Associate Professor of Developmental Studies
(PhD, Boston University)

Research Interests

Lifespan health, personality development, lifespan development, longitudinal statistics, and multilevel modeling.

Contact Information

Fowler House, Room 207
Purdue University
1200 W. State Street
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2055

Phone: (765) 494-2937
Fax: (765) 494-0503

E-mail: dmroczek@purdue.edu

Biography
Recent Publications
Education
Courses Recently Taught
Honors
External Grants
Professional Service

Biography

I began my career at Purdue in 2005 after spending 10 years on the faculty of Fordham University in New York City. Prior to that appointment, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. Before that, I was a doctoral student at Boston University, where I received my Ph.D. in developmental psychology in 1992. I received my B.S. from Loyola University Chicago.

My primary research interest is on personality change in adulthood and how such change influence physical health. One of the main findings from my research over the past few years is that there are considerable individual differences in personality and well-being trajectories over long periods of time (10 to 20 years). In ordinary language, this means that not everyone shows the same pattern of personality or well-being change as we grow older. For example, some people show long term increases in happiness over time, while others show remarkable stability. Still others show major declines in happiness. I am interested in why people vary on these long-term trajectories and how it affects their physical health. Do people who show long-term increases in happiness have less heart disease? Do they live longer? I am also interested in the general association between personality and physical health. Additionally, I have a number of statistical and methodological interests such as longitudinal design, daily diary and experience sampling techniques, multilevel modeling (including growth-curve models), and proportional hazards models.

Most of my research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), in particular the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

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Representative Publications

Journal Articles & Chapters:

Neupert, S., Almeida, D.M., Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (in press). Daily Stressors and Memory Failures in a Naturalistic Setting: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Psychology & Aging. ISI Impact Rating 2.39.

Vaidya, J.G., Gray, E.K., Haig, J.R., Mroczek, D.K., & Watson, D. (in press). Differential trait stability and individual growth trajectories during young adulthood. Journal of Personality. ISI Impact Rating 2.47.

Martin, M., & Mroczek, D.K. (in press). Are personality traits across the lifespan sensitive to environmental demands? Journal of Adult Development. ISI Impact Rating 0.43.

Neupert, S., Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (in press). Neuroticism Differences in Cognitive Reactivity to Daily Stressors: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Psychology & Aging. ISI Impact Rating 2.39.

Gruenewald, T.L., Mroczek, D.K., Ryff, C.D., & Singer, B.H. (in press). Pathways to Positive and Negative Affect: An Integrative Approach Using Recursive Partitioning. Developmental Psychology. ISI Impact Rating 3.42.

Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2007). Personality change influences mortality in older men. Psychological Science, 18, 371-376. ISI Impact Rating 4.05.

Griffin, P., Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2006). Variability in affective change among aging men: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 942-965. ISI Impact Rating 1.79.

Neupert, S., Almeida, D.M., Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2006). The effects of the Columbia Shuttle disaster on the daily lives of older adults: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Aging & Mental Health, 10, 272-281. ISI Impact Rating 1.18.

Jennings, P.A., Aldwin, C.M., Levenson, M.R., Spiro, A., & Mroczek, D.K. (2006). Combat exposure, perceived benefits of military service, and wisdom in later life: Findings from the Normative Aging Study. Research on Aging, 28, 115-134. ISI Impact Rating 0.78.

Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2005). Change in life satisfaction over 20 years during adulthood: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 189-202. ISI Impact Rating 4.21.

Mroczek, D.K., & Almeida, D.M. (2004). The effects of daily stress, age, and personality on daily negative affect. Journal of Personality, 72, 354-378. ISI Impact Rating 2.47.

Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2003a). Modeling intraindividual change in personality traits: Findings from the Normative Aging Study. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58B, 153-165. ISI Impact Rating 2.01.

Young, J.F., & Mroczek D.K. (2003). Predicting intraindividual self-concept trajectories during adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 568-603. ISI Impact Rating 1.20.

Kessler, R.C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L., Hiripi, E., Mroczek, D.K., Normand, S.-L., Walters, E.E., & Zavalavsky, A. (2002). Short Screening Scales to Monitor Population Prevalences and Trends in Nonspecific Psychological Distress. Psychological Medicine, 32, 959-976. ISI Impact Rating 3.48.

Rogler, L.H., Mroczek, D.K., Fellows, M.J., & Loftus, S.T. (2001). The neglect of response bias in mental health research. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 189, 182-187. ISI Impact Rating 1.74.

Mroczek, D.K., & Kolarz, C.M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1333-1349. ISI Impact Rating 4.21.

Mroczek, D.K., Ozer, D.J., Spiro, A. & Kaiser, R.T. (1998). Evaluating a measure of the five factor model of personality. Assessment, 5, 285-299. ISI Impact Rating 1.17.

Kessler, R.C., Andrews, G., Mroczek, D.K., Ustun, B., & Wittchen, H.-U. (1998). The World Health Organization Composite Diagnostic Interview Short-Form (CIDI-SF). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research,7, 171-185. ISI Impact Rating 3.55.

Kessler, R.C., & Mroczek, D.K. (1996). Some methodological issues in the development of quality of life measures for the evaluation of medical interventions. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2, 181-191. ISI Impact Rating 1.12.

Spiro, A., Aldwin, C.M., Ward, K., & Mroczek, D.K. (1995). Personality and the incidence of hypertension among older men: Longitudinal findings from the Normative Aging Study. Health Psychology, 14, 563-569. ISI Impact Rating 3.51.

Kessler, R.C., & Mroczek, D.K. (1994). Measuring the effects of medical interventions. Medical Care, 33, AF109-AF119. ISI Impact Rating 2.99.

Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., Aldwin, C.M., Ozer, D.J., & Bosse', R. (1993). Construct validation of optimism and pessimism in older men: Findings from the Normative Aging Study. Health Psychology, 12, 406-409. ISIImpact Rating 3.51.

Bosse', R., Aldwin, C.M., Levenson, M.R., Spiro, A., & Mroczek, D.K. (1993). Change in social support after retirement: Longitudinal findings from the Normative Aging Study. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 48, 210-217. ISI Impact Rating 2.01.

Edited Book

Mroczek, D.K., & Little, T.D. (2006) Handbook of Personality Development. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.

Invited Articles

Whiteman, S.D., & Mroczek, D.K. (in press). A brief introduction to growth curve models. The Irish Journal of Psychology.

Roberts, B.W. & Mroczek, D.K. (2008). Personality trait stability and change. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 31-35. ISI Impact Rating 2.13.

Mroczek, D.K., & Cooper, M.L. (2006). Overview of the proceedings of the 2005 meeting of the Association for Research in Personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 40, 1-3. ISI Impact Rating 1.79.

Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2003b). Personality structure and process, variance between and within: Integration by means of developmental framework. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58B, 305-306. ISI Impact Rating 2.01.

Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., & Almeida, D.M. (2003). Between- and within-person variation in affect and personality over days and years: How basic and applied approaches can inform one another. Ageing International, 28, 260-278.

Brennan, M., & Mroczek, D.K. (2002). Examining spirituality over time: Latent growth curve and individual growth curve analysis. Journal of Religious Gerontology, 14, 11-29.

Mroczek, D.K. (2001). Age and emotion in adulthood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 87-90. ISI Impact Rating 2.13

Book Chapters

Mroczek, D.K. (2007). The analysis of longitudinal data in personality research. In R.W. Robins, R.C. Fraley & R.F. Krueger (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology, pp. 543-556. New York: Guilford Press.

Mroczek, D.K., & Griffin, P.W. (2007). Growth-curve modeling in positive psychology. In A. Ong & M.H.M. van Dulmen (Eds.), Oxford handbook of methods in positive psychology, pp. 467-476. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Mroczek, D.K., & Little, T.D. (2006). Theory and research in personality development at the beginning of the 21 st century. In D.K. Mroczek, & T.D. Little (Eds.), Handbook of personality development, pp. 3-8. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., Almeida, D.M., & Pafford, C. (2006). Intraindividual change in personality. In D.K. Mroczek, & T.D. Little (Eds.), Handbook of personality development, pp. 163-180. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., & Griffin, P. (2006). Personality and aging. In J.E. Birren & K.W. Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (6 th Edition), pp. 363-377. San Diego, CA: Elsevier.

Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., Griffin, P.W., & Neupert, S. (2006). Social Influences on Adult Personality, Self-Regulation and Health. In K.W. Schaie & L. Carstensen (Eds.), Social structures, aging and self-regulation, pp. 69-84. New York: Springer.

Almeida, D.M., Mroczek, D.K., & Neiss, M. (2006). Can self-regulation explain age differences in daily, weekly and monthly reports of psychological distress? In K.W. Schaie & L. Carstensen (Eds.), Social structures, aging and self-regulation, pp. 95-122. New York: Springer.

Mroczek, D.K. (2004). Positive and negative affect at midlife. In O.G. Brim, C.D. Ryff & R.C. Kessler (Eds.), How healthy are we? A national study of well-being at midlife. pp. 205-226. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (2002). Personality and aging. In D.J. Ekerdt, R.A. Applebaum, K.C. Holden, S.G. Post, K. Rockwood, R. Schulz, R. Sprott, and P. Uhlenberg (Eds.). Encyclopedia of aging, pp. 1076-1080. New York: Macmillan Reference USA.

Glenwick, D.S., Mroczek, D.K., & MacDonall. J.S. (2001). Learning research as a lifelong skill. In S. Walfish & A.K. Hess (Eds.), Succeeding in graduate school: The career guide for psychology students, pp. 203-220. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Mroczek, D.K., Hurt, S.W., & Berman, W.H. (1999). Conceptual and methodological issues in the assessment of personality disorders in older adults. In E. Rosowsky, R.C. Abrams, & R.A. Zweig (Eds.), Personality disorders in older adults: Emerging issues in diagnosis and treatment, pp. 135-150. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kessler, R.C., Mroczek, D.K., & Belli, R.F. (1999). Retrospective adult assessment of childhood psychopathology. In D. Shaffer & J. Richters (Eds.), Diagnostic assessment in child and adolescent psychopathology, pp. 256-284 New York: Guilford Press.

Bosse', R., Levenson, M.R., Spiro, A., Aldwin, C.M., & Mroczek, D.K. (1992). For whom is retirement stressful? Findings from the Normative Aging Study. In B. Vellas & J.L. Albarede (Eds.), Facts and research in gerontology, pp. 223-240. New York: Springer.

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Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1992-1995, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
• Ph.D., 1992, Developmental Psychology, Boston University.
• B.S., 1987, Psychology, Loyola University, Chicago.

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Courses Recently Taught

CDFS 311: Introduction to Child Development
CDFS 615: Research Methods in Child Development & Family Research
CDFS 685M: Multilevel Modeling in Developmental & Family Research

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Honors

Elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association, July, 2007.

President, Fordham Chapter of Sigma Xi, the National Scientific Research Society, 2003-2004.

Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Undergraduate Psychology Society, Fordham University, 2000.

Boston University Graduate School Teaching Fellow of the Year, 1988.

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External Grants

2005-2010 Personality and Well-Being Trajectories in Adulthood, R01-AG18436 (Competing Continuation, Received), National Institute of Aging with dual sponsorship by the National Institute of Mental Health. Total Costs: $1,910,797.  Role: Principal Investigator.

2009-2014 Integrative Analyses of Longitudinal Studies of Aging, P01-AG31726 (Pending), National Institute of Aging, Scott Hofer, Oregon State University, Principal Investigator. Total Costs of Subcontract: $857,000.  Role: Project Leader/Co-Investigator.

2000-2005 Personality and Well-Being Trajectories in Adulthood, R01-AG18436 (Received), National Institute of Aging with dual sponsorship by the National Institute of Mental Health. Total Costs: $1,251,571.  Role: Principal Investigator.

2007-2011 Daily Stress and Well-Being in Adulthood (Received), National Institute of Aging. David Almeida, Pennsylvania State University, Principal Investigator. Total Costs of Subcontract: $53,000.  Role: Co-Investigator.

2002-2008; Integrative Pathways to Health & Illness, Subcontract from P01-AG20166 (Received), National Institute of Aging. Carol Ryff, University of Wisconsin, Principal Investigator.  Total Costs of Subcontract: $223,911.  Role: Co-Investigator.

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Professional Service

Invited Speaker & Workshop Instructor:
Growth-Curve Estimation in a Hierarchical Linear Modeling Framework, Deutsches Zentrum für Alternsforschung (German National Center for Aging Research), University of Heidelberg, Germany, May, 2003.

Editorial Boards:
Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 2000-present (Impact Rating 2.01)
Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 2002-present (Impact Rating 4.21)
Psychology & Aging, 2003-present (Impact Rating 2.39)
Journal of Personality, 2004-present (Impact Rating 2.47)
Journal of Research in Personality, 2004-present (Impact Rating 1.79)
Co-Editor, Special Issue on the Proceedings of the 2005 ARP Conference, Journal of Research in Personality

Ad Hoc Reviewer:
American Psychologist
Psychological Review
Developmental Psychology
Psychological Science
Behavioral Medicine
Health Psychology
Journal of Health and Social Behavior
International Journal of Behavioral Development, Assessment
Psychology and Health
Personality and Social Behavior
International Journal of Aging and Human Development
Psychological Assessment

NIH Study Section Membership:
Chair, 2004-2006, and Member, 2002-2007: Social, Personality & Interpersonal Processes (SPIP) Study Section (formerly, Risk, Health and Prevention Behavior: RHPB-4), Center for Scientific Review, National Institutes of Health.
Member, 2000-2003; National Institute of Aging, Behavioral & Social Research (NIA-S) Study Section.

Other grant reviewing:
Ad Hoc Grant Application Reviewer, 2003, Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canada.
Ad Hoc Grant Application Reviewer, 2002, Medical Research Council (MRC), United Kingdom.
Ad Hoc Reviewer, 2002, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (“Genius Grant”) Program.
Program Chair, 2005 and 2006 Conferences of the Association for Research in Personality (ARP)
External Examiner, 2003, Dissertation Committee at the University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Member, 2002-2005, Tenure Appeals Committee, Fordham University (this elected committee hears appeals on university-wide tenure denials; Dr. Mroczek chaired this panel in 2003-2004).
Member, Institutional Review Board, Arlene Gordon Research Center on Vision, The Lighthouse International, New York, NY
Member, 1999-2000, Advisory Board, Center for Studies of Ethnicity and Human Development, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY

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