Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Couples' Interactions and Inflammatory Responses: The Context-Dependent Role of Age

Award Number: R00AG056667
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/01/2018
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2023

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Couples' Interactions and Inflammatory Responses: The Context-Dependent Role of Age - Abstract This five-year plan for the Pathway to Independence Award will equip Dr. Stephanie Wilson with essential knowledge and skills to help launch her career as an independent researcher in aging, social relationships, and health. This qualified candidate seeks to dedicate her research program to understanding how partnerships evolve into old age and, in turn, shape the biological cascade to healthy aging and disease. Inflammation is a complex immune process central to many diseases of aging. The proposed training at The Ohio State University's premiere Institute of Behavioral Medicine Research with the mentorship of renowned experts in psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) will supplement the candidate's expertise in adult development and couples' relationships with a foundation in PNI, particularly inflammation and immunosenescence, to better equip her to investigate the disease processes that most commonly afflict aging couples. Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of paths leading to early functional decline, diseases of aging (cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome), and death. Inflammatory responses to stress also become dysregulated as the immune system ages, and thus increase age-related vulnerability to decline. On the other hand, emotion theories of aging have emphasized the emotion-regulation advantages gained with life lived. Older adults' ability to avoid or reframe some stressors provides a way to circumvent the stress-related health risks that age exacerbates. This proposal probes age differences in inflammatory responses to couple conflict and partner emotional disclosure, a novel context important for older adults. These studies will also test an unexamined mechanism of context-dependent age risks, autonomic synchrony (e.g., how closely partners' heart rates sync). The first aim—to examine the roles of partner age, conflict behavior and appraisals, and synchrony in inflammatory response to conflict— will be addressed in the K99 phase using existing data. Consistent with prior research, it is predicted that older adults will behave less negatively in conflict than younger partners, and in turn, greater negativity will relate to stronger synchrony with the spouse. Autonomic synchrony will be linked to elevated inflammatory responses, and the inflammatory effects of negative behavior and synchrony will be stronger for older adults than younger adults. The second aim will examine the same processes in the context of listening to partners' emotional disclosure. Unlike conflict, it is predicted that one partner's need to share suffering will motivate the listening partner to remain engaged, regardless of age and physiological risk. Thus, without active avoidance, listening to a partner disclose may exact particularly high inflammatory costs in older adults. Novel data from a disclosure task will be collected in the K99 phase and analyzed in Years 2 and 3 to inform a follow-up study in the R00 phase and an R01 submission in the fourth award year.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = -$6,567 )
2024	2021	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ ST RM 130	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	000	5	1/24/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$6,567
														Subtotal = -$6,567

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $302,898 )
2021	2021	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	000	5	4/30/2021	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$302,898
														Subtotal = $302,898

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $396,353 )
2020	2020	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	003	4	6/4/2020	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$57,441
2020	2020	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	004	4	6/11/2020	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$0
2020	2020	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	002	4	5/1/2020	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$246,752
2020	2019	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	000	3	11/8/2019	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$0
2020	2019	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	001	3	1/16/2020	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$92,160
														Subtotal = $396,353

Issue Date FY: 2019 ( Subtotal = $249,000 )
2019	2019	SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY	6425 BOAZ LANE	DALLAS	TX	75205	DALLAS	USA	Aging Research	000	3	8/23/2019	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$249,000
														Subtotal = $249,000

Grand Total All Awards = $941,684

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Couples' Interactions and Inflammatory Responses: The Context-Dependent Role of Age

Award Number: R00AG056667

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 03/01/2018

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 04/30/2023

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer