The Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR) archives materials older than three years that are no longer updated. This content is available for historical purposes, and the information and links may have changed over time.
Data from more than 23,000 women were used to examine 360 traits that fell into the following categories: Anthropometric traits, Cancer, Cardiovascular Health, Dietary Habits, Drinking Behaviors, Gastrointestinal Health, General Health, Physical Acti…
Humans and other animals develop infections and experience bouts of sickness. Fortunately, we are equipped with an immune system that, among other things, releases inflammatory cytokines to clear pathogens from the body and initiate repair to the sur…
A large body of research across the social sciences embraces the idea that social relationships play an important and positive role in promoting mental health and particularly preventing suicide. Yet research also shows there can be downsides to stro…
By 2040, nearly one-fifth of the U.S. population will be over age 65, and the vast majority of these seniors will be aging in place, or residing independently in their long-term residences. Many older adults have lived in their residences for 30 year…
While there have been sizable gains in women’s paid employment over the last thirty years, women’s employment rates remain uneven and some research suggests that employment rates have stalled in recent years. Diversity in women’s employment trends ma…
Four pairs of toys were presented to each of the 11 participants for 30 seconds, with half the toys presented with joint engagement and the other half without joint engagement. During the joint engagement condition, the examiner strove to engage the…
Recently, numerous empirical studies have been published on utilitarian walking as a travel mode due to benefits of walking on physical and mental health, as well as its potential to decrease air pollution and traffic congestion and to promote sustai…
Between January 2008 and February 2010, 8.8 million people lost their jobs, real personal income declined by 6%, and net household wealth fell by 15%. The “Great Recession” simultaneously shocked the employment, housing, and stock markets—the primary…
Social inequalities in infant health are a highly prioritized population health issue in our country. Rates of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birthweight (2,500 g), are consistently higher among poor and unmarried women, as well as non-Hisp…
Large-scale data mining of more than 1,000 human genomes recently discovered genetic variants related to differences in educational attainment. We followed-up results from that data mining study to uncover the developmental and behavioral paths that…
