Nicholas J. Bishop

Bio: Nicholas J. Bishop is an academic researcher from Texas State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Health and Retirement Study & Population. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 19 publications receiving 204 citations. Previous affiliations of Nicholas J. Bishop include Arizona State University.

A Dynamic Model of US Adolescents’ Smoking and Friendship Networks

Abstract: Objectives We investigated the associations between smoking and friend selection in the social networks of US adolescentsMethods We used a stochastic actor-based model to simultaneously test the effects of friendship networks on smoking and several ways that smoking can affect the friend selection process Data are from 509 US high school students in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 1994–1996 (466% female, mean age at outset = 154 years)Results Over time, adolescents’ smoking became more similar to their friends Smoking also affected who adolescents selected as friends; adolescents were more likely to select friends whose smoking level was similar to their own, and smoking enhanced popularity such that smokers were more likely to be named as friends than were nonsmokers, after controlling for other friend selection processesConclusions Both friend selection and peer influence are associated with smoking frequency Interventions to reduce adolescent smoking would benefit by f

Food insecurity, comorbidity, and mobility limitations among older U.S. adults: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study and Health Care and Nutrition Study.

Abstract: Both food insecurity and comorbidity have been identified as precursors to functional limitation in older adults, yet whether food insecurity modifies the progression from chronic disease to disability has not been assessed. We examined 5986 respondents age 50 and older drawn from the 2012–2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and 2013 Health Care and Nutrition Study (HCNS). Mobility limitations reported in 2014 and change in mobility limitations from 2012 to 2014 were regressed on measures of food insecurity, number of chronic conditions, and their interaction terms using Poisson regression. Around 17.3% of the sample was identified as food insecure. In 2012, respondents reported an average of 1.9 (SD = 1.5) chronic conditions and 2.4 mobility limitations (SD = 3.0). In 2014, individuals reported an average of 2.5 (SD = 3.1) mobility limitations. Food insecurity was associated with a greater number of mobility limitations (IRR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.11–1.29, p

What do retrospective subjective reports of childhood health capture? Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.

Abstract: Numerous large cohort studies have begun collecting retrospective childhood health information. However, few studies have investigated the content and quality of such data. This study fills this ga...

Predicting rapid DUI recidivism using the Driver Risk Inventory on a state-wide sample of Floridian DUI offenders.

Abstract: Background This project examined the ability of the popular DUI/DWI offender assessment instrument, the Driver Risk Inventory ( DRI; Behavior Data Systems, Ltd., 1985 ), to identify short-term DUI recidivists in a sample of Floridian DUI offenders who were charged with DUI between January 1st, 2008 and December 31st, 2009. The DRI provides a number of behavioral risk scales, DSM-IV substance abuse and dependence classifications, as well as measurement of demographic and criminal history characteristics. Methods Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify the demographic, criminal history, and behavioral characteristics most closely associated with the risk of rapid DUI recidivism. Follow-up analyses including ROC curves were used to further examine the ability of the DRI to identify short-term DUI recidivists. Results In the final model controlling for all variables, the DRI driver risk scale was the single strongest predictor of rapid DUI recidivism. The DSM-IV substance abuse and dependence classifications were also significant predictors of DUI recidivism. A number of the DRI risk scales and the DSM-IV classifications exhibited significant predictive validity and exhibited sensitivity in identifying recidivists similar to other popular DUI offender assessment instruments. Conclusions The DRI provides useful identification of DUI recidivists in a sample able to capture only the most rapid DUI recidivists. The results of this research warrant further examination of the DRI's ability to identify DUI recidivists using longer intervals of time between DUI arrests.

Estimating the Co-Development of Cognitive Decline and Physical Mobility Limitations in Older U.S. Adults

Abstract: This study examines the co-development of cognitive and physical function in older Americans using an age-heterogeneous sample drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2008). We used multiple-group parallel process latent growth models to estimate the association between trajectories of cognitive function as measured by immediate word recall scores, and limitations in physical function as measured as an index of functional mobility limitations. Nested model fit testing was used to assess model fit for the separate trajectories followed by estimation of an unconditional parallel process model. Controls for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and chronic health conditions were added to the best-fitting parallel process model. Pattern mixture models were used to assess the sensitivity of the parameter estimates to the effect of selective attrition. Results indicated that favorable cognitive health and mobility at initial measurement were associated with faster decline in the alternate functional domain. The cross-process associations remained significant when we adjusted estimates for the influence of covariates and selective attrition. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics were consistently associated with initial cognitive and physical health but had few relations with change in these measures.

Changing climates of conflict: A social network experiment in 56 schools

Abstract: Theories of human behavior suggest that individuals attend to the behavior of certain people in their community to understand what is socially normative and adjust their own behavior in response. An experiment tested these theories by randomizing an anticonflict intervention across 56 schools with 24,191 students. After comprehensively measuring every school’s social network, randomly selected seed groups of 20–32 students from randomly selected schools were assigned to an intervention that encouraged their public stance against conflict at school. Compared with control schools, disciplinary reports of student conflict at treatment schools were reduced by 30% over 1 year. The effect was stronger when the seed group contained more “social referent” students who, as network measures reveal, attract more student attention. Network analyses of peer-to-peer influence show that social referents spread perceptions of conflict as less socially normative.

Cumulative Childhood Adversity, Educational Attainment, and Active Life Expectancy Among U.S. Adults

Abstract: Studies of the early-life origins of adult physical functioning and mortality have found that childhood health and socioeconomic context are important predictors, often irrespective of adult experiences. However, these studies have generally assessed functioning and mortality as distinct processes and used cross-sectional prevalence estimates that neglect the interplay of disability incidence, recovery, and mortality. Here, we examine whether early-life disadvantages both shorten lives and increase the number and fraction of years lived with functional impairment. We also examine the degree to which educational attainment mediates and moderates the health consequences of early-life disadvantages. Using the 1998–2008 Health and Retirement Study, we examine these questions for non-Hispanic whites and blacks aged 50–100 years using multistate life tables. Within levels of educational attainment, adults from disadvantaged childhoods lived fewer total and active years, and spent a greater portion of life impaired compared with adults from advantaged childhoods. Higher levels of education did not ameliorate the health consequences of disadvantaged childhoods. However, because education had a larger impact on health than did childhood socioeconomic context, adults from disadvantaged childhoods who achieved high education levels often had total and active life expectancies that were similar to or better than those of adults from advantaged childhoods who achieved low education levels.