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:

Mroczek, D.K., Spiro, A., & Turiano, N.A. (in press). Do health behaviors explain
   the effect of neuroticism on mortality? Journal of Research in Personality.

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

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.

Neupert, S., Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. (in press). Neuroticism moderates the
   daily relation between stressors and memory failures. Psychology & Aging.

Martin, M., & Mroczek, D.K. (in press). Are personality traits across the lifespan

   sensitive to environmental demands? Journal of Adult Development.

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. (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.

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. 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.

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.

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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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