 2012. Intergenerational relationships and aging . The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of adulthood and aging
• John E Schulenberg , Patrick M O'Malley , Jerald G Bachman , Dever, B V, Dworkin, J B . 2012. Predicting risk-taking with and without substance use: the effects of parental monitoring, school bonding, and sports participation. . Prevention Science 113 (6) :605-615.   
• Kira S Birditt , Fingerman, K L, Cheng, Y P, Tighe, L , Zarit, S . 2012. Parent-child relationships in young adulthood . Early adulthood in a family context
• Kira S Birditt , Fingerman, Karen L, Cheng, Yen-Pi , Wesselmann, Eric D, Zarit, Steven , Furstenberg, Frank . 2012. Helicopter Parents and Landing Pad Kids: Intense Parental Support of Grown Children . Journal of Marriage and the Family 74 (4) :880-896.   
• Xu, Hongwei, Luke, Nancy , Mberu, Blessing U, Goldberg, Rachel E . 2012. Migration Experience and Premarital Sexual Initiation in Urban Kenya: An Event History Analysis . Studies in family planning 43 (2) :115-126.   
• Megan E Patrick , John E Schulenberg , Jager, Justin . 2012. Social role patterning in early adulthood in the USA: adolescent predictors and concurrent wellbeing across four distince configurations . Longitudinal and Life Course studies 3 (2) :190-210.   
• Katherine A McGonagle , Schoeni, Bob, Vicki A Freedman . 2012. The Panel Study of Income Dynamics: overview, recent innovations, and potential for life course research . Longitudinal and Life course Studies 3 :268.   
• Paula Fomby , Mollborn, Stefanie , Dennis, Jeff A . 2012. Extended household transitions, race/ethnicity, and early childhood cognitive outcomes . Social science research 41 (5) :1152-1165.   
• Megan E Patrick , Neighbors, C , Lee, Christine M . 2012. A Hierarchy of 21st Birthday Drinking Norms . Journal of college student development 53 (4) :581-585.   
• Megan E Patrick , Schoeni, Bob, John E Schulenberg , Wightman, P . 2012. Socioeconomic status and substance use among young adults: a comparison across constructs and drugs . Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs 73 (5) :772-782.   
• John E Schulenberg , Schoon, Ingrid . 2012. The transition to adulthood across time and space: overview of Special section . Longitudinal and Life Course studies 3 (2) :164-172.   
• Natalie Colabianchi , Taverno Ross, S E, Dowda, M , Saunders, R , Pate, R R . 2012. After-school setting, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in 5th grade boys and girls . Health & place 18 (5) :951-955.   
• Yvonne M Terry-McElrath , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston . 2012. Factors Affecting Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Availability in Competitive Venues of US Secondary Schools . Journal of School Health 82 (1) :44-55.   
• Caldwell,Cleopatra Howard, Toni C Antonucci , Williams, Terrinieka T, Mance, GiShawn . 2012. The Role of Prenatal Stress and Maternal Emotional Support on the Postpartum Depressive Symptoms of African American Adolescent Fathers . Journal of Black Psychology 38 (4) :455-470.   
• Jennifer L Maggs , Lloyd D Johnston , Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , Wray-Lake, L . 2012. Associations Between Community Attachments and Adolescent Substance Use in Nationally Representative Samples . The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 32 (5) :325-331.   
• Elizabeth T. Gershoff, Jennifer E. Lansford, Holly R. Sexton, Pamela Davis-Kean , Arnold J. Sameroff . 2012. Longitudinal Links Between Spanking and Children’s Externalizing Behaviors in a National Sample of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American Families . Child development 83 (3) :838-843.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kira S Birditt , Sherman, Carey, Trinh, Sarah . 2011. Stability and change in the intergenerational family: a convoy approach . Ageing & Society 31 (7) :1084-1106.   
• Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , Freedman-Doan, Peter C., Trzesniewski, Kali H, Donnellan, M B . 2011. Adolescent Self-esteem: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Age . Self and Identity 10 (4) :445-473.   
• David R Weir , Birnie, K , Cooper, R , Martin, R M, Kuh, D , Sayer, A A, Alvarado, B E, Bayer, A , Christensen, K , Cho, S , Cooper, C , Corley, J , Craig, L , Deary, I J, Demakakos, P , Ebrahim, S , Gallacher, J , Gow, A J, Gunnell, D , Haas, S , Hemmingsson, T , Inskip, H , Jang, S , Noronha, K , Osler, M , Palloni, A , Rasmussen, F , Santos-Eggimann, B , Spagnoli, J , Starr, J , Steptoe, A , Syddall, H , Tynelius, P , Whalley, L J, Zunzunegui, M V, Ben-Shlomo, Y , Hardy, R . 2011. Childhood socioeconomic position and objectively measured physical capability levels in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis . PLoS ONE 6 :e15564.   
• Rachel Carter , Caldwell,Cleopatra Howard, Toni C Antonucci , Matusko, N . 2011. Ethnicity, Perceived Pubertal Timing, Externalizing Behaviors, and Depressive Symptoms Among Black Adolescent Girls . Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40 (10) :1394-1406.   
• Paula Fomby , Chase-Lansdale, P Lindsay, Cherlin, Andrew J, Guttmannova, Katarina , Ribar, David C, Coley, Rebekah Levine . 2011. Long-term implications of welfare reform for the development of adolescents and young adults . Children and Youth Services Review 33 (5) :678-688.   
• Mary Beth Ofstedal , Wray, Linda, Chiu, C J . 2011. Diabetes-related change in physical disability from midlife to older adulthood: evidence from 1996-2003 Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan . Diabetes research and clinical practice 91 (3) :413-423.   
• Philippa J Clarke , James S House , Lantz, Paula M., Marshall, Victor . 2011. The Social Structuring of Mental Health over the Adult Life Course: Advancing Theory in the Sociology of Aging . Social Forces 89 (4) :1287-1313.   
• Jacqui Smith , Toni C Antonucci , Fingerman, Karen L, Berg, C A . 2011. Handbook of lifespan development .
• Roderick J Little , James M Lepkowski , Ismail, Amid I, Ondersma, Steven , Willem Jedele, Jenefer M . 2011. Evaluation of a brief tailored motivational intervention to prevent early childhood caries . Community dentistry and oral epidemiology 39 (5) :433-448.   
• Daniel P Keating . 2011. Society and early child developmental health disparities in the nature-and-nurture paradigm . Nature and nurture in early child development
• Daniel P Keating . 2011. Cognitive Development . Encyclopedia of Adolescence
• Natalie Colabianchi , Maslow, Andréa L . 2011. Youth Physical Activity Resource Use and Activity Measured by Accelerometry . American Journal of Health Behavior 35 (2) :219-227.   
• Daniel P Keating , Maslowsky, J , Buvinger, E , Steinberg, L , Cauffman, E . 2011. Cost-Benefit Analysis Mediation of the Relationship Between Sensation Seeking and Risk Behavior. . Pers Individ Dif. 51 (7) :802-806.   
• Sean Esteban McCabe , Brady Thomas West , Cranford, James A, Ross-Durow, Paula , Young, Amy , Teter, Christian J, Boyd, Carol J . 2011. Medical Misuse of Controlled Medications Among Adolescents . Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine 165 (8) :729-735.   
• Megan E Patrick , Jennifer L Maggs , Cooper, M Lynne, Lee, Christine M . 2011. Measurement of Motivations For and Against Sexual Behavior . Assessment 18 (4) :502-516.   
• Megan E Patrick , John E Schulenberg . 2011. How trajectories of reasons for alcohol use relate to trajectories of binge drinking: National panel data spanning late adolescence to early adulthood . Developmental psychology 47 (2) :311-317.   
• Megan E Patrick , John E Schulenberg , Patrick M O'Malley , Jennifer L Maggs , Deborah Denise Kloska , Lloyd D Johnston , Jerald G Bachman . 2011. Age-related changes in reasons for using alcohol and marijuana from ages 18 to 30 in a national sample . Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 25 (2) :330-339.   
• Schoeni, Bob, Tom Buchmueller, Vicki A Freedman . 2011. Socioeconomic Status and Health Over the Life Course and Across Generations: Introduction to a Special Issue and Overview of a Unique Data Resource . The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 13
• Amy Dorothy Corning . 2011. Generational Memory and the Critical Period: Evidence for National and World Events . Public opinion quarterly 76 (1) :1-31.   
• Liberzon, Israel, Christopher Stephen Monk , Lord, Catherine, Weng, S J, Carrasco, M , Swartz, J R, Wiggins, J L, Kurapati, N , Risi, S . 2011. Neural activation to emotional faces in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders . Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines 52 (3) :296-305.   
• Noah J Webster , Wiest, Maja , Schüz, Benjamin , Wurm, Susanne . 2011. Subjective well-being and mortality revisited: Differential effects of cognitive and emotional facets of well-being on mortality . Health Psychology 30 (6) :728-735.   
• Christopher Stephen Monk , Lord, Catherine, Wiggins, J L, Peltier, S J, Ashinoff, S , Weng, S J, Carrasco, M , Welsh, R C . 2011. Using a self-organizing map algorithm to detect age-related changes in functional connectivity during rest in autism spectrum disorders . Brain research 1380 :187-197.   
• Michael R Elliott , Zonfrillo, Mark R, Flannagan, Carol A, Durbin, Dennis R . 2011. Association Between Weight and Risk of Crash-Related Injuries for Children in Child Restraints . Pediatrics 128 (6) :1148-1152.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kira S Birditt , Kristine J Ajrouch . 2011. Convoys of social relations: Past, present, and future . Handbook of lifespan development
• Julie Maslowsky, Daniel P Keating , Christopher Stephen Monk , John E Schulenberg . 2011. Planned versus unplanned risks: Neurocognitive predictors of subtypes of adolescents’ risk behavior . International Journal of Behavioral Development 35 (2) :152-160.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kira S Birditt , Fiori, Katherine L, Jackey, L . 2010. Convoys of social relations: Integrating life-span and life-course perspectives . Handbook of life-span development
• Toni C Antonucci , Jackson, James Sidney . 2010. Life-course perspectives on late life health inequalities . Annual review of gerontology & geriatrics 29
• Roderick J Little , Clark, Noreen M, Shah, Smita , Dodge, Julia A, Thomas, Lara J, Andridge, Rebecca R . 2010. An evaluation of asthma interventions for preteen students.(Report) . Journal of School Health 80 (2) :80-87.   
• Philippa J Clarke , Patrick M O'Malley , John E Schulenberg , Lloyd D Johnston . 2010. Midlife Health and Socioeconomic Consequences of Persistent Overweight Across Early Adulthood: Findings From a National Survey of American Adults (1986-2008) . American Journal of Epidemiology 172 (5) :540-548.   
• Amy Dorothy Corning . 2010. Emigration, Generation, and Collective Memories: The Presence of the Past for Emigrants from the Former Soviet Union . Social psychology quarterly 73 (3) :223-244.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Jackson, James Sidney, Fuller-Iglesias, Heather . 2010. Theoretical perspectives on life span and life course development . Life-course perspectives on late life health inequalities 29
• Frederick J Morrison , Son, Seung-Hee . 2010. The nature and impact of changes in home learning environment on development of language and academic skills in preschool children . Developmental psychology 46 (5) :1103-1118.   
• John E Schulenberg , Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , Jennifer L Maggs , Lloyd D Johnston , Staff, Jeremy, Maslowsky, J . 2010. Substance use changes and social role transitions: Proximal developmental effects on ongoing trajectories from late adolescence through early adulthood . Development and psychopathology 22 (4) :917-932.   
• Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , Goodkind, Sara , Shook, Jeffrey J . 2009. Are girls really becoming more delinquent? Testing the gender convergence hypothesis by race and ethnicity, 1976 - 2005 . Children and Youth Services Review 31 (8) :885-895.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Kim, J . 2009. The Black-White difference in age trajectories of functional health over the life course . Social science & medicine 36 (2) :126-132.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Sutin, Angelina R, Costa, Paul T, Eaton, William W . 2009. Personality and career success: Concurrent and longitudinal relations . European Journal of Personality 23 (2) :71-84.   
• Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , Lloyd D Johnston , John E Schulenberg , Vaughn, Michael G . 2009. Race/ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, and smoking among early adolescent girls in the United States . Women and Smoking: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Socioeconomic Influences 104 (Supplement 1) :S42-S49.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Matthews, J S, Ponitz, Claire Cameron . 2009. Early gender differences in self-regulation and academic achievement . Journal of educational psychology 101 (3) :689-704.   
• Matthew VanEseltine , Silver, Eric , Silver, Stacy J . 2009. Tattoo Acquisition: A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Adolescents . Deviant Behavior 30 (6) :511-538.   
• Jerald G Bachman , John E Schulenberg , Messersmith, Emily E . 2008. The optimism of American youth . Young people facing the future : an international survey :163.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Burrage, Marie S, Ponitz, Claire Cameron, McCready, Elizabeth A, Sims, Brian C, Jewkes, Abigail M . 2008. Age- and Schooling-Related Effects on Executive Functions in Young Children: A Natural Experiment . Child Neuropsychology 14 (6) :510-524.   
• Frederick J Morrison , Cameron Ponitz, Claire E, McClelland, Megan M, Jewkes, Abigail M, Connor, Carol McDonald, Farris, Carrie L . 2008. Touch your toes! Developing a direct measure of behavioral regulation in early childhood . Early Childhood Research Quarterly 23 (2) :141-158.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Lin, F R, Ceh, K , Bervinchak, D , Riley, A , Niparko, J K . 2007. Development of a communicative performance scale for pediatric cochlear implantation . Ear and hearing 28 (5) :703-712.   
• Jacqui Smith . 2007. The Allure of Wisdom . Human development 50 (6) :367-370.   
• Jerald G Bachman , Patrick M O'Malley , John E Schulenberg , Lloyd D Johnston , Yamaguchi, Ryoko . 2007. Religiosity and Adolescent Substance Use: The Role of Individual and Contextual Influences . Social problems 54 (2) :308-327.   
• Kristine J Ajrouch , Toni C Antonucci , Blandon, Alysia Y . 2005. Social Networks Among Men and Women: The Effects of Age and Socioeconomic Status . Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60 (6) :S311.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Eaton, W W, Brennan, K . 2005. Mental health disparities across education and sex: a prospective analysis examining how they persist over the life course . The journals of gerontology Series B: Psychological sciences and social sciences 60 (2) :93-98.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kristine J Ajrouch . 2003. The effect of social relations with children on the education-health link in men and women aged 40 and over . Social science & medicine 56 (5) :949.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Eaton, William , Liang, Kung-Yee . 2003. Occupational Stratification Over the Life Course: A Comparison of Occupational Trajectories Across Race and Gender During the 1980s and 1990s . Work and Occupations 30 (4) :440-473.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Breitner, J C. S., Zandi, P P, Khachaturian, A S, Anthony, J C, Mayer, L . 2002. Incidence of AD may decline in the early 90s for men, later for women: The Cache County study . Neurology 58 (2) :209-218.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Hauser, Robert M . 2001. Socioeconomic Status and Health at Midlife: A Comparison of Educational Attainment with Occupation-Based Indicators . Annals of Epidemiology 11 (2) :75-84.   
• Richard Allen Miech , Walrath, Christine , dosReis, Susan , Liao, Qinghong , Holden, E W, De Carolis, Gary , Santiago, Rolando , Leaf, Philip . 2001. Referral Source Differences in Functional Impairment Levels for Children Served in the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and Their Families Program . Journal of Child and Family Studies 10 (3) :385-397.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Vandewater, Elizabeth A., Lansford, Jennifer E . 2000. Adulthood and aging: Social processes and development . Encyclopedia of psychology, Vol. 1. :79-85.   
• William G Axinn , Barber, Jennifer S, Arland Thornton . 1999. Values and beliefs as determinants of outcomes in children’s lives . Transitions to adulthood in a changing economy : no work, no family, no future?
• Toni C Antonucci . 1998. A Career With Meaning . PsycCRITIQUES 43 (9) :610-611.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Neugarten, Dail A . 1998. Child, Aging, and Developmental Psychology - The Meaning of Age: Selected Papers of Bernice L Neugarten . Contemporary psychology 43 (9) :610.   
• William G Axinn , Pearce, Lisa D . 1998. The impact of family religious life on the quality of mother-child relations . American Sociological Review 63 (6): 810-828
• Toni C Antonucci , Kahn, Robert L. . 1990. Convoys over the life course: Attachment, roles, and social support . Psychogerontologie : een inleidend leerboek over ouder worden, persoonlijkheid, zingeving, levensloop en tijd, sociale context, gezondheid en interventie 1. druk, 2. opl :81.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Jackson, James Sidney . 1989. Successful aging and life course reciprocity . Human ageing and later life : multidisciplinary perspectives :83.   
• Robert L. Kahn, Toni C Antonucci . 1981. Convoys of social support : a life-course approach . Aging: social change :338-405.   
• Toni C Antonucci , Kahn, Robert L. . 1980. Convoys over the life course: Attachment, roles and social support . Life-span development and behavior 3
• Toni C Antonucci , J. Beals . 1980. Social support networks during normative transitions in women’s lives .
• Toni C Antonucci . 1978. Attachments across the life-span: A generational perspective . Work, family roles and support systems 3 :37.   
• Toni C Antonucci . 1976. Attachment: A life-span concept . Human Development 19 (3) :135.   
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Harvard study, almost 80 years old, has proved that embracing community helps us live longer, and be happier

Part of the tackling issues of aging series.

A series on how Harvard researchers are tackling the problematic issues of aging.

W hen scientists began tracking the health of 268 Harvard sophomores in 1938 during the Great Depression, they hoped the longitudinal study would reveal clues to leading healthy and happy lives.

They got more than they wanted.

After following the surviving Crimson men for nearly 80 years as part of the Harvard Study of Adult Development , one of the world’s longest studies of adult life, researchers have collected a cornucopia of data on their physical and mental health.

Of the original Harvard cohort recruited as part of the Grant Study, only 19 are still alive, all in their mid-90s. Among the original recruits were eventual President John F. Kennedy and longtime Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. (Women weren’t in the original study because the College was still all male.)

In addition, scientists eventually expanded their research to include the men’s offspring, who now number 1,300 and are in their 50s and 60s, to find out how early-life experiences affect health and aging over time. Some participants went on to become successful businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and others ended up as schizophrenics or alcoholics, but not on inevitable tracks.

“Loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.” Robert Waldinger, psychiatrist, Massachusetts General Hospital

During the intervening decades, the control groups have expanded. In the 1970s, 456 Boston inner-city residents were enlisted as part of the Glueck Study, and 40 of them are still alive. More than a decade ago, researchers began including wives in the Grant and Glueck studies.

Over the years, researchers have studied the participants’ health trajectories and their broader lives, including their triumphs and failures in careers and marriage, and the finding have produced startling lessons, and not only for the researchers.

“The surprising finding is that our relationships and how happy we are in our relationships has a powerful influence on our health,” said Robert Waldinger , director of the study, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School . “Taking care of your body is important, but tending to your relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.”

Close relationships, more than money or fame, are what keep people happy throughout their lives, the study revealed. Those ties protect people from life’s discontents, help to delay mental and physical decline, and are better predictors of long and happy lives than social class, IQ, or even genes. That finding proved true across the board among both the Harvard men and the inner-city participants.

“The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80,” said Robert Waldinger with his wife Jennifer Stone.

Rose Lincoln/Harvard Staff Photographer

The long-term research has received funding from private foundations, but has been financed largely by grants from the National Institutes of Health, first through the National Institute of Mental Health, and more recently through the National Institute on Aging.

Researchers who have pored through data, including vast medical records and hundreds of in-person interviews and questionnaires, found a strong correlation between men’s flourishing lives and their relationships with family, friends, and community. Several studies found that people’s level of satisfaction with their relationships at age 50 was a better predictor of physical health than their cholesterol levels were.

“When we gathered together everything we knew about them about at age 50, it wasn’t their middle-age cholesterol levels that predicted how they were going to grow old,” said Waldinger in a popular TED Talk . “It was how satisfied they were in their relationships. The people who were the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80.”

He recorded his TED talk, titled “What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from the Longest Study on Happiness,” in 2015, and it has been viewed 13,000,000 times.

The researchers also found that marital satisfaction has a protective effect on people’s mental health. Part of a study found that people who had happy marriages in their 80s reported that their moods didn’t suffer even on the days when they had more physical pain. Those who had unhappy marriages felt both more emotional and physical pain.

Those who kept warm relationships got to live longer and happier, said Waldinger, and the loners often died earlier. “Loneliness kills,” he said. “It’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism.”

According to the study, those who lived longer and enjoyed sound health avoided smoking and alcohol in excess. Researchers also found that those with strong social support experienced less mental deterioration as they aged.

In part of a recent study , researchers found that women who felt securely attached to their partners were less depressed and more happy in their relationships two-and-a-half years later, and also had better memory functions than those with frequent marital conflicts.

“When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment. But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.” George Vaillant, psychiatrist

“Good relationships don’t just protect our bodies; they protect our brains,” said Waldinger in his TED talk. “And those good relationships, they don’t have to be smooth all the time. Some of our octogenarian couples could bicker with each other day in and day out, but as long as they felt that they could really count on the other when the going got tough, those arguments didn’t take a toll on their memories.”

Since aging starts at birth, people should start taking care of themselves at every stage of life, the researchers say.

“Aging is a continuous process,” Waldinger said. “You can see how people can start to differ in their health trajectory in their 30s, so that by taking good care of yourself early in life you can set yourself on a better course for aging. The best advice I can give is ‘Take care of your body as though you were going to need it for 100 years,’ because you might.”

The study, like its remaining original subjects, has had a long life, spanning four directors, whose tenures reflected their medical interests and views of the time.

Under the first director, Clark Heath, who stayed from 1938 until 1954, the study mirrored the era’s dominant view of genetics and biological determinism. Early researchers believed that physical constitution, intellectual ability, and personality traits determined adult development. They made detailed anthropometric measurements of skulls, brow bridges, and moles, wrote in-depth notes on the functioning of major organs, examined brain activity through electroencephalograms, and even analyzed the men’s handwriting.

Now, researchers draw men’s blood for DNA testing and put them into MRI scanners to examine organs and tissues in their bodies, procedures that would have sounded like science fiction back in 1938. In that sense, the study itself represents a history of the changes that life brings.

6 factors predicting healthy aging According to George Vaillant’s book “Aging Well,” from observations of Harvard men in long-term aging study

Physically active.

Absence of alcohol abuse and smoking

Having mature mechanisms to cope with life’s ups and downs

Healthy weight

Stable marriage.

Psychiatrist George Vaillant, who joined the team as a researcher in 1966, led the study from 1972 until 2004. Trained as a psychoanalyst, Vaillant emphasized the role of relationships, and came to recognize the crucial role they played in people living long and pleasant lives.

In a book called “Aging Well,” Vaillant wrote that six factors predicted healthy aging for the Harvard men: physical activity, absence of alcohol abuse and smoking, having mature mechanisms to cope with life’s ups and downs, and enjoying both a healthy weight and a stable marriage. For the inner-city men, education was an additional factor. “The more education the inner city men obtained,” wrote Vaillant, “the more likely they were to stop smoking, eat sensibly, and use alcohol in moderation.”

Vaillant’s research highlighted the role of these protective factors in healthy aging. The more factors the subjects had in place, the better the odds they had for longer, happier lives.

“When the study began, nobody cared about empathy or attachment,” said Vaillant. “But the key to healthy aging is relationships, relationships, relationships.”

“We want to find out how it is that a difficult childhood reaches across decades to break down the body in middle age and later.” Robert Waldinger

The study showed that the role of genetics and long-lived ancestors proved less important to longevity than the level of satisfaction with relationships in midlife, now recognized as a good predictor of healthy aging. The research also debunked the idea that people’s personalities “set like plaster” by age 30 and cannot be changed.

“Those who were clearly train wrecks when they were in their 20s or 25s turned out to be wonderful octogenarians,” he said. “On the other hand, alcoholism and major depression could take people who started life as stars and leave them at the end of their lives as train wrecks.”

The study’s fourth director, Waldinger has expanded research to the wives and children of the original men. That is the second-generation study, and Waldinger hopes to expand it into the third and fourth generations. “It will probably never be replicated,” he said of the lengthy research, adding that there is yet more to learn.

“We’re trying to see how people manage stress, whether their bodies are in a sort of chronic ‘fight or flight’ mode,” Waldinger said. “We want to find out how it is that a difficult childhood reaches across decades to break down the body in middle age and later.”

Lara Tang ’18, a human and evolutionary biology concentrator who recently joined the team as a research assistant, relishes the opportunity to help find some of those answers. She joined the effort after coming across Waldinger’s TED talk in one of her classes.

“That motivated me to do more research on adult development,” said Tang. “I want to see how childhood experiences affect developments of physical health, mental health, and happiness later in life.”

Asked what lessons he has learned from the study, Waldinger, who is a Zen priest, said he practices meditation daily and invests time and energy in his relationships, more than before.

“It’s easy to get isolated, to get caught up in work and not remembering, ‘Oh, I haven’t seen these friends in a long time,’ ” Waldinger said. “So I try to pay more attention to my relationships than I used to.”

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Society for the Study of Human Development

Research in Human Development 

Editors: Jennifer Brown Urban and Miriam Linver

Research in Human Development (RHD)  is the flagship journal of SSHD.  RHD is a lifespan, interdisciplinary, and integrative journal which focuses on thematic special issues.

To view the most recent table of contents, click here . To access exclusive content of RHD,  first Log In and then go to Members Access . If you are not a member, you will need to Join or Renew your membership. Research in Human Development is published by Taylor & Francis

Editorial Board

Anthony Ong, Cornell University Rachel Razza, Syracuse University Kim Ferguson, Sarah Lawrence College Zoe Klemfus, University of California, Irvine Laura Wray Lake, University of California, Los Angeles Rochelle Dalla, University of Nebraska - Lincoln Alison Sidle Fuligni, California State University, Los Angeles Valentina Lucia La Rosa, University of Catania

Editorial Scope

Research in Human Development seeks to promote an inclusive, integrative, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of human development across the entire lifespan. The integration of the person and their context across the life course is the focus of the scholarship promoted by this journal. Specifically, an interdisciplinary focus that incorporates biological, psychological, sociological, anthropological, economic, and historical perspectives will be stressed in the pages of RHD. To encompass such breadth, the publication will incorporate a variety of research methods, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. The journal seeks to promote scholarship on the social, cultural, and national (global) contexts of human development across diverse ethnic and racial groups employing multiple methods. Finally, RHD seeks to promote scholarship that informs public policies and social programs that promote positive and healthy human development for all people. In short, by providing a forum for research that is lifespan-oriented, interdisciplinary, contextual, and methodologically diverse, the journal will continue to significantly advance the field of human development.

The audience consists of researchers, educators, policy makers, and practitioners in all fields which address human development.

Special Issue Proposals

RHD publishes thematic issues devoted to the integration of theory and research across the lifespan representing multiple disciplines and methodologies. This journal uses Routledge’s Submission Portal to manage the submission process. You will need an ORCiD ID to log in to the submission portal. If you do not already have an ORCiD account, creating one takes 30 seconds and will allow you to login to a variety of other publishers’ systems as well as uniquely identifying your contribution to the scholarly record.

We are particularly interested in proposals for special issues that provide cutting-edge perspectives on pressing topics such as gun violence, Autism, whole reading vs phonics, bullying, abortion rights and access, and global implications of climate change. We are also interested in special issues that focus on development in historically marginalized populations (e.g., racial/ethnic, LGBTQIA+, (dis)ability) and use less conventional analytical techniques (e.g., community-based participatory approaches, culturally responsive methods, person-centered analyses).

If you have an idea for a proposal, we recommend reaching out to the co-editors to talk through the feasibility and fit with RHD. Once you are ready to submit your proposal (no more than 5 single-spaced pages, please), it should describe:

• The theme for the issue and its significance for the field;
• How the collected papers meet the interdisciplinary, multi method, and lifespan goals of the journal;
• Biographical information of the editors, especially highlighting prior editorial experience;
• The titles and authors of each potential paper, as well as a paragraph describing the scope/questions/data source/analytic strategies of each paper;
• How the papers come together in important ways, as a collection, to inform the theme;
• List of proposed contributors and their titles and affiliations; and
• References, as appropriate

Most issues have 5 papers of about 25 pages each (not counting the title and abstract pages, but including everything else). The organization may vary by project. For example: a very brief introduction of a few pages, plus 5 empirical papers; or, a brief introduction, plus 1 theoretical/conceptual/literature-based manuscript and 4 empirical papers; or, a very brief introduction, plus 4 empirical pieces and a discussion essay. These proposals will be reviewed by the editors in consultation with the Editorial Board. Once a proposal has been reviewed and accepted, the manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement that they have not been published elsewhere and that the papers have not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material from other sources and are required to sign an agreement for the transfer of copyright to the publisher. All accepted manuscripts, artwork, and photographs become the property of the publisher.

If you have a Special Issue idea or proposal, please send an email to Drs. Urban ( [email protected] )   and Linver ( [email protected] ).

Open Access

You have the option to publish open access in this journal via our Open Select publishing program. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership and impact of your research. Articles published Open Select with Taylor & Francis typically receive 95% more citations* and over 7 times as many downloads** compared to those that are not published Open Select.

Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access. Visit our Author Services website to find out more about open access policies and how you can comply with these.

You will be asked to pay an article publishing charge (APC) to make your article open access and this cost can often be covered by your institution or funder. Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.

Please visit our Author Services website if you would like more information about our Open Select Program.

*Citations received up to 9th June 2021 for articles published in 2016-2020 in journals listed in Web of Science®. Data obtained on 9th June 2021, from Digital Science's Dimensions platform, available at https://app.dimensions.ai **Usage in 2018-2020 for articles published in 2016-2020.

Peer Review and Ethics

Taylor & Francis is committed to peer-review integrity and upholding the highest standards of review. Once your special issue proposal has been assessed for suitability by the editors, the guest editor(s) will be responsible for managing single blind peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees. If any of the issue authors have shared earlier versions of their manuscript on a preprint server, please be aware that anonymity cannot be guaranteed. Further information on our preprints policy and citation requirements can be found on our Preprints Author Services page which also contains our guidance on publishing ethics and more information about what to expect during peer review.

Research in Developmental Psychology

What you’ll learn to do: examine how to do research in lifespan development.

How do we know what changes and stays the same (and when and why) in lifespan development? We rely on research that utilizes the scientific method so that we can have confidence in the findings. How data are collected may vary by age group and by the type of information sought. The developmental design (for example, following individuals as they age over time or comparing individuals of different ages at one point in time) will affect the data and the conclusions that can be drawn from them about actual age changes. What do you think are the particular challenges or issues in conducting developmental research, such as with infants and children? Read on to learn more.

Learning outcomes

• Explain how the scientific method is used in researching development
• Compare various types and objectives of developmental research
• Describe methods for collecting research data (including observation, survey, case study, content analysis, and secondary content analysis)
• Explain correlational research
• Describe the value of experimental research
• Compare the advantages and disadvantages of developmental research designs (cross-sectional, longitudinal, and sequential)
• Describe challenges associated with conducting research in lifespan development

Research in Lifespan Development

How do we know what we know.

An important part of learning any science is having a basic knowledge of the techniques used in gathering information. The hallmark of scientific investigation is that of following a set of procedures designed to keep questioning or skepticism alive while describing, explaining, or testing any phenomenon. Not long ago a friend said to me that he did not trust academicians or researchers because they always seem to change their story. That, however, is exactly what science is all about; it involves continuously renewing our understanding of the subjects in question and an ongoing investigation of how and why events occur. Science is a vehicle for going on a never-ending journey. In the area of development, we have seen changes in recommendations for nutrition, in explanations of psychological states as people age, and in parenting advice. So think of learning about human development as a lifelong endeavor.

Personal Knowledge

How do we know what we know? Take a moment to write down two things that you know about childhood. Okay. Now, how do you know? Chances are you know these things based on your own history (experiential reality), what others have told you, or cultural ideas (agreement reality) (Seccombe and Warner, 2004). There are several problems with personal inquiry or drawing conclusions based on our personal experiences.

Our assumptions very often guide our perceptions, consequently, when we believe something, we tend to see it even if it is not there. Have you heard the saying, “seeing is believing”? Well, the truth is just the opposite: believing is seeing. This problem may just be a result of cognitive ‘blinders’ or it may be part of a more conscious attempt to support our own views. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for evidence that we are right and in so doing, we ignore contradictory evidence.

Philosopher Karl Popper suggested that the distinction between that which is scientific and that which is unscientific is that science is falsifiable; scientific inquiry involves attempts to reject or refute a theory or set of assumptions (Thornton, 2005). A theory that cannot be falsified is not scientific. And much of what we do in personal inquiry involves drawing conclusions based on what we have personally experienced or validating our own experience by discussing what we think is true with others who share the same views.

Science offers a more systematic way to make comparisons and guard against bias. One technique used to avoid sampling bias is to select participants for a study in a random way. This means using a technique to ensure that all members have an equal chance of being selected. Simple random sampling may involve using a set of random numbers as a guide in determining who is to be selected. For example, if we have a list of 400 people and wish to randomly select a smaller group or sample to be studied, we use a list of random numbers and select the case that corresponds with that number (Case 39, 3, 217, etc.). This is preferable to asking only those individuals with whom we are familiar to participate in a study; if we conveniently chose only people we know, we know nothing about those who had no opportunity to be selected. There are many more elaborate techniques that can be used to obtain samples that represent the composition of the population we are studying. But even though a randomly selected representative sample is preferable, it is not always used because of costs and other limitations. As a consumer of research, however, you should know how the sample was obtained and keep this in mind when interpreting results. It is possible that what was found was limited to that sample or similar individuals and not generalizable to everyone else.

Scientific Methods

The particular method used to conduct research may vary by discipline and since lifespan development is multidisciplinary, more than one method may be used to study human development. One method of scientific investigation involves the following steps:

• Determining a research question
• Reviewing previous studies addressing the topic in question (known as a literature review)
• Determining a method of gathering information
• Conducting the study
• Interpreting the results
• Drawing conclusions; stating limitations of the study and suggestions for future research
• Making the findings available to others (both to share information and to have the work scrutinized by others)

The findings of these scientific studies can then be used by others as they explore the area of interest. Through this process, a literature or knowledge base is established. This model of scientific investigation presents research as a linear process guided by a specific research question. And it typically involves quantitative research , which relies on numerical data or using statistics to understand and report what has been studied.

Another model of research, referred to as qualitative research, may involve steps such as these:

• Begin with a broad area of interest and a research question
• Gain entrance into a group to be researched
• Gather field notes about the setting, the people, the structure, the activities, or other areas of interest
• Ask open-ended, broad “grand tour” types of questions when interviewing subjects
• Modify research questions as the study continues
• Note patterns or consistencies
• Explore new areas deemed important by the people being observed
• Report findings

In this type of research, theoretical ideas are “grounded” in the experiences of the participants. The researcher is the student and the people in the setting are the teachers as they inform the researcher of their world (Glazer & Strauss, 1967). Researchers should be aware of their own biases and assumptions, acknowledge them, and bracket them in efforts to keep them from limiting accuracy in reporting. Sometimes qualitative studies are used initially to explore a topic and more quantitative studies are used to test or explain what was first described.

A good way to become more familiar with these scientific research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, is to look at journal articles, which are written in sections that follow these steps in the scientific process. Most psychological articles and many papers in the social sciences follow the writing guidelines and format dictated by the  American Psychological Association  (APA). In general, the structure follows: abstract (summary of the article), introduction or literature review, methods explaining how the study was conducted, results of the study, discussion and interpretation of findings, and references.

Link to Learning

Brené Brown is a bestselling author and social work professor at the University of Houston. She conducts grounded theory research by collecting qualitative data from large numbers of participants. In Brené Brown’s TED Talk The Power of Vulnerability , Brown refers to herself as a storyteller-researcher as she explains her research process and summarizes her results.

Research Methods and Objectives

The main categories of psychological research are descriptive, correlational, and experimental research. Research studies that do not test specific relationships between variables are called  descriptive, or qualitative, studies . These studies are used to describe general or specific behaviors and attributes that are observed and measured. In the early stages of research, it might be difficult to form a hypothesis, especially when there is not any existing literature in the area. In these situations designing an experiment would be premature, as the question of interest is not yet clearly defined as a hypothesis. Often a researcher will begin with a non-experimental approach, such as a descriptive study, to gather more information about the topic before designing an experiment or correlational study to address a specific hypothesis. Some examples of descriptive questions include:

• “How much time do parents spend with their children?”
• “How many times per week do couples have intercourse?”
• “When is marital satisfaction greatest?”

The main types of descriptive studies include observation, case studies, surveys, and content analysis (which we’ll examine further in the module). Descriptive research is distinct from  correlational research , in which psychologists formally test whether a relationship exists between two or more variables.  Experimental research  goes a step further beyond descriptive and correlational research and randomly assigns people to different conditions, using hypothesis testing to make inferences about how these conditions affect behavior. Some experimental research includes explanatory studies, which are efforts to answer the question “why” such as:

• “Why have rates of divorce leveled off?”
• “Why are teen pregnancy rates down?”
• “Why has the average life expectancy increased?”

Evaluation research is designed to assess the effectiveness of policies or programs. For instance, research might be designed to study the effectiveness of safety programs implemented in schools for installing car seats or fitting bicycle helmets. Do children who have been exposed to the safety programs wear their helmets? Do parents use car seats properly? If not, why not?

Research Methods

We have just learned about some of the various models and objectives of research in lifespan development. Now we’ll dig deeper to understand the methods and techniques used to describe, explain, or evaluate behavior.

All types of research methods have unique strengths and weaknesses, and each method may only be appropriate for certain types of research questions. For example, studies that rely primarily on observation produce incredible amounts of information, but the ability to apply this information to the larger population is somewhat limited because of small sample sizes. Survey research, on the other hand, allows researchers to easily collect data from relatively large samples. While this allows for results to be generalized to the larger population more easily, the information that can be collected on any given survey is somewhat limited and subject to problems associated with any type of self-reported data. Some researchers conduct archival research by using existing records. While this can be a fairly inexpensive way to collect data that can provide insight into a number of research questions, researchers using this approach have no control over how or what kind of data was collected.

Types of Descriptive Research

Observation.

Observational studies , also called naturalistic observation, involve watching and recording the actions of participants. This may take place in the natural setting, such as observing children at play in a park, or behind a one-way glass while children are at play in a laboratory playroom. The researcher may follow a checklist and record the frequency and duration of events (perhaps how many conflicts occur among 2-year-olds) or may observe and record as much as possible about an event as a participant (such as attending an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and recording the slogans on the walls, the structure of the meeting, the expressions commonly used, etc.). The researcher may be a participant or a non-participant. What would be the strengths of being a participant? What would be the weaknesses?

In general, observational studies have the strength of allowing the researcher to see how people behave rather than relying on self-report. One weakness of self-report studies is that what people do and what they say they do are often very different. A major weakness of observational studies is that they do not allow the researcher to explain causal relationships. Yet, observational studies are useful and widely used when studying children. It is important to remember that most people tend to change their behavior when they know they are being watched (known as the Hawthorne effect ) and children may not survey well.

Case Studies

Case studies  involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail. Information may be gathered with the use of observation, interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as possible about a person or situation. Case studies are helpful when investigating unusual situations such as brain trauma or children reared in isolation. And they are often used by clinicians who conduct case studies as part of their normal practice when gathering information about a client or patient coming in for treatment. Case studies can be used to explore areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail about situations or conditions. However, the findings from case studies cannot be generalized or applied to larger populations; this is because cases are not randomly selected and no control group is used for comparison. (Read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Dr. Oliver Sacks as a good example of the case study approach.)

Surveys  are familiar to most people because they are so widely used. Surveys enhance accessibility to subjects because they can be conducted in person, over the phone, through the mail, or online. A survey involves asking a standard set of questions to a group of subjects. In a highly structured survey, subjects are forced to choose from a response set such as “strongly disagree, disagree, undecided, agree, strongly agree”; or “0, 1-5, 6-10, etc.” Surveys are commonly used by sociologists, marketing researchers, political scientists, therapists, and others to gather information on many variables in a relatively short period of time. Surveys typically yield surface information on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for an in-depth understanding of human behavior.

Surveys are useful in examining stated values, attitudes, opinions, and reporting on practices. However, they are based on self-report, or what people say they do rather than on observation, and this can limit accuracy. Validity refers to accuracy and reliability refers to consistency in responses to tests and other measures; great care is taken to ensure the validity and reliability of surveys.

Content Analysis

Content analysis  involves looking at media such as old texts, pictures, commercials, lyrics, or other materials to explore patterns or themes in culture. An example of content analysis is the classic history of childhood by Aries (1962) called “Centuries of Childhood” or the analysis of television commercials for sexual or violent content or for ageism. Passages in text or television programs can be randomly selected for analysis as well. Again, one advantage of analyzing work such as this is that the researcher does not have to go through the time and expense of finding respondents, but the researcher cannot know how accurately the media reflects the actions and sentiments of the population.

Secondary content analysis, or archival research, involves analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices, or preferences. There are a number of data sets available to those who wish to conduct this type of research. The researcher conducting secondary analysis does not have to recruit subjects but does need to know the quality of the information collected in the original study. And unfortunately, the researcher is limited to the questions asked and data collected originally.

Correlational and Experimental Research

Correlational research.

When scientists passively observe and measure phenomena it is called correlational research . Here, researchers do not intervene and change behavior, as they do in experiments. In correlational research, the goal is to identify patterns of relationships, but not cause and effect. Importantly, with correlational research, you can examine only two variables at a time, no more and no less.

So, what if you wanted to test whether spending money on others is related to happiness, but you don’t have $20 to give to each participant in order to have them spend it for your experiment? You could use a correlational design—which is exactly what Professor Elizabeth Dunn (2008) at the University of British Columbia did when she conducted research on spending and happiness. She asked people how much of their income they spent on others or donated to charity, and later she asked them how happy they were. Do you think these two variables were related? Yes, they were! The more money people reported spending on others, the happier they were.

Understanding Correlation

With a positive correlation , the two variables go up or down together. In a scatterplot, the dots form a pattern that extends from the bottom left to the upper right (just as they do in Figure 1). The r value for a positive correlation is indicated by a positive number (although, the positive sign is usually omitted). Here, the r value is .81. For the example above, the direction of the association is positive. This means that people who perceived the past month as being good reported feeling happier, whereas people who perceived the month as being bad reported feeling less happy.

A negative correlation is one in which the two variables move in opposite directions. That is, as one variable goes up, the other goes down. Figure 2 shows the association between the average height of males in a country (y-axis) and the pathogen prevalence (or commonness of disease; x-axis) of that country. In this scatterplot, each dot represents a country. Notice how the dots extend from the top left to the bottom right. What does this mean in real-world terms? It means that people are shorter in parts of the world where there is more disease. The r-value for a negative correlation is indicated by a negative number—that is, it has a minus (–) sign in front of it. Here, it is –.83.

Experimental Research

Experiments  are designed to test  hypotheses  (or specific statements about the relationship between  variables ) in a controlled setting in an effort to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes. A variable is anything that changes in value. Concepts are operationalized  or transformed into variables in research which means that the researcher must specify exactly what is going to be measured in the study. For example, if we are interested in studying marital satisfaction, we have to specify what marital satisfaction really means or what we are going to use as an indicator of marital satisfaction. What is something measurable that would indicate some level of marital satisfaction? Would it be the amount of time couples spend together each day? Or eye contact during a discussion about money? Or maybe a subject’s score on a marital satisfaction scale? Each of these is measurable but these may not be equally valid or accurate indicators of marital satisfaction. What do you think? These are the kinds of considerations researchers must make when working through the design.

The experimental method is the only research method that can measure cause and effect relationships between variables. Three conditions must be met in order to establish cause and effect. Experimental designs are useful in meeting these conditions:

• The independent and dependent variables must be related.  In other words, when one is altered, the other changes in response. The independent variable is something altered or introduced by the researcher; sometimes thought of as the treatment or intervention. The dependent variable is the outcome or the factor affected by the introduction of the independent variable; the dependent variable  depends on the independent variable. For example, if we are looking at the impact of exercise on stress levels, the independent variable would be exercise; the dependent variable would be stress.
• The cause must come before the effect.  Experiments measure subjects on the dependent variable before exposing them to the independent variable (establishing a baseline). So we would measure the subjects’ level of stress before introducing exercise and then again after the exercise to see if there has been a change in stress levels. (Observational and survey research does not always allow us to look at the timing of these events which makes understanding causality problematic with these methods.)
• The cause must be isolated.  The researcher must ensure that no outside, perhaps unknown variables, are actually causing the effect we see. The experimental design helps make this possible. In an experiment, we would make sure that our subjects’ diets were held constant throughout the exercise program. Otherwise, the diet might really be creating a change in stress level rather than exercise.

A basic experimental design involves beginning with a sample (or subset of a population) and randomly assigning subjects to one of two groups: the  experimental group or the control group . Ideally, to prevent bias, the participants would be blind to their condition (not aware of which group they are in) and the researchers would also be blind to each participant’s condition (referred to as “ double blind “). The experimental group is the group that is going to be exposed to an independent variable or condition the researcher is introducing as a potential cause of an event. The control group is going to be used for comparison and is going to have the same experience as the experimental group but will not be exposed to the independent variable. This helps address the placebo effect, which is that a group may expect changes to happen just by participating. After exposing the experimental group to the independent variable, the two groups are measured again to see if a change has occurred. If so, we are in a better position to suggest that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable . The basic experimental model looks like this:

The major advantage of the experimental design is that of helping to establish cause and effect relationships. A disadvantage of this design is the difficulty of translating much of what concerns us about human behavior into a laboratory setting.

Developmental Research Designs

Now you know about some tools used to conduct research about human development. Remember,  research methods  are tools that are used to collect information. But it is easy to confuse research methods and research design. Research design is the strategy or blueprint for deciding how to collect and analyze information. Research design dictates which methods are used and how. Developmental research designs are techniques used particularly in lifespan development research. When we are trying to describe development and change, the research designs become especially important because we are interested in what changes and what stays the same with age. These techniques try to examine how age, cohort, gender, and social class impact development.

Cross-sectional designs

The majority of developmental studies use cross-sectional designs because they are less time-consuming and less expensive than other developmental designs. Cross-sectional research designs are used to examine behavior in participants of different ages who are tested at the same point in time. Let’s suppose that researchers are interested in the relationship between intelligence and aging. They might have a hypothesis (an educated guess, based on theory or observations) that intelligence declines as people get older. The researchers might choose to give a certain intelligence test to individuals who are 20 years old, individuals who are 50 years old, and individuals who are 80 years old at the same time and compare the data from each age group. This research is cross-sectional in design because the researchers plan to examine the intelligence scores of individuals of different ages within the same study at the same time; they are taking a “cross-section” of people at one point in time. Let’s say that the comparisons find that the 80-year-old adults score lower on the intelligence test than the 50-year-old adults, and the 50-year-old adults score lower on the intelligence test than the 20-year-old adults. Based on these data, the researchers might conclude that individuals become less intelligent as they get older. Would that be a valid (accurate) interpretation of the results?

No, that would not be a valid conclusion because the researchers did not follow individuals as they aged from 20 to 50 to 80 years old. One of the primary limitations of cross-sectional research is that the results yield information about age differences  not necessarily changes with age or over time. That is, although the study described above can show that in 2010, the 80-year-olds scored lower on the intelligence test than the 50-year-olds, and the 50-year-olds scored lower on the intelligence test than the 20-year-olds, the data used to come up with this conclusion were collected from different individuals (or groups of individuals). It could be, for instance, that when these 20-year-olds get older (50 and eventually 80), they will still score just as high on the intelligence test as they did at age 20. In a similar way, maybe the 80-year-olds would have scored relatively low on the intelligence test even at ages 50 and 20; the researchers don’t know for certain because they did not follow the same individuals as they got older.

It is also possible that the differences found between the age groups are not due to age, per se, but due to cohort effects. The 80-year-olds in this 2010 research grew up during a particular time and experienced certain events as a group. They were born in 1930 and are part of the Traditional or Silent Generation. The 50-year-olds were born in 1960 and are members of the Baby Boomer cohort. The 20-year-olds were born in 1990 and are part of the Millennial or Gen Y Generation. What kinds of things did each of these cohorts experience that the others did not experience or at least not in the same ways?

You may have come up with many differences between these cohorts’ experiences, such as living through certain wars, political and social movements, economic conditions, advances in technology, changes in health and nutrition standards, etc. There may be particular cohort differences that could especially influence their performance on intelligence tests, such as education level and use of computers. That is, many of those born in 1930 probably did not complete high school; those born in 1960 may have high school degrees, on average, but the majority did not attain college degrees; the young adults are probably current college students. And this is not even considering additional factors such as gender, race, or socioeconomic status. The young adults are used to taking tests on computers, but the members of the other two cohorts did not grow up with computers and may not be as comfortable if the intelligence test is administered on computers. These factors could have been a factor in the research results.

Another disadvantage of cross-sectional research is that it is limited to one time of measurement. Data are collected at one point in time and it’s possible that something could have happened in that year in history that affected all of the participants, although possibly each cohort may have been affected differently. Just think about the mindsets of participants in research that was conducted in the United States right after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Longitudinal research designs

Longitudinal   research involves beginning with a group of people who may be of the same age and background (cohort) and measuring them repeatedly over a long period of time. One of the benefits of this type of research is that people can be followed through time and be compared with themselves when they were younger; therefore changes with age over time are measured. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of longitudinal research? Problems with this type of research include being expensive, taking a long time, and subjects dropping out over time. Think about the film, 63 Up , part of the Up Series mentioned earlier, which is an example of following individuals over time. In the videos, filmed every seven years, you see how people change physically, emotionally, and socially through time; and some remain the same in certain ways, too. But many of the participants really disliked being part of the project and repeatedly threatened to quit; one disappeared for several years; another died before her 63rd year. Would you want to be interviewed every seven years? Would you want to have it made public for all to watch?   

Longitudinal research designs are used to examine behavior in the same individuals over time. For instance, with our example of studying intelligence and aging, a researcher might conduct a longitudinal study to examine whether 20-year-olds become less intelligent with age over time. To this end, a researcher might give an intelligence test to individuals when they are 20 years old, again when they are 50 years old, and then again when they are 80 years old. This study is longitudinal in nature because the researcher plans to study the same individuals as they age. Based on these data, the pattern of intelligence and age might look different than from the cross-sectional research; it might be found that participants’ intelligence scores are higher at age 50 than at age 20 and then remain stable or decline a little by age 80. How can that be when cross-sectional research revealed declines in intelligence with age?

Since longitudinal research happens over a period of time (which could be short term, as in months, but is often longer, as in years), there is a risk of attrition. Attrition occurs when participants fail to complete all portions of a study. Participants may move, change their phone numbers, die, or simply become disinterested in participating over time. Researchers should account for the possibility of attrition by enrolling a larger sample into their study initially, as some participants will likely drop out over time. There is also something known as  selective attrition— this means that certain groups of individuals may tend to drop out. It is often the least healthy, least educated, and lower socioeconomic participants who tend to drop out over time. That means that the remaining participants may no longer be representative of the whole population, as they are, in general, healthier, better educated, and have more money. This could be a factor in why our hypothetical research found a more optimistic picture of intelligence and aging as the years went by. What can researchers do about selective attrition? At each time of testing, they could randomly recruit more participants from the same cohort as the original members, to replace those who have dropped out.

The results from longitudinal studies may also be impacted by repeated assessments. Consider how well you would do on a math test if you were given the exact same exam every day for a week. Your performance would likely improve over time, not necessarily because you developed better math abilities, but because you were continuously practicing the same math problems. This phenomenon is known as a practice effect. Practice effects occur when participants become better at a task over time because they have done it again and again (not due to natural psychological development). So our participants may have become familiar with the intelligence test each time (and with the computerized testing administration). Another limitation of longitudinal research is that the data are limited to only one cohort.

Sequential research designs

Sequential research designs include elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs. Similar to longitudinal designs, sequential research features participants who are followed over time; similar to cross-sectional designs, sequential research includes participants of different ages. This research design is also distinct from those that have been discussed previously in that individuals of different ages are enrolled into a study at various points in time to examine age-related changes, development within the same individuals as they age, and to account for the possibility of cohort and/or time of measurement effects. In 1965, K. Warner Schaie described particular sequential designs: cross-sequential, cohort sequential, and time-sequential. The differences between them depended on which variables were focused on for analyses of the data (data could be viewed in terms of multiple cross-sectional designs or multiple longitudinal designs or multiple cohort designs). Ideally, by comparing results from the different types of analyses, the effects of age, cohort, and time in history could be separated out.

Challenges Conducting Developmental Research

The previous sections describe research tools to assess development across the lifespan, as well as the ways that research designs can be used to track age-related changes and development over time. Before you begin conducting developmental research, however, you must also be aware that testing individuals of certain ages (such as infants and children) or making comparisons across ages (such as children compared to teens) comes with its own unique set of challenges. In the final section of this module, let’s look at some of the main issues that are encountered when conducting developmental research, namely ethical concerns, recruitment issues, and participant attrition.

Ethical Concerns

You may already know that Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) must review and approve all research projects that are conducted at universities, hospitals, and other institutions (each broad discipline or field, such as psychology or social work, often has its own code of ethics that must also be followed, regardless of institutional affiliation). An IRB is typically a panel of experts who read and evaluate proposals for research. IRB members want to ensure that the proposed research will be carried out ethically and that the potential benefits of the research outweigh the risks and potential harm (psychological as well as physical harm) for participants.

What you may not know though, is that the IRB considers some groups of participants to be more vulnerable or at-risk than others. Whereas university students are generally not viewed as vulnerable or at-risk, infants and young children commonly fall into this category. What makes infants and young children more vulnerable during research than young adults? One reason infants and young children are perceived as being at increased risk is due to their limited cognitive capabilities, which makes them unable to state their willingness to participate in research or tell researchers when they would like to drop out of a study. For these reasons, infants and young children require special accommodations as they participate in the research process. Similar issues and accommodations would apply to adults who are deemed to be of limited cognitive capabilities.

When thinking about special accommodations in developmental research, consider the informed consent process. If you have ever participated in scientific research, you may know through your own experience that adults commonly sign an informed consent statement (a contract stating that they agree to participate in research) after learning about a study. As part of this process, participants are informed of the procedures to be used in the research, along with any expected risks or benefits. Infants and young children cannot verbally indicate their willingness to participate, much less understand the balance of potential risks and benefits. As such, researchers are oftentimes required to obtain written informed consent from the parent or legal guardian of the child participant, an adult who is almost always present as the study is conducted. In fact, children are not asked to indicate whether they would like to be involved in a study at all (a process known as assent) until they are approximately seven years old. Because infants and young children cannot easily indicate if they would like to discontinue their participation in a study, researchers must be sensitive to changes in the state of the participant (determining whether a child is too tired or upset to continue) as well as to parent desires (in some cases, parents might want to discontinue their involvement in the research). As in adult studies, researchers must always strive to protect the rights and well-being of the minor participants and their parents when conducting developmental research.

Recruitment

An additional challenge in developmental science is participant recruitment. Recruiting university students to participate in adult studies is typically easy.  Unfortunately, young children cannot be recruited in this way. Given these limitations, how do researchers go about finding infants and young children to be in their studies?

The answer to this question varies along multiple dimensions. Researchers must consider the number of participants they need and the financial resources available to them, among other things. Location may also be an important consideration. Researchers who need large numbers of infants and children may attempt to recruit them by obtaining infant birth records from the state, county, or province in which they reside. Researchers can choose to pay a recruitment agency to contact and recruit families for them.  More economical recruitment options include posting advertisements and fliers in locations frequented by families, such as mommy-and-me classes, local malls, and preschools or daycare centers. Researchers can also utilize online social media outlets like Facebook, which allows users to post recruitment advertisements for a small fee. Of course, each of these different recruitment techniques requires IRB approval. And if children are recruited and/or tested in school settings, permission would need to be obtained ahead of time from teachers, schools, and school districts (as well as informed consent from parents or guardians).

And what about the recruitment of adults? While it is easy to recruit young college students to participate in research, some would argue that it is too easy and that college students are samples of convenience. They are not randomly selected from the wider population, and they may not represent all young adults in our society (this was particularly true in the past with certain cohorts, as college students tended to be mainly white males of high socioeconomic status). In fact, in the early research on aging, this type of convenience sample was compared with another type of convenience sample—young college students tended to be compared with residents of nursing homes! Fortunately, it didn’t take long for researchers to realize that older adults in nursing homes are not representative of the older population; they tend to be the oldest and sickest (physically and/or psychologically). Those initial studies probably painted an overly negative view of aging, as young adults in college were being compared to older adults who were not healthy, had not been in school nor taken tests in many decades, and probably did not graduate high school, let alone college. As we can see, recruitment and random sampling can be significant issues in research with adults, as well as infants and children. For instance, how and where would you recruit middle-aged adults to participate in your research?

Another important consideration when conducting research with infants and young children is attrition . Although attrition is quite common in longitudinal research in particular (see the previous section on longitudinal designs for an example of high attrition rates and selective attrition in lifespan developmental research), it is also problematic in developmental science more generally, as studies with infants and young children tend to have higher attrition rates than studies with adults.  Infants and young children are more likely to tire easily, become fussy, and lose interest in the study procedures than are adults. For these reasons, research studies should be designed to be as short as possible – it is likely better to break up a large study into multiple short sessions rather than cram all of the tasks into one long visit to the lab. Researchers should also allow time for breaks in their study protocols so that infants can rest or have snacks as needed. Happy, comfortable participants provide the best data.

Conclusions

Lifespan development is a fascinating field of study – but care must be taken to ensure that researchers use appropriate methods to examine human behavior, use the correct experimental design to answer their questions, and be aware of the special challenges that are part-and-parcel of developmental research. After reading this module, you should have a solid understanding of these various issues and be ready to think more critically about research questions that interest you. For example, what types of questions do you have about lifespan development? What types of research would you like to conduct? Many interesting questions remain to be examined by future generations of developmental scientists – maybe you will make one of the next big discoveries!

Lifespan development is the scientific study of how and why people change or remain the same over time. As we are beginning to see, lifespan development involves multiple domains and many ages and stages that are important in and of themselves, but that are also interdependent and dynamic and need to be viewed holistically. There are many influences on lifespan development at individual and societal levels (including genetics); cultural, generational, economic, and historical contexts are often significant. And how developmental research is designed and data are collected, analyzed, and interpreted can affect what is discovered about human development across the lifespan.

Lifespan Development Copyright © 2020 by Julie Lazzara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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1.8: Research in Lifespan Development

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Learning Outcomes

• Explain how the scientific method is used in researching development
• Compare various types and objectives of developmental research

How do we know what we know?

An important part of learning any science is having a basic knowledge of the techniques used in gathering information. The hallmark of scientific investigation is that of following a set of procedures designed to keep questioning or skepticism alive while describing, explaining, or testing any phenomenon. Not long ago a friend said to me that he did not trust academicians or researchers because they always seem to change their story. That, however, is exactly what science is all about; it involves continuously renewing our understanding of the subjects in question and an ongoing investigation of how and why events occur. Science is a vehicle for going on a never-ending journey. In the area of development, we have seen changes in recommendations for nutrition, in explanations of psychological states as people age, and in parenting advice. So think of learning about human development as a lifelong endeavor.

Personal Knowledge

How do we know what we know? Take a moment to write down two things that you know about childhood. Okay. Now, how do you know? Chances are you know these things based on your own history (experiential reality), what others have told you, or cultural ideas (agreement reality) (Seccombe and Warner, 2004). There are several problems with personal inquiry, or drawing conclusions based on our personal experiences. Read the following sentence aloud:

Paris in the the spring

Are you sure that is what it said? Read it again:

If you read it differently the second time (adding the second “the”) you just experienced one of the problems with relying on personal inquiry; that is, the tendency to see what we believe. Our assumptions very often guide our perceptions, consequently, when we believe something, we tend to see it even if it is not there. Have you heard the saying, “seeing is believing”? Well, the truth is just the opposite: believing is seeing. This problem may just be a result of cognitive ‘blinders’ or it may be part of a more conscious attempt to support our own views. Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for evidence that we are right and in so doing, we ignore contradictory evidence.

Philosopher Karl Popper suggested that the distinction between that which is scientific and that which is unscientific is that science is falsifiable; scientific inquiry involves attempts to reject or refute a theory or set of assumptions (Thornton, 2005). A theory that cannot be falsified is not scientific. And much of what we do in personal inquiry involves drawing conclusions based on what we have personally experienced or validating our own experience by discussing what we think is true with others who share the same views.

Science offers a more systematic way to make comparisons and guard against bias. One technique used to avoid sampling bias is to select participants for a study in a random way. This means using a technique to ensure that all members have an equal chance of being selected. Simple random sampling may involve using a set of random numbers as a guide in determining who is to be selected. For example, if we have a list of 400 people and wish to randomly select a smaller group or sample to be studied, we use a list of random numbers and select the case that corresponds with that number (Case 39, 3, 217, etc.). This is preferable to asking only those individuals with whom we are familiar to participate in a study; if we conveniently chose only people we know, we know nothing about those who had no opportunity to be selected. There are many more elaborate techniques that can be used to obtain samples that represent the composition of the population we are studying. But even though a randomly selected representative sample is preferable, it is not always used because of costs and other limitations. As a consumer of research, however, you should know how the sample was obtained and keep this in mind when interpreting results. It is possible that what was found was limited to that sample or similar individuals and not generalizable to everyone else.

Scientific Methods

The particular method used to conduct research may vary by discipline and since lifespan development is multidisciplinary, more than one method may be used to study human development. One method of scientific investigation involves the following steps:

• Determining a research question
• Reviewing previous studies addressing the topic in question (known as a literature review)
• Determining a method of gathering information
• Conducting the study
• Interpreting the results
• Drawing conclusions; stating limitations of the study and suggestions for future research
• Making the findings available to others (both to share information and to have the work scrutinized by others)

The findings of these scientific studies can then be used by others as they explore the area of interest. Through this process, a literature or knowledge base is established. This model of scientific investigation presents research as a linear process guided by a specific research question. And it typically involves quantitative research , which relies on numerical data or using statistics to understand and report what has been studied.

Another model of research, referred to as qualitative research, may involve steps such as these:

• Begin with a broad area of interest and a research question
• Gain entrance into a group to be researched
• Gather field notes about the setting, the people, the structure, the activities or other areas of interest
• Ask open-ended, broad “grand tour” types of questions when interviewing subjects
• Modify research questions as the study continues
• Note patterns or consistencies
• Explore new areas deemed important by the people being observed
• Report findings

In this type of research, theoretical ideas are “grounded” in the experiences of the participants. The researcher is the student and the people in the setting are the teachers as they inform the researcher of their world (Glazer & Strauss, 1967). Researchers should be aware of their own biases and assumptions, acknowledge them and bracket them in efforts to keep them from limiting accuracy in reporting. Sometimes qualitative studies are used initially to explore a topic and more quantitative studies are used to test or explain what was first described.

A good way to become more familiar with these scientific research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, is to look at journal articles, which are written in sections that follow these steps in the scientific process. Most psychological articles and many papers in the social sciences follow the writing guidelines and format dictated by the American Psychological Association (APA). In general, the structure follows: abstract (summary of the article), introduction or literature review, methods explaining how the study was conducted, results of the study, discussion and interpretation of findings, and references.

Link to Learning

Brené Brown is a bestselling author and social work professor at the University of Houston. She conducts grounded theory research by collecting qualitative data from large numbers of participants. In Brené Brown’s TED Talk The Power of Vulnerability , Brown refers to herself as a storyteller-researcher as she explains her research process and summarizes her results.

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Research Methods and Objectives

The main categories of psychological research are descriptive, correlational, and experimental research. Research studies that do not test specific relationships between variables are called descriptive, or qualitative, studies . These studies are used to describe general or specific behaviors and attributes that are observed and measured. In the early stages of research it might be difficult to form a hypothesis, especially when there is not any existing literature in the area. In these situations designing an experiment would be premature, as the question of interest is not yet clearly defined as a hypothesis. Often a researcher will begin with a non-experimental approach, such as a descriptive study, to gather more information about the topic before designing an experiment or correlational study to address a specific hypothesis. Some examples of descriptive questions include:

• “How much time do parents spend with children?”
• “How many times per week do couples have intercourse?”
• “When is marital satisfaction greatest?”

The main types of descriptive studies include observation, case studies, surveys, and content analysis (which we’ll examine further in the module). Descriptive research is distinct from correlational research , in which psychologists formally test whether a relationship exists between two or more variables. Experimental research goes a step further beyond descriptive and correlational research and randomly assigns people to different conditions, using hypothesis testing to make inferences about how these conditions affect behavior. Some experimental research includes explanatory studies, which are efforts to answer the question “why” such as:

• “Why have rates of divorce leveled off?”
• “Why are teen pregnancy rates down?”
• “Why has the average life expectancy increased?”

Evaluation research is designed to assess the effectiveness of policies or programs. For instance, research might be designed to study the effectiveness of safety programs implemented in schools for installing car seats or fitting bicycle helmets. Do children who have been exposed to the safety programs wear their helmets? Do parents use car seats properly? If not, why not?

This Crash Course video provides a brief overview of psychological research, which we’ll cover in more detail on the coming pages.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: http://pb.libretexts.org/lsdm/?p=62

You can view the transcript for “Psychological Research: Crash Course Psychology #2” here (opens in new window) .

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[glossary-page] [glossary-term]correlational research:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]research that formally tests whether a relationship exists between two or more variables, however, correlation does not imply causation[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]descriptive studies:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]research focused on describing an occurrence[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]evaluation research:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]research designed to assess the effectiveness of policies or programs[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]experimental research:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]research that involves randomly assigning people to different conditions and using hypothesis testing to make inferences about how these conditions affect behavior; the only method that measures cause and effect between variables[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]explanatory studies:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]research that tries to answer the question “why”[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]qualitative research:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]theoretical ideas are “grounded” in the experiences of the participants, who answer open-ended questions[/glossary-definition]

[glossary-term]quantitative research:[/glossary-term] [glossary-definition]involves numerical data that are quantified using statistics to understand and report what has been studied[/glossary-definition] [/glossary-page]

Contributors and Attributions

• Psyc 200 Lifespan Psychology. Authored by : Laura Overstreet. Located at : http://opencourselibrary.org/econ-201/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
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Impact of the circular economy on human development: evidence from Germany

• Published: 02 May 2024

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• Naila Erum   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0806-2882 1 ,
• Kazi Musa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6686-0199 1 ,
• Saira Tufail 2 ,
• Jamaliah Said   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1912-2529 1 &
• Nor Balkish Zakaria   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1795-9854 1  

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The circular economy has garnered significant consideration due to its ability to contribute to human development. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the individual effects of four categories of circular economy, namely renewable energy consumption (REC), recycle, reuse, and repair, on human development. For this purpose, we collected time series data of Germany from 1990 to 2021 and applied a dynamic ARDL simulation technique to compile empirical results. The findings show that the REC has positive and significant impact on human development. Reuse and Recycle have an inverse and significant influence on human development in Germany. Whereas human development is neutral to repair. Additionally, the control variables, environmental tax and industrial employment also have negative impacts on human development. Based on the findings, the study suggests that policymakers should design suitable, efficient, and targeted measures to foster the role of each category of circular economy for human development in Germany.

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We examined the impact of various categories of circular economy on human development in Germany. The findings indicate that REC is positively and significantly associated with human development. The repair has a neutral impact on human development as a category of circular economy. The study also finds that reuse and recycling negatively and significantly affect human development in Germany.

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The authors are grateful to the Accounting Research Institute (ARI- HICoE), Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, and the Ministry of Higher Education for providing research funding.

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Erum, N., Musa, K., Tufail, S. et al. Impact of the circular economy on human development: evidence from Germany. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04918-6

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04918-6

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