Household panel data provide valuable information about the extent of similarity in coresidents’ attitudes and behaviours. However, existing analysis approaches do not allow for the complex association structures that arise due to changes in household composition over time. We propose a flexible marginal modelling approach where the changing correlation structure between individuals is modelled directly and the parameters estimated using second-order generalized estimating equations (GEE2). A key component of our correlation model specification is the “superhousehold”, a form of social network in which pairs of observations from different individuals are connected (directly or indirectly) by coresidence. These superhouseholds partition observations into clusters with nonstandard and highly variable correlation structures. We thus conduct a simulation study to evaluate the accuracy and stability of GEE2 for these models. Our approach is then applied in an analysis of individuals’ attitudes towards gender roles using British Household Panel Survey data. We find strong evidence of between-individual correlation before, during and after coresidence, with large differences among spouses, parent-child, other family, and unrelated pairs. Our results suggest that these dependencies are due to a combination of non-random sorting and causal effects of coresidence.
Data Science Seminar (Danah Boyd presents in eScience Institute Seminar Series, 3/28/18)
Not Quite a Pill Mill: Effects of PDMPs on Over-prescribing Providers
Jevay Grooms, Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington
This week, NHLBI Fellow Jevay Grooms will discuss the effect of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) on opioid prescribing trends for a given provider in various medical specialties.
Dan Eisenberg Explores Whether Paternal Age Impacts Offspring’s Lifespan
In a pioneering experimental study on the effect that paternal age has on offspring’s lifespan and telomere length, Affiliate Dan Eisenberg, Associate Professor of Anthropology, and a team of researchers found that zebra finch embryos with older fathers had shorter telomeres than counterparts sired by younger fathers and the same mother. The telomeres from embryos fathered by older finches were about 10 percent shorter than those with a younger father.
Of the zebra finch findings, Eisenberg noted: “The experimental design of this study looking at the effect of paternal age on telomere length of [zebra finch] embryos is particularly strong, allowing for confidence in these results.” Eisenberg researches the impact that paternal age has on telomere length in offspring, with a focus on humans and chimpanzees.
The research team bred 44 pairs of birds and followed their lives from 2012 through 2017. Although older age of both mothers and fathers shortened longevity of their offspring’s lifespan, the impact was more marked among older fathers. Just 5 percent of offspring with an older father survived to a year, while 80 percent with a younger father survived to that age.
Maria Krysan and Kyle Crowder Examine How Social Forces Impact Patterns of Segregation
When it’s time to look for a new home or apartment, most people turn to the familiar: they seek to move to known neighborhoods, they ask friends or family for leads, and they focus on areas that are part of their daily routine. In a recently co-authored book, Cycle of Segregation, Maria Krysan and Affiliate Kyle Crowder contend that these behaviors reinforce patterns of residential segregation. Although economic and political impacts on segregation have been widely studied, the social element is less understood. Crowder underscores the importance that social behavior has on shaping – and maintaining – patterns of segregation, noting: “People’s daily rounds are really shaped by residential segregation: where we go to work and shop, where we go to church, and where our kids go to school… Those daily activities mean we all have exposure to different sets of neighborhoods, and when it comes time to search for housing, we tend to search for housing in places that we know.”
Although the research highlighted in Cycle of Segregation focuses on Chicago neighborhoods, Crowder notes that these patterns are also visible in Seattle. Click on the link below to read the full interview.
CSDE Affiliates Awarded UW Population Health Initiative Pilot Research Grants
CSDE Affiliates Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Karen Fredricksen-Goldsen, and Marieka Klawitter were members of teams recently awarded Population Health Initiative grants. The Rowhani-Rahbar project examines lethal means assessment for suicide prevention. The team led by Fredricksen-Goldsen examines health disparities in Washington State and the role of social and economic inequities in intersectional marginalized populations. CSDE also provided matching support to the Fredriksen-Goldsen and Klawitter project proposal.
These faculty-led teams have been awarded $50,000 to address the critical components of population health. Affiliate Ali Mokdad, Professor of Global Health and Vice Chair of the Population Health Initiative, said of the awardees: “We believe each of these projects has the potential to make significant progress towards reducing disparities and improving population health at the local, national and international levels.” Other team members include:
- Lethal Means Assessment in Psychiatric Emergency Services for Suicide Prevention
– Affiliate Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Epidemiology
– Paul Borghesani, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
– Jennifer Stuber, Social Work
– Anna Ratzliff, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
– Frederick Rivara, Pediatrics - Addressing Health Disparities in Washington State: The Role of Social and Economic Inequities in Intersectional Marginalized Populations
– Affiliate Karen I. Fredriksen-Goldsen, Social Work
– Barbara Cochrane, Family and Child Nursing
– Corinne S. Heinen, Family Medicine
– Affiliate Marieka Klawitter, Public Policy & Governance
– Charles A. Emlet, UW Tacoma
– Hyun-Jun Kim, Social Work
The Population Health Initiative seeks to expand University of Washington’s capacity to address challenges to the health and well-being of of populations through collaborative and interdisciplinary research. Learn more about the Initiative and its pilot research grant awardees below.
Highlights & Awards from Winter CSDE Lightning Talks & Poster Session
Last Friday, five population scientists in training shared their work at CSDE’s Winter Lightning Talks and Poster Session, held in the Research Commons at Allen Library.
The talented pool of graduate students from the Departments of Economics, Global Health, Sociology, Health Services, and Statistics presented unique research that contributes to the field of population science. The presentations covered a number of timely topics in demography, from methods for estimating child mortality and forecasting fertility, to studies of trust, Internet and vaccines, reports of sexual assault and labor market outcomes in Bangladesh, and determinants of vigilante justice in Chile.
At the conclusion of the event, CSDE Trainee Nikki Eller received an award for best poster. Eller, a student in the Department of Health Services was recognized for her poster “Trust, Epidemiology, and Vaccines”. Eller’s project tested the following hypotheses: 1) mothers with lower levels of trust in their child’s health care provider will list more vaccine information sources compared to mothers with higher levels of trust, and 2) mothers’ level of trust in their child’s health care provider will be associated with the type of vaccine information sources, with low trust associated with non-provider vaccine information sources as a main source. In support of hypothesis 1, Eller found that that trusting mothers report fewer average information sources than less trusting mothers. Meanwhile, only 61% of less trusting mothers reported their child’s pediatrician as their main source of vaccine information, and these mothers were more likely to rely on the internet, other parents, parents of vaccine-injured children, other friends and family, and practitioners of alternative medicine as information sources. Overall, Eller’s findings indicate that while most mothers seek out information on vaccines, the level of trust they place in individual information sources may affect their prioritization of these sources.
Marieka Klawitter and Anjum Hajat Examine the Relationship Between Banking and Health
Affiliate Marieka Klawitter, Professor at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, and affiliate Anjum Hajat, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology—along with two graduate students in the department of Epidemiology—recently authored an article that examines the effects of fringe banking and being unbanked on health. In the article, published in Health Affairs, the authors use propensity score matching with Current Population Survey data, and find that both fringe loan use and unbanked status are associated with a higher likelihood of poor or fair health outcomes. The full article is available below.
Paula Nurius and Anjum Hajat Explore Psychosocial Stressors, Air Pollution, and Cardiovascular Disease
Affiliate Paula Nurius, Professor at the School of Social Work, affiliate Anjum Hajat, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, and a colleague recently published an article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that assesses the relationship between psychosocial stressors, air pollution, and cardiovascular disease. Using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from Washington, the authors measured adverse child experiences at the individual and neighborhood level, along with exposure to three air pollutants. Their findings indicate modest association between air pollution and neighborhood-level stressors, and that adverse childhood experiences may affect health by way of selection into disadvantaged neighborhoods. The full article is accessible below.
Spring Quarter Seminar Schedule
We are pleased to announce our Spring 2018 Seminar Schedule, featuring an exciting lineup of speakers from a variety of disciplines and institutions! All are welcome to attend these free, informative, and engaging events.
The series will kick off on Friday, March 30 with Jevay Grooms, who will discuss the effect of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs on opioid prescribing trends for a given provider in various medical specialties.