Linda Waite - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Linda Waite
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Dec 1, 2021
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Dec 1, 2021
Objective: We describe each childhood background measure available in the National Social Life, H... more Objective: We describe each childhood background measure available in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), report preliminary population estimates for each measure by age and gender, and validate the childhood measures by showing that the associations between the NSHAP childhood measures and later-life health outcomes are consistent with previous studies on this topic. Method: Childhood background measures included family life happiness, family structure, parental educational attainment, perceived financial situation, experience of violence, witness of violence, childhood health, and place of birth. We measured self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and social support to assess later-life physical, mental, and social health. Logistic and linear regression models were used for the binary and continuous outcome variables, respectively. Results: Older age groups were more likely than those in younger age groups to report a poor financial situation in childhood, lower parental education, and intact family structure and were less likely to have experienced or witnessed a violent event as a child. Growing up in a happy and well-educated family was associated with better physical, mental, and social health in older ages. Discussion: NSHAP childhood data included a variety of measures assessing the family social environment during childhood, providing a valuable resource for the study of early-life determinants of health and well-being over the life course.
Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, Sep 16, 2016
Innovation in Aging, Nov 1, 2019
Gerontologist, Jun 28, 2017
Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2021
Objectives In this article, we seek to provide assistance to those who might want to use data fro... more Objectives In this article, we seek to provide assistance to those who might want to use data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) Rounds 1–3 to compare those born in different cohorts. We outline 2 theoretical models that underlie the design of NSHAP—the life course model and the birth cohorts model—and review examples of social and political changes that may have differentially affected cohorts of older adults. Then we present 2 ways that NSHAP data might be used to compare cohorts, show examples of analyses of cohort differences in measures in NSHAP, and discuss features of the data that might affect their use for this purpose. Methods Round 3 of the NSHAP added a group of respondents born between 1948 and 1965, the Baby Boom. Together with data from an earlier cohort, interviewed in Rounds 1–3, these data allow analysis of birth cohorts of older adults in the United States. We show examples of some approaches. Results Our age-matched cohort difference...
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2021
Objectives In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of t... more Objectives In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) including the measures of social health. We discuss the literature that links social measures to other outcomes, and we discuss in detail how researchers might construct common measures of social health, including those that reflect social relationships, sexuality, social networks, social resources, and social participation. Methods The NSHAP includes multiple detailed measures of social health, collected in the rounds of data collection carried out in 2005, 2010, and 2015, allowing for study of changes over time and as people age among a nationally representative sample of the community-dwelling population of older adults in the United States. Results We define indicators of social health, describe measures of each in the 2015 round of NSHAP, and show the distribution of the measures by gender and age. We present scales of dimen...
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Dec 1, 2021
Objectives: In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of ... more Objectives: In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) including the measures of social health. We discuss the literature that links social measures to other outcomes, and we discuss in detail how researchers might construct common measures of social health, including those that reflect social relationships, sexuality, social networks, social resources, and social participation. Methods: The NSHAP includes multiple detailed measures of social health, collected in the rounds of data collection carried out in 2005, 2010, and 2015, allowing for study of changes over time and as people age among a nationally representative sample of the community-dwelling population of older adults in the United States. Results: We define indicators of social health, describe measures of each in the 2015 round of NSHAP, and show the distribution of the measures by gender and age. We present scales of dimensions of social health that have been developed elsewhere and describe their properties. Discussion: We briefly discuss the distribution of these measures by age and gender in the 2015 round of NSHAP. Simple analyses of these categorized measures reveal differences by age and gender that deserve closer attention in future investigations using the NSHAP data.
Innovation in Aging
Nonrespondents generally suffer from worse health outcomes than respondents. Are they unwilling o... more Nonrespondents generally suffer from worse health outcomes than respondents. Are they unwilling or unable to respond? Our aim was to address this issue. Data (N=3,130) from 2010-2015 waves of National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP, W2, W3) was used. Four groups of participants were considered based on their response status at W3: alive, incapacitated, deceased, and nonrespondents. Nonrespondents represented cases with no information at W3, beyond their disability and death information. General linear models were used to compare group means at baseline (W2) in terms of mortality risk (Lee index) or cognitive impairment (MOCA), adjusted for demographic variables. Like the deceased or incapacitated groups, the nonrespondent group displayed significantly worse outcomes (Least Squares Means) than the alive group: Lee index alive=5.82, deceased=9.66, incapacitated=8.29 and nonrespondents=7.80; MOCA alive=21.57, deceased=19.79, incapacitated=19.19 and nonrespondents=19.84. Be...
Innovation in Aging, 2020
Has American society become more socially disconnected as Robert Putnam argues in Bowling Alone? ... more Has American society become more socially disconnected as Robert Putnam argues in Bowling Alone? Claude Fischer disputes this contention with evidence that Americans remain about as connected to friends and family as in the past. We address this debate with data for older adults from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Study, collected in 2005, 2010, and 2015. We compare social participation as reported at ages 57 to 68 for members of the Silent Generation cohort vs the Baby Boom cohort. We find that the gender gap in social participation evident for the Silent Generation does not exist at all for younger Baby Boomers, only appearing after age 62. These same cohort differences appear for participation in religious services and organized groups. This suggest that the gendered separation of social roles that characterized older generations is becoming less pronounced, with implications for social support and social isolation.
Innovation in Aging, 2017
This study aims to (1) estimate the trajectory of self-rated health (SRH) among Korean older adul... more This study aims to (1) estimate the trajectory of self-rated health (SRH) among Korean older adults with disabilities, (2) examine its associated factors including sociodemographic, health behaviors, and environmental factors (3) test whether there are differences between aging with disability and disability with aging in the health trajectory and its associated factors. Sample includes 341 older adults with disabilities who participated in the Korea Social Welfare Panel Study (KSWPS), which is a nationally representative data. We used KSWPS data from 2006 to 2015. In order to address the research objectives, we used (1) latent growth curve modeling to estimate the trajectory and its associated factors and (2) multi-group analysis to examine differences between aging with disability and disability with aging. The model fits were solid and major findings are as follows. (1) Korean older adults with disabilities presented increasing SRH trajectory with time. (2) Age, education, income, employment status, number of outpatient visits & physical checkup, amount of alcohol consumption, social support and residential environment were associated with the SRH trajectory. (3) The SRH trajectory and its associated factors differed between aging with disability and disability with aging. The findings suggest that (1) older adults with disabilities tend to increase SRH with time, (2) SRH trajectory is associated with sociodemographic, health behaviors, and environmental factors, and (3) SRH trajectory and its associated factors differed between aging with disability and disability with aging. Based on these findings, we will discuss implications on practice/policy for health of older adults with disabilities.
Innovation in Aging, 2017
Falls are common among older people needing health care and are a serious public health problem i... more Falls are common among older people needing health care and are a serious public health problem in this population. Studies indicate that about 50-66% of people over 65 years who live in the nursing homes fall annually. Often, institutionalized older have fewer opportunities to participate in activities and tasks of daily living, having a higher deleterious effects in the physiological losses from aging, compromising gait and balance. Postural balance training involving new technologies can promote challenging situations for the older, increasing patient motivation and adherence to the program. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of virtual reality training on the static balance and mobility of older living at nursing homes. Five institutionalized older participated in the study and were submitted to 12 weeks of virtual reality training (Nintendo Wii® Balance Board). The static balance was assessed using a force platform (eyes open and closed base). Were used the total path length (cm), the mean velocity (cm/s) and the 95% of the ellipse area to measure the subject's stability. The mobility was assessed by TUG test. The results showed a decrease of TUG values pre and post-treatment (17.3 ± 4.3 and 14.7 ± 4.7, p=0.19). The static balance showed decrease pre and post-treatment in total path length (61.3 ± 18.7 and 59.8 ± 16.3, p=0.86) and mean velocity (2.08 ± 0.62 and 1.99 ± 0.54, p=0.75), but not in the 95% of the ellipse area (5.5 ± 2.96 and 5.7 ± 1.7, p=0.87). The results showed that the treatment with virtual reality can increase the balance and mobility of institutionalized older patients.
Contemporary Sociology, 2000
... Also forthcoming in Marriage and the Economy, edited by Shoshana Grossbard-Schecht. ... &... more ... Also forthcoming in Marriage and the Economy, edited by Shoshana Grossbard-Schecht. ... "Recent Trends in Marriage and Cohabitation." In Ties that Bind: Perspectives on Marriage and Cohabitation, edited by L. 75Vaite, C. Bachrach, M. Hindin, E. Thomson and A. Thornton. ...
Social Science Research, 1978
Beliefs and attitudes about the appropriate activities and behavior for men and women in our soci... more Beliefs and attitudes about the appropriate activities and behavior for men and women in our society have changed greatly during the last decade. Apparently this shift in sex-role attitudes has not been restricted to select subgroups of the population; women from all walks of life have undergone similar changes in beliefs since the mid-1960s (Mason, Czajka, and Arber, 1976). Increasing acceptance of nontraditional, and especially nonfamilial, roles for women has been credited with causing, or at least facilitating, the rapid rise in female labor force participation over the last 5 to 10 years, since the less traditional a woman's outlook the more likely she is to be currently employed and to have a history of labor force activity. If changing attitudes do indeed result in more female workers, then knowledge about this relationship may be of use in projecting employment of women during the next several decades. Projections of female labor force participation done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics have consistently underestimated growth in the female work force (Johnson, 1973). Inclusion of a wider range of variables than currently used in making these projections may improve their accuracy. Since women's sex-role attitudes appear to have a strong association with their market activity, such attitudes should be assessed for their possible usefulness, along with other economic, social, and demographic variables, in projecting female labor force behavior. In this paper evidence on the causal connection between sex-role attitudes and employment of bornen is presented and evaluated. The effects of sex-role attitudes
American Journal of Sociology, 2006
Demography, 2010
As people age, many aspects of their lives tend to change, including the constellation of people ... more As people age, many aspects of their lives tend to change, including the constellation of people with whom they are connected, their social context, their families, and their health—changes that are often interrelated. Wave I of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) has yielded rich information on intimate ties, especially dyads and families, and on social connections generally. Combined with extensive biological and other health measures, NSHAP enables researchers to address key questions on health and aging. We begin with recent findings on intimate dyads, then move to social participation, and finally to elder mistreatment. Among dyads, we find that whereas sexual activity drops sharply with age for both women and men, gender differences in partner loss as well as psychosocial and normative pressures constrain women’s sex more than men’s. However, surviving partnerships tend to be emotionally and physically satisfying and are marked by relatively frequent se...
Journal of health and social behavior, 2015
Sleep is a restorative behavior essential for health. Poor sleep has been linked to adverse healt... more Sleep is a restorative behavior essential for health. Poor sleep has been linked to adverse health outcomes among older adults; however, we know little about the social processes that affect sleep. Using innovative actigraphy data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 727), we considered the role of marriage, positive marital relationship support, and negative marital relationship strain on older adults' (ages 62-90) self-reported and actigraph-measured sleep characteristics. We found that married older adults had better actigraph-estimated but not self-reported sleep characteristics than the unmarried. However, among the married, those who reported more negative aspects of their marital relationship reported more insomnia symptoms, with the association reduced when psychosocial characteristics were added to the model. The married who reported more positive aspects of their marital relationship showed better actigraph-estimated sleep characteristics; taki...
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Dec 1, 2021
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Dec 1, 2021
Objective: We describe each childhood background measure available in the National Social Life, H... more Objective: We describe each childhood background measure available in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), report preliminary population estimates for each measure by age and gender, and validate the childhood measures by showing that the associations between the NSHAP childhood measures and later-life health outcomes are consistent with previous studies on this topic. Method: Childhood background measures included family life happiness, family structure, parental educational attainment, perceived financial situation, experience of violence, witness of violence, childhood health, and place of birth. We measured self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and social support to assess later-life physical, mental, and social health. Logistic and linear regression models were used for the binary and continuous outcome variables, respectively. Results: Older age groups were more likely than those in younger age groups to report a poor financial situation in childhood, lower parental education, and intact family structure and were less likely to have experienced or witnessed a violent event as a child. Growing up in a happy and well-educated family was associated with better physical, mental, and social health in older ages. Discussion: NSHAP childhood data included a variety of measures assessing the family social environment during childhood, providing a valuable resource for the study of early-life determinants of health and well-being over the life course.
Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, Sep 16, 2016
Innovation in Aging, Nov 1, 2019
Gerontologist, Jun 28, 2017
Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 2021
Objectives In this article, we seek to provide assistance to those who might want to use data fro... more Objectives In this article, we seek to provide assistance to those who might want to use data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) Rounds 1–3 to compare those born in different cohorts. We outline 2 theoretical models that underlie the design of NSHAP—the life course model and the birth cohorts model—and review examples of social and political changes that may have differentially affected cohorts of older adults. Then we present 2 ways that NSHAP data might be used to compare cohorts, show examples of analyses of cohort differences in measures in NSHAP, and discuss features of the data that might affect their use for this purpose. Methods Round 3 of the NSHAP added a group of respondents born between 1948 and 1965, the Baby Boom. Together with data from an earlier cohort, interviewed in Rounds 1–3, these data allow analysis of birth cohorts of older adults in the United States. We show examples of some approaches. Results Our age-matched cohort difference...
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2021
Objectives In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of t... more Objectives In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) including the measures of social health. We discuss the literature that links social measures to other outcomes, and we discuss in detail how researchers might construct common measures of social health, including those that reflect social relationships, sexuality, social networks, social resources, and social participation. Methods The NSHAP includes multiple detailed measures of social health, collected in the rounds of data collection carried out in 2005, 2010, and 2015, allowing for study of changes over time and as people age among a nationally representative sample of the community-dwelling population of older adults in the United States. Results We define indicators of social health, describe measures of each in the 2015 round of NSHAP, and show the distribution of the measures by gender and age. We present scales of dimen...
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Dec 1, 2021
Objectives: In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of ... more Objectives: In this article, we present the theoretical framework that guided the development of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) including the measures of social health. We discuss the literature that links social measures to other outcomes, and we discuss in detail how researchers might construct common measures of social health, including those that reflect social relationships, sexuality, social networks, social resources, and social participation. Methods: The NSHAP includes multiple detailed measures of social health, collected in the rounds of data collection carried out in 2005, 2010, and 2015, allowing for study of changes over time and as people age among a nationally representative sample of the community-dwelling population of older adults in the United States. Results: We define indicators of social health, describe measures of each in the 2015 round of NSHAP, and show the distribution of the measures by gender and age. We present scales of dimensions of social health that have been developed elsewhere and describe their properties. Discussion: We briefly discuss the distribution of these measures by age and gender in the 2015 round of NSHAP. Simple analyses of these categorized measures reveal differences by age and gender that deserve closer attention in future investigations using the NSHAP data.
Innovation in Aging
Nonrespondents generally suffer from worse health outcomes than respondents. Are they unwilling o... more Nonrespondents generally suffer from worse health outcomes than respondents. Are they unwilling or unable to respond? Our aim was to address this issue. Data (N=3,130) from 2010-2015 waves of National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP, W2, W3) was used. Four groups of participants were considered based on their response status at W3: alive, incapacitated, deceased, and nonrespondents. Nonrespondents represented cases with no information at W3, beyond their disability and death information. General linear models were used to compare group means at baseline (W2) in terms of mortality risk (Lee index) or cognitive impairment (MOCA), adjusted for demographic variables. Like the deceased or incapacitated groups, the nonrespondent group displayed significantly worse outcomes (Least Squares Means) than the alive group: Lee index alive=5.82, deceased=9.66, incapacitated=8.29 and nonrespondents=7.80; MOCA alive=21.57, deceased=19.79, incapacitated=19.19 and nonrespondents=19.84. Be...
Innovation in Aging, 2020
Has American society become more socially disconnected as Robert Putnam argues in Bowling Alone? ... more Has American society become more socially disconnected as Robert Putnam argues in Bowling Alone? Claude Fischer disputes this contention with evidence that Americans remain about as connected to friends and family as in the past. We address this debate with data for older adults from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Study, collected in 2005, 2010, and 2015. We compare social participation as reported at ages 57 to 68 for members of the Silent Generation cohort vs the Baby Boom cohort. We find that the gender gap in social participation evident for the Silent Generation does not exist at all for younger Baby Boomers, only appearing after age 62. These same cohort differences appear for participation in religious services and organized groups. This suggest that the gendered separation of social roles that characterized older generations is becoming less pronounced, with implications for social support and social isolation.
Innovation in Aging, 2017
This study aims to (1) estimate the trajectory of self-rated health (SRH) among Korean older adul... more This study aims to (1) estimate the trajectory of self-rated health (SRH) among Korean older adults with disabilities, (2) examine its associated factors including sociodemographic, health behaviors, and environmental factors (3) test whether there are differences between aging with disability and disability with aging in the health trajectory and its associated factors. Sample includes 341 older adults with disabilities who participated in the Korea Social Welfare Panel Study (KSWPS), which is a nationally representative data. We used KSWPS data from 2006 to 2015. In order to address the research objectives, we used (1) latent growth curve modeling to estimate the trajectory and its associated factors and (2) multi-group analysis to examine differences between aging with disability and disability with aging. The model fits were solid and major findings are as follows. (1) Korean older adults with disabilities presented increasing SRH trajectory with time. (2) Age, education, income, employment status, number of outpatient visits & physical checkup, amount of alcohol consumption, social support and residential environment were associated with the SRH trajectory. (3) The SRH trajectory and its associated factors differed between aging with disability and disability with aging. The findings suggest that (1) older adults with disabilities tend to increase SRH with time, (2) SRH trajectory is associated with sociodemographic, health behaviors, and environmental factors, and (3) SRH trajectory and its associated factors differed between aging with disability and disability with aging. Based on these findings, we will discuss implications on practice/policy for health of older adults with disabilities.
Innovation in Aging, 2017
Falls are common among older people needing health care and are a serious public health problem i... more Falls are common among older people needing health care and are a serious public health problem in this population. Studies indicate that about 50-66% of people over 65 years who live in the nursing homes fall annually. Often, institutionalized older have fewer opportunities to participate in activities and tasks of daily living, having a higher deleterious effects in the physiological losses from aging, compromising gait and balance. Postural balance training involving new technologies can promote challenging situations for the older, increasing patient motivation and adherence to the program. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of virtual reality training on the static balance and mobility of older living at nursing homes. Five institutionalized older participated in the study and were submitted to 12 weeks of virtual reality training (Nintendo Wii® Balance Board). The static balance was assessed using a force platform (eyes open and closed base). Were used the total path length (cm), the mean velocity (cm/s) and the 95% of the ellipse area to measure the subject's stability. The mobility was assessed by TUG test. The results showed a decrease of TUG values pre and post-treatment (17.3 ± 4.3 and 14.7 ± 4.7, p=0.19). The static balance showed decrease pre and post-treatment in total path length (61.3 ± 18.7 and 59.8 ± 16.3, p=0.86) and mean velocity (2.08 ± 0.62 and 1.99 ± 0.54, p=0.75), but not in the 95% of the ellipse area (5.5 ± 2.96 and 5.7 ± 1.7, p=0.87). The results showed that the treatment with virtual reality can increase the balance and mobility of institutionalized older patients.
Contemporary Sociology, 2000
... Also forthcoming in Marriage and the Economy, edited by Shoshana Grossbard-Schecht. ... &... more ... Also forthcoming in Marriage and the Economy, edited by Shoshana Grossbard-Schecht. ... "Recent Trends in Marriage and Cohabitation." In Ties that Bind: Perspectives on Marriage and Cohabitation, edited by L. 75Vaite, C. Bachrach, M. Hindin, E. Thomson and A. Thornton. ...
Social Science Research, 1978
Beliefs and attitudes about the appropriate activities and behavior for men and women in our soci... more Beliefs and attitudes about the appropriate activities and behavior for men and women in our society have changed greatly during the last decade. Apparently this shift in sex-role attitudes has not been restricted to select subgroups of the population; women from all walks of life have undergone similar changes in beliefs since the mid-1960s (Mason, Czajka, and Arber, 1976). Increasing acceptance of nontraditional, and especially nonfamilial, roles for women has been credited with causing, or at least facilitating, the rapid rise in female labor force participation over the last 5 to 10 years, since the less traditional a woman's outlook the more likely she is to be currently employed and to have a history of labor force activity. If changing attitudes do indeed result in more female workers, then knowledge about this relationship may be of use in projecting employment of women during the next several decades. Projections of female labor force participation done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics have consistently underestimated growth in the female work force (Johnson, 1973). Inclusion of a wider range of variables than currently used in making these projections may improve their accuracy. Since women's sex-role attitudes appear to have a strong association with their market activity, such attitudes should be assessed for their possible usefulness, along with other economic, social, and demographic variables, in projecting female labor force behavior. In this paper evidence on the causal connection between sex-role attitudes and employment of bornen is presented and evaluated. The effects of sex-role attitudes
American Journal of Sociology, 2006
Demography, 2010
As people age, many aspects of their lives tend to change, including the constellation of people ... more As people age, many aspects of their lives tend to change, including the constellation of people with whom they are connected, their social context, their families, and their health—changes that are often interrelated. Wave I of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) has yielded rich information on intimate ties, especially dyads and families, and on social connections generally. Combined with extensive biological and other health measures, NSHAP enables researchers to address key questions on health and aging. We begin with recent findings on intimate dyads, then move to social participation, and finally to elder mistreatment. Among dyads, we find that whereas sexual activity drops sharply with age for both women and men, gender differences in partner loss as well as psychosocial and normative pressures constrain women’s sex more than men’s. However, surviving partnerships tend to be emotionally and physically satisfying and are marked by relatively frequent se...
Journal of health and social behavior, 2015
Sleep is a restorative behavior essential for health. Poor sleep has been linked to adverse healt... more Sleep is a restorative behavior essential for health. Poor sleep has been linked to adverse health outcomes among older adults; however, we know little about the social processes that affect sleep. Using innovative actigraphy data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 727), we considered the role of marriage, positive marital relationship support, and negative marital relationship strain on older adults' (ages 62-90) self-reported and actigraph-measured sleep characteristics. We found that married older adults had better actigraph-estimated but not self-reported sleep characteristics than the unmarried. However, among the married, those who reported more negative aspects of their marital relationship reported more insomnia symptoms, with the association reduced when psychosocial characteristics were added to the model. The married who reported more positive aspects of their marital relationship showed better actigraph-estimated sleep characteristics; taki...