Professor of Human Development and Family Studies

(PhD, Boston University)

Research Interests

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

Contact Information

Fowler Memorial 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).

Representative Publications

Journal Articles & Chapters

• Hill, P.L., Turiano, N.A., Mroczek, D.K., & Roberts, B.W. (in press). Demonstrating concurrent, predictive, and longitudinal relationships between personality traits and well-being among midlife and older Adults. Social Psychological and Personality Science.
• Turiano, N. A., Spiro, A., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). Openness to experience and mortality in older adults: Analysis of trait and facets. Journal of Aging & Health.
  
• Armour, C., Shevlin, M., Elklit, A., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). A latent growth mixture modelling approach to PTSD symptoms in rape victims. Traumatology.
• Hill, P. L., Turiano, N. A.*, Hurd, M. D., Mroczek, D. K., & Roberts, B. W. (in press). Conscientiousness and longevity: An examination of possible mediators. Health Psychology.
• Lodi-Smith, J., Turaino, N., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). Personality development across the lifespan. In Fingerman, K.F., Smith, J & Antonucci, T. (Eds.), Handbook of lifespan development.
• Martin, M., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). Are personality traits across the lifespan sensitive to environmental demands? Journal of Adult Development.
• Ong, A. D., Mroczek, D. K., & Riffin, C. (in press). The health significance of positive emotions in adulthood and later life. Social and Personality Psychology Compass.
• Ready, R. E, Åkerstedt, A. M., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). Emotional complexity and emotional well-being in older adults: Risks of high neuroticism. Journal of Aging & Mental Health. NIHMSID#323716, Publ.ID 602961
• Turiano, N. A.*, Pitzer, L.*, Armour, C., Karlamangla, A., Ryff, C. D., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). Personality trait and trait change as predictors of health outcomes: Findings from the National Study of Americans (MIDUS). Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
  
• Whiteman, S. D. & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). A brief introduction to growth curve models. Irish Journal of Psychology.
• Martin, M., & Mroczek, D. K. (in press). Are personality traits across the lifespan sensitive to environmental demands? Journal of Adult Development.
• Mroczek, D.K., Pitzer, L., Miller, L., Turiano, N., & Fingerman, K. (2010). The use of secondary data in adult development and aging research.  In Trzesniewski, K.H., Donnellan, M.B. & Lucas, R.E. (Eds.), Secondary data analysis: An introduction for psychologists, pp. 121-132. Washington, DC: APA Books.
• Hampson, S.E., Tildesley, E., Andrews, J.A., Luyckx, K. & Mroczek, D.K. (2010).  The relation of change in hostility and sociability during childhood to substance use in mid adolescence.  Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 103-114.
  
• Mroczek, D. K., Spiro, A., & Turiano, N. A. (2009). Do health behaviors explain the effect of neuroticism on mortality? Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 653-659.
• Neupert, S., Mroczek, D. K., & Spiro, A. (2008). Neuroticism moderates the daily relation between stressors and memory failures. Psychology & Aging, 23, 287-296.
• Fingerman, K. L., Pitzer, L., Lefkowitze, E. S., Birditt, K. S., & Mroczek, D. K. (2008). Ambivalent relationship qualities between adults and their parents: Implications for the well-being of both parties. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 63B, 362-371.
• Vaidya, J. G., Gray, E. K., Haig, J. R., Mroczek, D. K., & Watson, D. (2008). Differential trait stability and individual growth trajectories during young adulthood. Journal of Personality, 76, 276-304.
• Roberts, B. W. & Mroczek, D. K. (2008). Personality trait stability and change. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 31-35.
• Gruenewald, T. L., Mroczek, D. K., Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. H. (2008). Diverse pathways to positive and negative affect in adulthood and later life: An integrative approach using recursive partitioning. Developmental Psychology, 44, 330-342.
• Mroczek, D. K., & Spiro, A. (2007). Personality change influences mortality in older men. Psychological Science, 18, 371-376.
• 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.
• Neupert, S., Almeida, D. M., Mroczek, D. K., & Spiro, A. (2006a). 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.
• Neupert, S., Almeida, D. M., Mroczek, D. K., & Spiro, A. (2006b). Daily stressors and memory failures in a naturalistic setting: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Psychology & Aging, 21, 424-429.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Young, J. F., & Mroczek D. K. (2003). Predicting intraindividual self-concept trajectories during adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 568-603.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Kessler, R. C., & Mroczek, D. K. (1994). Measuring the effects of medical interventions. Medical Care, 33, AF109-AF119.
• 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.
• 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.

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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. Aging 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.

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 21st 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 (6th 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, & 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.

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1992-1995, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan.
• PhD, 1992, Developmental Psychology, Boston University.
• BS, 1987, Psychology, Loyola University, Chicago.

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

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.

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.

Professional Service

Invited Speaker & Workshop Instructor

• Growth-Curve Estimation in a Hierarchical Linear Modeling Framework, Deutsches Zentrum f¸r 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