Natalie Slopen
Biographic Data
| ID | 82927 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Natalie Slopen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Natalie |
| FAMILY NAME | Slopen |
| SIGNATURE | SLOPEN N |
| AFFILIATIONS | Harvard University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5644-6007 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 36 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 299 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 36 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Pathways Connecting Housing Assistance to Child Well-Being in Families Experiencing Homelessness
Call to action
The frequency and severity of heat waves are expected to worsen with climate change. Exposure to extreme heat, or prolonged unusually high temperatures, are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The fetus, infant, and young child are more sensitive to higher temperatures than older children and most adults given that they are rapidly developing. During pregnancy, exposure to extreme heat may result in dehydration, inflammation, and r…
Self-Reported Disability Type and Risk of Alcohol-Induced Death – A Longitudinal Study Using Nationally Representative Data
BACKGROUND: Disability is associated with alcohol misuse and drug overdose death, however, its association with alcohol-induced death remains understudied. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the risk of alcohol-induced death among adults with different types of disabilities in a nationally representative longitudinal sample of US adults. METHODS: = 3,324,000). Baseline data were collected in 2008 and mortality outcomes were ascertained through 2019 using the…
Longitudinal relationships between early-life homelessness and school-aged asthma and wheezing
BACKGROUND: Homelessness is a disruptive life event with profound impacts on children's health. It remains unclear, however, whether homelessness in early life has an enduring association with asthma and wheezing among school-aged children. OBJECTIVE: To test whether early-life homelessness is prospectively associated with asthma and wheezing during school-aged years. METHODS: We draw on data from 9242 children from the Avon Longitudinal Study of…
Quality of life in the year after new diagnosis with advanced prostate cancer for Black and White individuals living in the US
Residential instability during adolescence and health and wellbeing in adulthood
Longitudinal patterns of childhood homelessness and early adolescent trajectories of internalising and externalising behaviour
BACKGROUND: Child homelessness has been associated with elevated mental health problems during early adolescence, a period of onset for psychiatric problems. Prior literature has relied on cross-sectional studies, limiting the understanding of temporality and trajectories of psychopathology. We extend prior literature by examining associations between child homelessness and internalising and externalising symptom trajectories in early adolescence…
Family Stressors and Resources as Social Determinants of Health among Caregivers and Young Children
Life course-informed theories of development suggest it is important to integrate information about positive and negative aspects of the social environment into studies of child and parental wellbeing, including both stressors that compromise health and resources that promote well-being. We recruited a sample of 169 pairs of caregivers and young children (birth to 5 years) from a community health clinic and administered survey questions to assess…
The Effects of Rental Assistance Programs on Neighborhood Outcomes for U.S. Children
Project-based housing programs and tenant-based housing programs (vouchers) may have differential effects on neighborhood outcomes for residents. Theoretically, vouchers should enhance access to low-poverty neighborhoods for low-income families thereby promoting economic mobility for children, though vouchers’ success may vary by race and ethnicity. Drawing on a national survey-administrative data linkage and a quasi-experimental approach, we exa…
A life course approach to understanding stress exposures and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults
These findings offer support to the hypothesis that stress exposures, accumulated over the life course, worsen cognitive performance, but limited support for the hypothesis that these exposures promote cognitive decline
Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health
Inequalities in health outcomes impose substantial human and economic costs on all societies—and the relation between early adversity and lifelong well-being presents a rich scientific framework for fresh thinking about health promotion and disease prevention broadly, augmented by a deeper focus on how racism influences disparities more specifically. This review begins with an overview of advances in the biology of adversity and resilience throug…
Racial Discrimination and Health-Related Quality of Life
Stigma in a Collectivistic Culture
The Benefits of Rental Assistance for Children's Health and School Attendance in the United States
Programs that provide affordable and stable housing may contribute to better child health and thus to fewer missed days of school. Drawing on a unique linkage of survey and administrative data, we use a quasi-experimental approach to examine the impact of rental assistance programs on missed days of school due to illness. We compare missed school days due to illness among children receiving rental assistance with those who will enter assistance w…
“I‘m Literally Drowning”
Research Findings The primary goal of this exploratory mixed-methods study was to obtain a deeper understanding of center-based child care providers serving infants and toddlers. Secondarily, we explored the potential for a two-pronged mindfulness-based caregiving intervention for such providers to (a) reduce stress and (b) support caregiving behaviors. We conducted (a) individual interviews with three child care center directors and (b) three ce…
Longitudinal Analysis of Psychosocial Stressors and Body Mass Index in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States
Different sources of stress may be risk factors to weight gain and affect BMI in adults. White and female adults may be more susceptible to the obesogenic effects of stressors. Reducing exposure to stress may help reduce the burden of high BMI among middle-aged and older adults
Pervasive Discrimination and Allostatic Load in African American and White Adults
More pervasive discrimination was related to greater multisystemic physiological dysregulation in a cohort of African American and white adults. Measuring discrimination by combining multiple forms of discriminatory experiences may be important for studying the health effects of discrimination
Latent class analysis of a syndemic of risk factors on HIV testing among black men
Syndemic methodology has been employed in several studies of HIV-related outcomes affecting Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) and rarely in Black heterosexual men. In contrast to the most common method for assessing syndemics, the use of a syndemic component index, latent class analysis can identify unique combinations of risk factors that may form a syndemic. Analyzing a primarily heterosexual sample of 1,786 Black men from the 2015 Behavio…
The Consequences of Foster Care Versus Institutional Care in Early Childhood on Adolescent Cardiometabolic and Immune Markers
OBJECTIVE: Children exposed to institutional rearing often exhibit problems across a broad array of developmental domains. We compared the consequences of long-term, high-quality foster care versus standard institution-based care, which began in early childhood on cardiometabolic and immune markers assessed at the time of adolescence. METHODS: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is a longitudinal investigation of children institutionalized d…
Maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and C-reactive protein levels in young children in Tanzania
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical public health issue that impacts women and children across the globe. Prior studies have documented that maternal experiences of IPV are associated with adverse psychological and physical health outcomes in children; however, research on the underlying physiological pathways linking IPV to these conditions is limited. Drawing on data from the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, we examined th…
The Impact of Housing Assistance on the Mental Health of Children in the United States
Housing assistance policies may lead to improved mental health for children and adolescents by improving housing quality, stability, and affordability. We use a unique data linkage of the National Health Interview Survey and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development administrative data to examine the impact of housing assistance on parent-reported mental health outcomes for children ages 2 to 17 (N = 1,967). We account for selection into h…
Racial Disparities in Child Adversity in the U.S.
Discrimination and sleep
Childhood Exposure to Violence and Chronic Physical Conditions in a National Sample of US Adolescents
OBJECTIVES: Exposure to violence is associated with chronic physical conditions in adults. Although violence exposure is common among youths, it is unknown whether violence is associated with chronic physical conditions in childhood and adolescence. We examined the associations of violence exposure with chronic physical conditions in a population-representative sample of US adolescents and determined whether associations were explained by co-occu…
Multidimensional religious involvement and tobacco smoking patterns over 9-10 years
Racial Disparities in Health
Despite the widespread assumption that racial differences in stress exist and that stress is a key mediator linking racial status to poor health, relatively few studies have explicitly examined this premise. We examine the distribution of stress across racial groups and the role of stress vulnerability and exposure in explaining racial differences in health in a community sample of Black, Hispanic, and White adults, employing a modeling strategy …
Pervasive Discrimination and Allostatic Load in African American and White Adults
More pervasive discrimination was related to greater multisystemic physiological dysregulation in a cohort of African American and white adults. Measuring discrimination by combining multiple forms of discriminatory experiences may be important for studying the health effects of discrimination
Sex, stressful life events, and adult onset depression and alcohol dependence
Household food insufficiency and mental health in South Africa
BACKGROUND: Both mental illness and food insufficiency are common in low and middle income countries. However, there are limited data on the relation between food insufficiency and mental disorders, despite the potential relevance of such data for the development of policy-level interventions. The relationship between food insufficiency and mental disorders within a nationally representative sample of South African adults was examined. METHODS: A…
The Impact of Housing Assistance on the Mental Health of Children in the United States
Housing assistance policies may lead to improved mental health for children and adolescents by improving housing quality, stability, and affordability. We use a unique data linkage of the National Health Interview Survey and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development administrative data to examine the impact of housing assistance on parent-reported mental health outcomes for children ages 2 to 17 (N = 1,967). We account for selection into h…
Influence of Community Social Norms on Spousal Violence
Objectives. We examined whether social norms toward spousal violence in Nigeria, at the state level, are associated with a woman’s exposure to physical and sexual violence perpetrated by her husband. Methods. Using data from the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey, we fit four 3-level random intercepts models to examine contextual factors associated with spousal violence while accounting for individual-level predictors. Results. Of the 18 798 ever…
Some Recovery Processes in Mutual-Help Groups for Persons with Mental Illness; II
A life course approach to understanding stress exposures and cognitive function among middle-aged and older adults
These findings offer support to the hypothesis that stress exposures, accumulated over the life course, worsen cognitive performance, but limited support for the hypothesis that these exposures promote cognitive decline
The Effects of Rental Assistance Programs on Neighborhood Outcomes for U.S. Children
Project-based housing programs and tenant-based housing programs (vouchers) may have differential effects on neighborhood outcomes for residents. Theoretically, vouchers should enhance access to low-poverty neighborhoods for low-income families thereby promoting economic mobility for children, though vouchers’ success may vary by race and ethnicity. Drawing on a national survey-administrative data linkage and a quasi-experimental approach, we exa…
The Benefits of Rental Assistance for Children's Health and School Attendance in the United States
Programs that provide affordable and stable housing may contribute to better child health and thus to fewer missed days of school. Drawing on a unique linkage of survey and administrative data, we use a quasi-experimental approach to examine the impact of rental assistance programs on missed days of school due to illness. We compare missed school days due to illness among children receiving rental assistance with those who will enter assistance w…
Multidimensional religious involvement and tobacco smoking patterns over 9-10 years
Longitudinal Analysis of Psychosocial Stressors and Body Mass Index in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States
Different sources of stress may be risk factors to weight gain and affect BMI in adults. White and female adults may be more susceptible to the obesogenic effects of stressors. Reducing exposure to stress may help reduce the burden of high BMI among middle-aged and older adults
Longitudinal patterns of childhood homelessness and early adolescent trajectories of internalising and externalising behaviour
BACKGROUND: Child homelessness has been associated with elevated mental health problems during early adolescence, a period of onset for psychiatric problems. Prior literature has relied on cross-sectional studies, limiting the understanding of temporality and trajectories of psychopathology. We extend prior literature by examining associations between child homelessness and internalising and externalising symptom trajectories in early adolescence…
Predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to violence in Nigeria
OBJECTIVES: To simultaneously examine contextual and individual-level predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to physical and sexual violence in Nigeria. DESIGN: A multi-level cross-sectional study. We fit three 3-level random intercepts models to examine contextual and individual-level characteristics associated with help seeking, simultaneously. SETTING: Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey for 2008. PARTICIPANTS: 5553 women …
Adversities in childhood and adult psychopathology in the South Africa Stress and Health Study
Some Recovery Processes in Mutual-Help Groups for Persons with Mental Illness; II
Early Life Adversity and Inflammation in African Americans and Whites in the Midlife in the United States Survey
Objectives: To determine whether early life adversity (ELA) was predictive of inflammatory markers and to determine the consistency of these associations across racial groups. Methods: We analyzed data from 177 African Americans and 822 whites aged 35 to 86 years from two preliminary subsamples of the Midlife in the United States biomarker study. ELA was measured via retrospective self-report. We used multivariate linear regression models to exam…
Adversities in childhood and adult psychopathology in the South Africa Stress and Health Study
Household food insufficiency and mental health in South Africa
BACKGROUND: Both mental illness and food insufficiency are common in low and middle income countries. However, there are limited data on the relation between food insufficiency and mental disorders, despite the potential relevance of such data for the development of policy-level interventions. The relationship between food insufficiency and mental disorders within a nationally representative sample of South African adults was examined. METHODS: A…
Sex, stressful life events, and adult onset depression and alcohol dependence
Racial Disparities in Health
Despite the widespread assumption that racial differences in stress exist and that stress is a key mediator linking racial status to poor health, relatively few studies have explicitly examined this premise. We examine the distribution of stress across racial groups and the role of stress vulnerability and exposure in explaining racial differences in health in a community sample of Black, Hispanic, and White adults, employing a modeling strategy …
Childhood Gender Nonconformity, Bullying Victimization, and Depressive Symptoms Across Adolescence and Early Adulthood
Influence of Community Social Norms on Spousal Violence
Objectives. We examined whether social norms toward spousal violence in Nigeria, at the state level, are associated with a woman’s exposure to physical and sexual violence perpetrated by her husband. Methods. Using data from the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey, we fit four 3-level random intercepts models to examine contextual factors associated with spousal violence while accounting for individual-level predictors. Results. Of the 18 798 ever…
Discrimination, Other Psychosocial Stressors, and Self-Reported Sleep Duration and Difficulties
OBJECTIVES: To advance understanding of the relationship between discrimination and sleep duration and difficulties, with consideration of multiple dimensions of discrimination, and attention to concurrent stressors; and to examine the contribution of discrimination and other stressors to racial/ ethnic differences in these outcomes. DESIGN: Cross-sectional probability sample. SETTING: Chicago, IL. PARTICIPANTS: There were 2,983 black, Hispanic, …
Childhood Adversity, Adult Neighborhood Context, and Cumulative Biological Risk for Chronic Diseases in Adulthood
OBJECTIVE: We examined the association between childhood adversity and cumulative biological risk for a variety of chronic diseases in adulthood, and whether this association varied by neighborhood affluence. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Chicago Community Adult Health Study (2001-2003), a cross-sectional probability sample that included interviews and blood collection (n = 550 adults). A childhood adversity score was calculated from eight it…
Predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to violence in Nigeria
OBJECTIVES: To simultaneously examine contextual and individual-level predictors of help-seeking behaviour among women exposed to physical and sexual violence in Nigeria. DESIGN: A multi-level cross-sectional study. We fit three 3-level random intercepts models to examine contextual and individual-level characteristics associated with help seeking, simultaneously. SETTING: Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey for 2008. PARTICIPANTS: 5553 women …
Multidimensional religious involvement and tobacco smoking patterns over 9-10 years
Racial Disparities in Child Adversity in the U.S.
Discrimination and sleep
Childhood Exposure to Violence and Chronic Physical Conditions in a National Sample of US Adolescents
OBJECTIVES: Exposure to violence is associated with chronic physical conditions in adults. Although violence exposure is common among youths, it is unknown whether violence is associated with chronic physical conditions in childhood and adolescence. We examined the associations of violence exposure with chronic physical conditions in a population-representative sample of US adolescents and determined whether associations were explained by co-occu…
Maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and C-reactive protein levels in young children in Tanzania
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a critical public health issue that impacts women and children across the globe. Prior studies have documented that maternal experiences of IPV are associated with adverse psychological and physical health outcomes in children; however, research on the underlying physiological pathways linking IPV to these conditions is limited. Drawing on data from the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, we examined th…
The Impact of Housing Assistance on the Mental Health of Children in the United States
Housing assistance policies may lead to improved mental health for children and adolescents by improving housing quality, stability, and affordability. We use a unique data linkage of the National Health Interview Survey and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development administrative data to examine the impact of housing assistance on parent-reported mental health outcomes for children ages 2 to 17 (N = 1,967). We account for selection into h…
Latent class analysis of a syndemic of risk factors on HIV testing among black men
Syndemic methodology has been employed in several studies of HIV-related outcomes affecting Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) and rarely in Black heterosexual men. In contrast to the most common method for assessing syndemics, the use of a syndemic component index, latent class analysis can identify unique combinations of risk factors that may form a syndemic. Analyzing a primarily heterosexual sample of 1,786 Black men from the 2015 Behavio…
The Consequences of Foster Care Versus Institutional Care in Early Childhood on Adolescent Cardiometabolic and Immune Markers
OBJECTIVE: Children exposed to institutional rearing often exhibit problems across a broad array of developmental domains. We compared the consequences of long-term, high-quality foster care versus standard institution-based care, which began in early childhood on cardiometabolic and immune markers assessed at the time of adolescence. METHODS: The Bucharest Early Intervention Project is a longitudinal investigation of children institutionalized d…
“I‘m Literally Drowning”
Research Findings The primary goal of this exploratory mixed-methods study was to obtain a deeper understanding of center-based child care providers serving infants and toddlers. Secondarily, we explored the potential for a two-pronged mindfulness-based caregiving intervention for such providers to (a) reduce stress and (b) support caregiving behaviors. We conducted (a) individual interviews with three child care center directors and (b) three ce…
Longitudinal Analysis of Psychosocial Stressors and Body Mass Index in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the United States
Different sources of stress may be risk factors to weight gain and affect BMI in adults. White and female adults may be more susceptible to the obesogenic effects of stressors. Reducing exposure to stress may help reduce the burden of high BMI among middle-aged and older adults
Pervasive Discrimination and Allostatic Load in African American and White Adults
More pervasive discrimination was related to greater multisystemic physiological dysregulation in a cohort of African American and white adults. Measuring discrimination by combining multiple forms of discriminatory experiences may be important for studying the health effects of discrimination
Early Childhood Adversity, Toxic Stress, and the Impacts of Racism on the Foundations of Health
Inequalities in health outcomes impose substantial human and economic costs on all societies—and the relation between early adversity and lifelong well-being presents a rich scientific framework for fresh thinking about health promotion and disease prevention broadly, augmented by a deeper focus on how racism influences disparities more specifically. This review begins with an overview of advances in the biology of adversity and resilience throug…
Racial Discrimination and Health-Related Quality of Life
Stigma in a Collectivistic Culture
Medicine (34 works) · Psychology (26 works) · Demography (20 works) · Psychiatry (19 works) · Clinical Psychology (16 works) · Gerontology (16 works) · Demography (13 works) · Environmental health (13 works) · Population (11 works) · Clinical Psychology (10 works)