Research Activities: Benjamin A. Shaw

Accomplishments in past 36 months

Benjamin Shaw, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior at Albany’s School of Public Health, is a gerontologist who focuses on sociological aspects of aging. In a recently completed project, funded by the National Institute of Aging, he examined the linkages of social and emotional support, both early in life and contemporaneously, to physical and mental health among the elderly. His findings suggest that a lack of parental support during childhood is associated with an increased risk for health problems in adulthood. Furthermore, the association between early parental support and adult health appears to persist with increasing age. His findings also indicate that adult health status is particularly sensitive to levels of support received from a same-sex parent during childhood. Psychological and social resources during adulthood account for a large portion of the long-term association between early parental support and adult health. The results of this and related research were published in the Journal of Aging and Health, Psychology and Aging, Research on Aging, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, Journal of Community Health, and Journal of Gerontology.
Shaw also participates actively in the research program of the Prevention Research Center at the School of Public Health, headed by CSDA associate David Strogatz. As Co-PI of its first core project, Shaw conducted research on the communal and other contextual influences on diabetes prevention and maintenance in two communities in upstate New York, one urban and one rural.

Externally funded research

Shaw recently held an NIA Junior Faculty Training Award, issued through the University of Michigan Older Americans Independence Center (UM OAIC) Research Career Development Core, for the project, “Support from Neighbors, Aging and Health.” Its main aim was to test the effect of support from neighbors on feelings of personal control, self-worth, and various health outcomes.

Work in progress and pending/planned research projects

With Jersey Liang (University of Michigan), he has applied to NIA for support for a project entitled, “Trajectories of Subjective Well-Being and Ethnicity in Old Age.” The proposal received an excellent priority score (130, 8.8 percentile), and funding is currently pending. This project will investigate how subjective well-being (SWB), a core concept in psychological gerontology, unfolds in old age among black, Hispanic, and white Americans. It has four aims: to depict quantitatively the overall trajectory or age norm of intrapersonal changes in SWB from age 60 through the 90’s; to look for heterogeneity underlying the age norm of SWB; to assess the influences of psychological resources versus social and economic circumstances on the age norms of SWB and their sub-trajectories; and to analyze the direct, indirect, and interaction effects of ethnicity/race on SWB. The aims of the project will be met through an analysis of nine longitudinal surveys of older Americans.

Contribution to the population research program

Shaw connects our signature theme on health and health disparities with that on life-course transitions and solidifies our relationships to the School of Public Health and its Prevention Research Center. He has presented on the connection between early-life family relationships and adult health as part of the CSDA colloquium series.

Use of infrastructure cores and activities

Dr. Shaw has used the CSDA Administrative Core for assistance in preparing proposals, and he also uses the CSDA computing infrastructure.