RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

1. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) for Research on Minority Aging Jacqui Smith Department of Psychology and Institute for Social Research RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

2. Why is the HRS a Good Resource? • Nationally representative panel of 50+ • Longitudinal: Biennial waves since 1992 • Heterogeneous sample • Multidisciplinary data • Economics, medicine, public health, sociology, psychology, demography • Many topic areas • Health, health services, employment history, financial status and expenses, pension information, wealth and debt, family structure, cognition, depression, biomarker, psychosocial functioning • Good place to shop for ideas • It is "free" RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

3. Evolution of the HRS Longitudinal Sample Design COHORT <1923 1924-30 1931-41 1942-47 1948-53 1954-59 • Includes spouse / partner of sampled individual • Includes oversamples of African-American and Hispanics

4. Minority Elders in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) • HRS Core sample in 2006: N = 30,888 • 79% White (N = 24,402); 14.8% Black (N = 4569); 4.4% Hispanic (N = 1344). • Black gender ratio 39.4% Men; 60.6% Women • 2006 - Psychosocial / Biomarker sample (> 53 yrs) : 12.9% Black (N = 920) 2006 biomarkers include height, waist, weight, grip strength, walking speed, puff test, balance, blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol, C-reactive protein, saliva (DNA storage). RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

5. HRS Psychosocial and Lifestyle Battery in 2006 Personality Traits Extraversion Neuroticism Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Control Beliefs (Internal-External) Domain control Loneliness Anxiety Hostility Anger Optimism/Pessimism Hopelessness Subjective Well-being Life Satisfaction Positive Affect Negative Affect Psychological Well-being Purpose in life Personal Growth Self Acceptance Social Network and Relationships Size of kin and friend network Closeness of relationships Quality of spousal relationship Quality of child relationships Quality of kin relationships Quality of friend relationships Social Participation Perceived social status Social Integration Neighborhood Social Capital Everyday / Lifetime Discrimination Religiosity Critical lifetime / recent events Work Stress Domain-specific stresses Work-family balance Documentation on: www.hrsonline.isr.umich.edu RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

6. What Do You Need to Do Know to Use HRS? • Spend time exploring and reading material on the HRS website http://www.hrsonline.isr.umich.edu RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

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15. HRS Summer Workshop at SRC/ ISR • Held in Ann Arbor, June 9 - 13, 2008 • Part of Survey Research Center’s Summer Institute in Survey Research Techniques • Substantive focus in 2008 on physical measures and biomarkers • To learn more or register: http://www.isr.umich.edu/src/si/

16. What Do You Need to Do and Know to Use HRS? • After browsing the HRS website………… • Decide on your set of variables and sample • Learn a statistical package (SPSS, SAS, STATA) • Learn how to merge data sets • Prepare / clean up the downloaded data • Run descriptive statistics • Build composite variables • Be creative ! RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

17. Examples of Research Questions • Does the structure of social networks differ for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics? • Do race/ethnic group differences in health change with age? • Perceived control of health and finances: Are age trends different for Whites, Blacks and Hispanics? RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

18. 70 Married 60 Divorced/Separated Widowed 50 Single 40 30 20 10 0 White Black Hispanic Race / Ethnicity Differences in Marital Status in HRS Percent This might be a variable to control in some analyses RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

19. 60 Zero 50 One Two 40 Three 30 Four 20 10 0 White Black Hispanic The Structure of Social Networks Race/Ethnic Group Differences Percent Count for presence of: - Spouse/partner - Children - Other family (siblings, grandchildren, in laws) - Friends RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

20. 60 No degree 50 GED High School 40 2 yr College 4 yr College 30 Masters 20 Professional 10 0 White Black Hispanic HRS Indicators of Socio-Economic Status e.g., Highest Level of Education Percent Another variable to control (or examine) in some analyses RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

21. HRS Indicators of Health Status e.g., Subjective Health (5-point Scale) Percent RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

22. White Black Hispanic 7 3 6 2.5 5 2 4 Number Number 1.5 3 1 2 0.5 1 Nr. FUNCTIONAL LIMITATIONS Nr. CHRONIC ILLNESSES 0 0 <54 55 60 65 70 75 80 >85 <54 55 60 65 70 75 80 >85 Age Groups Age Groups Race/Ethnicity Differences in Multimorbidity Age-cohort Trends RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

23. HRS Psychosocial and Lifestyle Battery in 2006 Questions about Perceived Control Q24 Using a 0 to 10 scale where 0 means “no control at all” and 10 means “very much control,” how would you rate the amount of control you have over your health these days? Q26 Using a 0 to 10 scale where 0 means “no control at all” and 10 means “very much control,” how would you rate the amount of control you have over your financial situation these days?

24. White Black Hispanic 0.5 0.5 0 0 z-score z-score -0.5 -0.5 HEALTH FINANCES -1 -1 <54 55 60 65 70 75 80 >85 <54 55 60 65 70 75 80 >85 Age Group Age Group Perceived Personal Control Over Health and Finances Age-cohort and Race Trends RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008

25. What Steps to Take Now? • Browse the HRS website • Find a research question to ask (or several) • Schedule some time to work • Enroll in the HRS Summer Institute Workshop • Write a proposal • BEGIN! Jacqui Smith smitjacq@isr-umich.edu RCMAR Annual Meeting: May, 2008