J. Faul - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by J. Faul

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2014

Age-related changes in cognitive abilities are well-documented, and a very important indicator of... more Age-related changes in cognitive abilities are well-documented, and a very important indicator of health, functioning, and decline in later life. However, less is known about the course of cognitive functioning before and after retirement and specifically whether job characteristics during one's time of employment (i.e., higher vs. lower levels of mental work demands) moderate how cognition changes both before and after the transition to retirement. We used data from n = 4,182 (50% women) individuals in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study in the United States, across an 18 year time span (1992-2010). Data were linked to the O'NET occupation codes to gather information about mental job demands to examine whether job characteristics during one's time of employment moderates level and rate of change in cognitive functioning (episodic memory and mental status) both before and after retirement. Results indicated that working in an occupation characterized by higher levels of mental demands was associated with higher levels of cognitive functioning before retirement, and a slower rate of cognitive decline after retirement. We controlled for a number of important covariates, including socioeconomic (education and income), demographic, and health variables. Our discussion focuses on pathways through which job characteristics may be associated with the course of

Statistics in Medicine, 2012

Many statistical methods have been developed that treat within-subject correlation that accompani... more Many statistical methods have been developed that treat within-subject correlation that accompanies the clustering of subjects in longitudinal data settings as a nuisance parameter, with the focus of analytic interest being on mean outcome or profiles over time. However, there is evidence that in certain settings, underlying variability in subject measures may also be important in predicting future health outcomes of interest. Here, we develop a method for combining information from mean profiles and residual variance to assess associations with categorical outcomes in a joint modeling framework. We consider an application to relating word recall measures obtained over time to dementia onset from the Health and Retirement Survey.

Cohort Profile: the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

International Journal of Epidemiology, 2014

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of more ... more The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of more than 37 000 individuals over age 50 in 23 000 households in the USA. The survey, which has been fielded every 2 years since 1992, was established to provide a national resource for data on the changing health and economic circumstances associated with ageing at both individual and population levels. Its multidisciplinary approach is focused on four broad topics-income and wealth; health, cognition and use of healthcare services; work and retirement; and family connections. HRS data are also linked at the individual level to administrative records from Social Security and Medicare, Veteran's Administration, the National Death Index and employer-provided pension plan information. Since 2006, data collection has expanded to include biomarkers and genetics as well as much greater depth in psychology and social context. This blend of economic, health and psychosocial information provides unprecedented potential to study increasingly complex questions about ageing and retirement. The HRS has been a leading force for rapid release of data while simultaneously protecting the confidentiality of respondents. Three categories of data-public, sensitive and restricted-can be accessed through procedures described on the HRS website (hrsonline.isr.umich.edu).

Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2014

Age-related changes in cognitive abilities are well-documented, and a very important indicator of... more Age-related changes in cognitive abilities are well-documented, and a very important indicator of health, functioning, and decline in later life. However, less is known about the course of cognitive functioning before and after retirement and specifically whether job characteristics during one's time of employment (i.e., higher vs. lower levels of mental work demands) moderate how cognition changes both before and after the transition to retirement. We used data from n = 4,182 (50% women) individuals in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study in the United States, across an 18 year time span (1992-2010). Data were linked to the O'NET occupation codes to gather information about mental job demands to examine whether job characteristics during one's time of employment moderates level and rate of change in cognitive functioning (episodic memory and mental status) both before and after retirement. Results indicated that working in an occupation characterized by higher levels of mental demands was associated with higher levels of cognitive functioning before retirement, and a slower rate of cognitive decline after retirement. We controlled for a number of important covariates, including socioeconomic (education and income), demographic, and health variables. Our discussion focuses on pathways through which job characteristics may be associated with the course of

Statistics in Medicine, 2012

Many statistical methods have been developed that treat within-subject correlation that accompani... more Many statistical methods have been developed that treat within-subject correlation that accompanies the clustering of subjects in longitudinal data settings as a nuisance parameter, with the focus of analytic interest being on mean outcome or profiles over time. However, there is evidence that in certain settings, underlying variability in subject measures may also be important in predicting future health outcomes of interest. Here, we develop a method for combining information from mean profiles and residual variance to assess associations with categorical outcomes in a joint modeling framework. We consider an application to relating word recall measures obtained over time to dementia onset from the Health and Retirement Survey.

Cohort Profile: the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

International Journal of Epidemiology, 2014

The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of more ... more The Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of more than 37 000 individuals over age 50 in 23 000 households in the USA. The survey, which has been fielded every 2 years since 1992, was established to provide a national resource for data on the changing health and economic circumstances associated with ageing at both individual and population levels. Its multidisciplinary approach is focused on four broad topics-income and wealth; health, cognition and use of healthcare services; work and retirement; and family connections. HRS data are also linked at the individual level to administrative records from Social Security and Medicare, Veteran's Administration, the National Death Index and employer-provided pension plan information. Since 2006, data collection has expanded to include biomarkers and genetics as well as much greater depth in psychology and social context. This blend of economic, health and psychosocial information provides unprecedented potential to study increasingly complex questions about ageing and retirement. The HRS has been a leading force for rapid release of data while simultaneously protecting the confidentiality of respondents. Three categories of data-public, sensitive and restricted-can be accessed through procedures described on the HRS website (hrsonline.isr.umich.edu).