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Assistant Professor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
CH 329

Research Interests: Adulthood and aging, Close relationships, Social interaction, Psychoneuroimmunology, Ecological momentary assessment, Multitemporal longitudinal assessment

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

  • B.A., Rhodes College, Memphis, TN, Psychology
  • M.S., The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, Human Development and Family Studies
  • Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, Human Development and Family Studies
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, Psychoneuroimmunology

Dr. Wilson started the SHARE lab (the Study of Health, Aging, and Relationships) to investigate the biopsychosocial paths by which close relationships shape health and well-being across adulthood and older age. Her lab has studied both healthy and chronically ill populations using a variety of methods: observational and experimental designs; in the lab and daily life; with biomarker, physiological, self-report, and observational coding modalities; analyzed using a wide range of quantitative methods; and across temporal frames (i.e., across moments, hours, days, months, and years).

Funded by a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence award from the National Institute on Aging, a central aim of Dr. Wilson’s recent work has been to integrate social-emotional theories of aging with a dyadic perspective to examine how couples’ interactions and their immune responses may evolve across adulthood. One of her long-term objectives is to understand how to optimize relational resources to extend our healthy years by applying basic biobehavioral findings to develop and improve interventions.

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  • Recent Courses
    • Quantitative Methods
    • Health Psychology
  • Select Publications
    • Wilson, S. J., & Koffer, R. E. (in press). Lonely days: The unique role of day-to-day loneliness in biomarkers of aging and physical function. Health Psychology. Featured in special issue on Social Influences on Physical Health.
    • Wilson, S. J., Syed, S. U.*, Yang, I. S.*, & Cole, S. W. (in press). A tale of two marital stressors: Comparing proinflammatory responses to partner distress and marital conflict. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.
    • Wilson, S. J., & Marini, C. M. (in press). Older adults’ social profiles and links to functional and biological aging in the United States and Mexico. Psychosomatic Medicine. doi: 10.1097/psy.0000000000001248. Recipient of NIH Stress Measurement Network’s Exemplar Research in Stress and Aging award, and featured in special issue on Geroscience, Aging and Behavioral Medicine.
    • Syed, S. U.*, Cortez, J. I.*, & Wilson, S. J. (in press). Depression, inflammation, and the moderating role of metformin: Results from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Study and Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (SALSA). Psychosomatic Medicine. doi: 10.1097/psy.0000000000001257. Recipient of Graduate Student Diversity Research Award, and featured in special issue on Geroscience, Aging and Behavioral Medicine.
    • Wilson, S. J., Cole, S. W., Shrout, M. R., Malarkey, W. B., Andridge, R., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2023). Your suffering is my stressor: Proinflammatory gene expression rises with spousal distress in middle-aged and older couples. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 153, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106116. Selected as Editor’s Choice for this volume of Psychoneuroendocrinology.
    • Wilson, S. J., Novak, J. R., Yorgason, J. B., Martire, L. M., & Lyons, K. S. (2022). New Opportunities for Advancing Dyadic Health Science in Gerontology. The Gerontologist. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnac187.
    • Wilson, S. J., & Novak, J. R. (2022). The implications of being “in it together”: Relationship satisfaction and joint health behaviors predict better health and stronger concordance between partners. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 56, 1014-1025. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaab099. Selected as a Top Publication by the Dyadic Research Interest Group of the Gerontological Society of America.
    • Wilson, S. J., Padin, A. C., Bailey, B. E., Andridge, R., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2020). Spousal bereavement after dementia caregiving: A turning point for immune health. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 118, epub ahead of print. Selected for the NIH Matilda White Riley Behavioral and Social Sciences Early Stage Investigator Award and the Gerontological Society of America Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award.
    • Wilson, S. J., Martire, L. M., & Sliwinski, M. J. (2017). Daily spouse responsiveness predicts longer-term trajectories of physical function. Psychological Science, 28(6), 786 - 797. doi: 10.1177/0956797617697444.

    Please visit Dr. Wilson’s Google Scholar page for more information about her publications.