People

Professor Robert Stawski

Professor (R) and Deputy Director of IPHW

School of Health and Social Care

Email
robert.stawski@essex.ac.uk
Location

Colchester Campus

Profile

Biography

Professor Stawski is an interdisciplinary developmental health researcher, with training in experimental psychology, as well as ageing and mental health. His research program focuses on understanding the social, psychological, and biological underpinnings of mental, physical, and cognitive health throughout adulthood and ageing. Central to this program is the development, optimization, and application of novel approaches for studying people in their daily life contexts to understand the environmental, experiential, and social factors influencing health, wellbeing, and cognition in daily life. Strengthening our understanding of the contributions of individuals’ experiences and associated reactions (e.g., stress) in daily life represents a more proximal, realistic intervention target that could immediately reduce risk and improve outcomes, particularly among vulnerable, underserved, geographically diverse, and difficult-to-reach (e.g., rural) populations. Ultimately, with this work, Professor Stawski aims to inform how, when, and for whom intervention and prevention efforts should be targeted to promote both day-to-day and long-term health and wellbeing, health equity, and healthy ageing. Current research foci include: 1.) The proximal and long-term effects of stress on mental, physical, and cognitive health, and health inequalities 2.) Social and psychological determinants of cognitive health, cognitive ageing, and dementia risk across the life course 3.) Optimizing assessment of health, wellbeing, and cognition via intensive repeated measures (e.g., daily diary, ecological momentary assessment), ambulatory assessment, and measurement burst approaches 4.) Cognitive epidemiology – understanding how and why cognitive and brain health contribute to long-term health and wellbeing.

Qualifications

PhD Syracuse University,
MS Syracuse University,
BS Oklahoma State University,

Appointments

University of Essex

Deputy Director, Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing, University of Essex (1/4/2022 - present)
Professor (R), School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex (1/4/2022 - present)

Other academic

Associate Professor, School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences, Oregon State University (16/9/2013 - 31/1/2022)
Faculty Research Fellow, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (1/9/2010 - 31/8/2013)
Associate Research Scientist, Gerontology Center, Pennsylvania State University (1/7/2008 - 31/8/2010)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

The proximal and long-term effects of stress on mental, physical, and cognitive health, and health inequalities

Social and psychological determinants of cognitive health, cognitive ageing, and dementia risk across the life course

Optimizing assessment of health, wellbeing, and cognition via intensive repeated measures (e.g., daily diary, ecological momentary assessment), ambulatory assessment, and measurement burst approaches

Cognitive epidemiology – understanding how and why cognitive and brain health contribute to long-term health and wellbeing.

Publications

Journal articles (79)

Turner, SG., Witzel, DD., Stawski, RS. and Hooker, K., (2023). How Do Marital Transitions Affect Self-Perceptions of Aging?. Research on Aging. 45 (3-4), 374-384

Ni, Y., Geldhof, GJ., Chen, B-B. and Stawski, RS., (2022). Maturation or disruption? Conscientiousness development in the transition into adolescence. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 47 (2), 01650254221104068-122

Stawski, RS., Cichy, KE., Witzel, DD., Schuyler, AC. and Nichols, MJ., (2022). Daily Stress Processes as Potential Intervention Targets to Reduce Gender Differences and Improve Mental Health Outcomes in Mid- and Later Life.. Prevention Science, 1-11

Witzel, DD., Chandler, KD. and Stawski, RS., (2022). Affective Reactions to daily interpersonal stressors: Moderation by family involvement and gender. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 40 (3), 1044-1066

Smyth, JM., Zawadzki, MJ., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., Scott, SB., Johnson, J., Kim, J., Toledo, M., Stawski, RS., Sliwinski, MJ. and Almeida, DM., (2022). Computing Components of Everyday Stress Responses: Exploring Conceptual Challenges and New Opportunities. Perspectives on Psychological Science. 18 (1), 110-124

Piazza, JR., Landes, SD. and Stawski, RS., (2022). Age differences in allostatic load among veterans: The importance of combat exposure. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 35 (1), 257-268

Rothwell, DW., Giordono, L. and Stawski, RS., (2022). How Much Does State Context Matter in Emergency Savings? Disentangling the Individual and Contextual Contributions of the Financial Capability Constructs. Journal of Family and Economic Issues. 43 (4), 703-715

Gorenko, JA., Smith, AP., Hundza, SR., Halliday, DWR., DeCarlo, CA., Sheets, DJ., Stawski, RS. and MacDonald, SWS., (2021). A socially-engaged lifestyle moderates the association between gait velocity and cognitive impairment. Aging & Mental Health. 25 (4), 632-640

Cerino, ES., Hooker, K., Settersten Jr, RA., Odden, MC. and Stawski, RS., (2021). Daily linkages among high and low arousal affect and subjective cognitive complaints. Aging & Mental Health. 25 (5), 844-855

Cerino, ES., Stawski, RS., Settersten Jr, RA., Odden, MC. and Hooker, K., (2021). Aging-related changes in the association between negative affect and response time inconsistency in older adulthood. International journal of behavioral development. 45 (2), 109-121

Turner, SG., Hooker, K. and Stawski, RS., (2021). Women’s Self-Relevant Goal Pursuit in the Presence of Physical Pain: An Intraindividual Variability Approach. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 76 (8), 1565-1573

Witzel, DD. and Stawski, RS., (2021). Resolution status and age as moderators for interpersonal everyday stress and stressor-related affect. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 76 (10), 1926-1936

Lamb, KM., Stawski, RS. and Dermody, SS., (2021). Religious and Spiritual Development from Adolescence to Early Adulthood in the US: Changes over Time and Sexual Orientation Differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 50 (3), 973-982

Ping, Y., Oddén, MC., Stawski, RS., Abdel Magid, HS. and Wu, C., (2021). Creation and validation of a polysocial score for mortality among community-dwelling older adults in the USA: the health and retirement study. Age and ageing. 50 (6), 2214-2221

Recksiedler, C., Cheval, B., Sieber, S., Orsholits, D., Stawski, RS. and Cullati, S., (2021). Linking widowhood and later-life depressive symptoms: Do childhood socioeconomic circumstances matter?. Aging & Mental Health. 26 (11), 1-11

Robinette, JW., Piazza, JR. and Stawski, RS., (2021). Neighborhood safety concerns and daily well-being: A national diary study. Wellbeing, Space and Society. 2, 100047-100047

Munoz, E., Stawski, RS., Sliwinski, MJ., Smyth, JM. and MacDonald, SWS., (2020). The ups and downs of cognitive function: neuroticism and negative affect drive performance inconsistency. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 75 (2), 263-273

Scott, SB., Sliwinski, MJ., Zawadzki, M., Stawski, RS., Kim, J., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., Lanza, ST., Conroy, DE., Buxton, O. and Almeida, DM., (2020). A coordinated analysis of variance in affect in daily life. Assessment. 27 (8), 1683-1698

Cerino, ES., Stawski, RS., Geldhof, GJ. and MacDonald, SWS., (2020). Associations between control beliefs and response time inconsistency in older adults vary as a function of attentional task demands. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 75 (9), 1819-1830

MacDonald, SWS. and Stawski, RS., (2020). Longitudinal changes in response time mean and inconsistency exhibit predictive dissociations for risk of cognitive impairment.. Neuropsychology. 34 (3), 264-275

Stawski, RS., MacDonald, SWS., Brewster, PWH., Munoz, E., Cerino, ES. and Halliday, DWR., (2019). A comprehensive comparison of quantifications of intraindividual variability in response times: A measurement burst approach. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. 74 (3), 397-408

Phibbs, S., Stawski, RS., MacDonald, SWS., Munoz, E., Smyth, JM. and Sliwinski, MJ., (2019). The influence of social support and perceived stress on response time inconsistency. Aging & mental health. 23 (2), 214-221

Cerino, ES., Hooker, K., Stawski, RS. and McClelland, M., (2019). A new brief measure of executive function: adapting the head-toes-knees-shoulders task to older adults. The Gerontologist. 59 (4), e258-e267

Piazza, JR., Stawski, RS. and Sheffler, JL., (2019). Age, daily stress processes, and allostatic load: A longitudinal study. Journal of Aging and Health. 31 (9), 1671-1691

Stawski, RS., Cerino, ES., Witzel, DD. and MacDonald, SWS., (2019). Daily stress processes as contributors to and targets for promoting cognitive health in later life. Psychosomatic medicine. 81 (1), 81-89

Recksiedler, C. and Stawski, RS., (2019). Marital transitions and depressive symptoms among older adults: Examining educational differences. Gerontology. 65 (4), 407-418

Stawski, RS., Scott, SB., Zawadzki, MJ., Sliwinski, MJ., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., Kim, J., Lanza, ST., Green, PA., Almeida, DM. and Smyth, JM., (2019). Age differences in everyday stressor-related negative affect: A coordinated analysis.. Psychology and Aging. 34 (1), 91-105

Zawadzki, MJ., Scott, SB., Almeida, DM., Lanza, ST., Conroy, DE., Sliwinski, MJ., Kim, J., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., Stawski, RS. and Green, PM., (2019). Understanding stress reports in daily life: A coordinated analysis of factors associated with the frequency of reporting stress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 42 (3), 545-560

Halliday, DWR., Hundza, SR., Garcia-Barrera, MA., Klimstra, M., Commandeur, D., Lukyn, TV., Stawski, RS. and MacDonald, SWS., (2018). Comparing executive function, evoked hemodynamic response, and gait as predictors of variations in mobility for older adults. Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology. 40 (2), 151-160

Smyth, JM., Sliwinski, MJ., Zawadzki, MJ., Scott, SB., Conroy, DE., Lanza, ST., Marcusson-Clavertz, D., Kim, J., Stawski, RS. and Stoney, CM., (2018). Everyday stress response targets in the science of behavior change. Behaviour research and therapy. 101, 20-29

Halliday, DWR., Stawski, RS., Cerino, ES., DeCarlo, CA., Grewal, K. and MacDonald, SWS., (2018). Intraindividual variability across neuropsychological tests: Dispersion and disengaged lifestyle increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Intelligence. 6 (1), 12-

Witzel, DD., Stawski, RS. and Chandler, KD., (2018). Daily social stressors and emotional reactivity: The role of unresolved stressors. Innovation in Aging. 2 (Suppl 1), 800-

Halliday, D., Stawski, R., Cerino, E., DeCarlo, C., Grewal, K. and MacDonald, S., (2018). Intraindividual Variability across Neuropsychological Tests: Dispersion and Disengaged Lifestyle Increase Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease. Journal of Intelligence. 6 (1), 12-12

Wu, C., Shlipak, MG., Stawski, RS., Peralta, CA., Psaty, BM., Harris, TB., Satterfield, S., Shiroma, EJ., Newman, AB. and Odden, MC., (2017). Visit-to-visit blood pressure variability and mortality and cardiovascular outcomes among older adults: the health, aging, and body composition study. American journal of hypertension. 30 (2), 151-158

Halliday, DWR., Stawski, RS. and MacDonald, SWS., (2017). Cognitively-impaired-not-demented status moderates the time-varying association between finger tapping inconsistency and executive performance. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology. 32 (1), 110-116

Sin, NL., Ong, AD., Stawski, RS. and Almeida, DM., (2017). Daily positive events and diurnal cortisol rhythms: Examination of between-person differences and within-person variation. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 83, 91-100

Halliday, DWR., Mulligan, BP., Garrett, DD., Schmidt, S., Hundza, SR., Garcia-Barrera, MA., Stawski, RS. and MacDonald, SWS., (2017). Mean and variability in functional brain activations differentially predict executive function in older adults: an investigation employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Neurophotonics. 5 (1), 011013-1

Yao, C., Stawski, RS., Hultsch, DF. and MacDonald, SWS., (2016). Selective attrition and intraindividual variability in response time moderate cognitive change. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 38 (2), 227-237

Grand, JHG., Stawski, RS. and MacDonald, SWS., (2016). Comparing individual differences in inconsistency and plasticity as predictors of cognitive function in older adults. Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology. 38 (5), 534-550

Wu, C., Odden, MC., Fisher, GG. and Stawski, RS., (2016). Association of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA. J Epidemiol Community Health. 70 (9), 917-923

Braverman, MT., Stawski, RS., Samdal, O. and Aarø, LE., (2016). Daily smoking and subjective health complaints in adolescence. Nicotine & Tobacco Research. 19 (1), 102-110

Mroczek, DK., Stawski, RS., Turiano, NA., Chan, W., Almeida, DM., Neupert, SD. and Spiro III, A., (2015). Emotional reactivity and mortality: Longitudinal findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 70 (3), 398-406

Hammond, M., Cleveland, JN., O'Neill, JW., Stawski, RS. and Tate, AJ., (2015). Mediators of transformational leadership and the work-family relationship. Journal of Managerial Psychology. 30 (4), 454-469

Stawski, RS., MacDonald, SWS. and Sliwinski, MJ., (2015). Measurement burst design. The encyclopedia of adulthood and aging, 1-5

John Geldhof, G. and Stawski, RS., (2015). Invariance. The encyclopedia of adulthood and aging, 1-6

Stawski, RS., Smith, J. and MacDonald, SWS., (2015). Intraindividual variability and covariation across domains in adulthood and aging: Contributions for understanding behavior, health, and development., 258-279

Cichy, KE., Stawski, RS. and Almeida, DM., (2014). A double-edged sword: Race, daily family support exchanges, and daily well-being. Journal of Family Issues. 35 (13), 1824-1845

Queen, TL., Stawski, RS., Ryan, LH. and Smith, J., (2014). Loneliness in a day: activity engagement, time alone, and experienced emotions.. Psychology and Aging. 29 (2), 297-305

Piazza, JR., Charles, ST., Stawski, RS. and Almeida, DM., (2013). Age and the association between negative affective states and diurnal cortisol.. Psychology and Aging. 28 (1), 47-56

Stawski, RS., Cichy, KE., Piazza, JR. and Almeida, DM., (2013). Associations among daily stressors and salivary cortisol: Findings from the National Study of Daily Experiences. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 38 (11), 2654-2665

Stawski, RS., Mogle, JA. and Sliwinski, MJ., (2013). Associations among fluid and crystallized cognition and daily stress processes in older adults.. Psychology and Aging. 28 (1), 57-63

Stawski, RS., Sliwinski, MJ. and Hofer, SM., (2013). Between-person and within-person associations among processing speed, attention switching, and working memory in younger and older adults. Experimental Aging Research. 39 (2), 194-214

Stawski, RS., Mogle, JA. and Sliwinski, MJ., (2013). Daily stressors and self-reported changes in memory in old age: The mediating effects of daily negative affect and cognitive interference. Aging & mental health. 17 (2), 168-172

Karlamangla, AS., Friedman, EM., Seeman, TE., Stawski, RS. and Almeida, DM., (2013). Daytime trajectories of cortisol: demographic and socioeconomic differences--findings form the National Study of Daily Experiences. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 38 (11), 2585-97

Costanzo, ES., Stawski, RS., Ryff, CD., Coe, CL. and Almeida, DM., (2012). Cancer survivors' responses to daily stressors: implications for quality of life.. Health Psychology. 31 (3), 360-370

Cichy, KE., Stawski, RS. and Almeida, DM., (2012). Racial differences in exposure and reactivity to daily family stressors. Journal of Marriage and Family. 74 (3), 572-586

Stawski, RS., Almeida, DM., Lachman, ME., Tun, PA., Rosnick, CB. and Seeman, T., (2011). Associations between cognitive function and naturally occurring daily cortisol during middle adulthood: timing is everything. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 66 (suppl_1), i71-i81

Stawski, RS., Mogle, J. and Sliwinski, MJ., (2011). Intraindividual coupling of daily stressors and cognitive interference in old age. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 66 (suppl_1), i121-i129

Almeida, DM., Stawski, RS. and Cichy, KE., (2011). Combining checklist and interview approaches for assessing daily stressors: The Daily Inventory of Stressful Events. The handbook of stress science: Biology, psychology, and health, 583-595

Walls, TA., Barta, WD., Stawski, ROBERTS., Collyer, C. and Hofer, SM., (2011). Time-scale-dependent longitudinal designs. Handbook of developmental research methods, 46-64

Seltzer, MM., Greenberg, JS., Hong, J., Smith, LE., Almeida, DM., Coe, C. and Stawski, RS., (2010). Maternal cortisol levels and behavior problems in adolescents and adults with ASD. Journal of autism and developmental disorders. 40 (4), 457-469

Stawski, RS., Almeida, DM., Lachman, ME., Tun, PA. and Rosnick, CB., (2010). Fluid cognitive ability is associated with greater exposure and smaller reactions to daily stressors.. Psychology and aging. 25 (2), 330-342

Hoffman, L. and Stawski, RS., (2009). Persons as contexts: Evaluating between-person and within-person effects in longitudinal analysis. Research in human development. 6 (2-3), 97-120

O’neill, JW., Harrison, MM., Cleveland, J., Almeida, D., Stawski, R. and Crouter, AC., (2009). Work–family climate, organizational commitment, and turnover: Multilevel contagion effects of leaders. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 74 (1), 18-29

Almeida, DM., Piazza, JR. and Stawski, RS., (2009). Interindividual differences and intraindividual variability in the cortisol awakening response: an examination of age and gender.. Psychology and aging. 24 (4), 819-827

Sliwinski, MJ., Almeida, DM., Smyth, J. and Stawski, RS., (2009). Intraindividual change and variability in daily stress processes: findings from two measurement-burst diary studies.. Psychology and aging. 24 (4), 828-840

Seltzer, MM., Almeida, DM., Greenberg, JS., Savla, J., Stawski, RS., Hong, J. and Taylor, JL., (2009). Psychosocial and biological markers of daily lives of midlife parents of children with disabilities. Journal of Health and Social behavior. 50 (1), 1-15

Stawski, RS., Sliwinski, MJ. and Smyth, JM., (2009). The effects of an acute psychosocial stressor on episodic memory. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology. 21 (6), 897-918

O’Neill, JW., Harrison, MM., Cleveland, J., Almeida, D., Stawski, R. and Crouter, AC., (2009). Work–family climate, organizational commitment, and turnover: Multilevel contagion effects of leaders. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 74 (1), 18-29

Stawski, RS., Sliwinski, MJ., Almeida, DM. and Smyth, JM., (2008). Reported exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stressors: the roles of adult age and global perceived stress.. Psychology and aging. 23 (1), 52-61

Mogle, JA., Lovett, BJ., Stawski, RS. and Sliwinski, MJ., (2008). What's so special about working memory? An examination of the relationships among working memory, secondary memory, and fluid intelligence. Psychological science. 19 (11), 1071-1077

Aronson, KR., Almeida, DM., Stawski, RS., Klein, LC. and Kozlowski, LT., (2008). Smoking is associated with worse mood on stressful days: results from a national diary study. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 36 (3), 259-269

Neupert, SD., Stawski, RS. and Almeida, DM., (2008). Considerations for sampling time in research on aging: Examples from research on stress and cognition.

Stawski, RS., Hershey, DA. and Jacobs-Lawson, JM., (2007). Goal clarity and financial planning activities as determinants of retirement savings contributions. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development. 64 (1), 13-32

Sliwinski, MJ., Smyth, JM., Hofer, SM. and Stawski, RS., (2006). Intraindividual coupling of daily stress and cognition.. Psychology and aging. 21 (3), 545-557

Sliwinski, MJ., Stawski, RS., Hall, CB., Katz, M., Verghese, J. and Lipton, R., (2006). Distinguishing preterminal and terminal cognitive decline.. European Psychologist. 11 (3), 172-181

Stawski, RS., Sliwinski, MJ. and Smyth, JM., (2006). Stress-related cognitive interference predicts cognitive function in old age.. Psychology and aging. 21 (3), 535-544

Stawski, RS., (2006). Examination of the effects of exposure to stress and stress-reactivity on selective attention performance

Hoyer, WJ., Stawski, RS., Wasylyshyn, C. and Verhaeghen, P., (2004). Adult age and digit symbol substitution performance: a meta-analysis.. Psychology and aging. 19 (1), 211-214

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Book chapters (7)

MacDonald, SWS. and Stawski, RS., (2016). Methodological considerations for the study of adult development and aging. In: Handbook of the psychology of aging. Academic Press. 15- 40. 9780124115231

MacDonald, SWS. and Stawski, RS., (2014). Intraindividual variability—an indicator of vulnerability or resilience in adult development and aging?. In: Handbook of intraindividual variability across the life span. Routledge. 251- 277. 0203113063

Mogle, J., Almeida, DM. and Stawski, RS., (2014). Psychometric properties of microlongitudinal assessments: Between-and within-person reliability, factor structure, and discriminant validity of daily cognitive interference. In: Handbook of intraindividual variability across the life span. Routledge. 313- 327. 0203113063

Macdonald, SWS. and Stawski, RS., (2014). Intraindividual variability—an indicator of vulnerability or resilience in adult development and aging?. In: Handbook of Intraindividual Variability Across the Life Span. 231- 257. 9780415534864

Mogle, J., Almeida, DM. and Stawski, RS., (2014). Psychometric properties of microlongitudinal assessments: Between- and within-person reliability, factor structure, and discriminant validity of daily cognitive interference. In: Handbook of Intraindividual Variability Across the Life Span. 293- 307. 9780415534864

Almeida, DM., Piazza, JR., Stawski, RS. and Klein, LC., (2011). The speedometer of life: Stress, health and aging. In: Handbook of the psychology of aging. Academic Press. 191- 206. 9780123808820

Sliwinski, MJ., Smyth, JM., Stawski, RS. and Wasylyshyn, C., (2005). Stress and working memory: Between-person and within-person relationships. In: Cognitive limitations in aging and psychopathology. Cambridge University Press. 73- 94. 9780521834070

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Conferences (3)

Almeida, D., Stawski, RS. and Cichy, KE., (2011). Variations within the eye of the beholder: Assessing event variability in stressor appraisals

O'NEILL, JW., Harrison, MM., Cleveland, JN., Almeida, D., Stawski, RS., Snead, AMY. and Crouter, ANN., (2007). WORK-FAMILY CLIMATE, ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT, AND TURNOVER: THE MULTILEVEL CONTAGION EFFECT OF LEADERS.

Begeny, J., Buchler, N., Kleinmann, A., Leader, T., Lee, S., Neal, D., Onyper, S., Rosenblatt, M., Stawski, R. and Wasylyshyn, C., (2003). Does music have charms to soothe the demented breast? A meta-analytic integration of music therapy for dementia

Other (1)

Stawski, RS., (2013).Multilevel analysis: an introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling,Taylor & Francis Group

Grants and funding

2023

Yu Life Limited KTP 22_23 R4

Innovate UK (formerly Technology Strategy Board)

Contact

robert.stawski@essex.ac.uk

Location:

Colchester Campus

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