Field(s) of Study:
Health disparities, aging, disability, social
networks, stress
Research interests:
Kristen Peek is an Associate Professor
in the Sociomedical Sciences division in the Department of Preventive
Medicine and Community Health and a Fellow at the Sealy Center on Aging
at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). She received her PhD in
Sociology from Duke University in 1996 and then completed an NIA
post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Epidemiology at the
University of Florida.
Professor Peek’s research focuses on the effects of race and
ethnicity on aging and physical and mental health. Since joining UTMB in
1998, she has conducted research on sociocultural processes affecting
transitions into and out of disability among older Mexican Americans. In
addition, she recently completed an R01 examining dyadic data on changes
in spouses’ mental and physical health over time among older Mexican
Americans. Currently, she is exploring the construct and predictive
validity of allostatic load as a physiological marker of stress
accumulated over the life course in a sample in Texas living near a
petrochemical complex. Recent
publications can be found in Social Science and Medicine, Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health, Journals of Gerontology, Annals of
Epidemiology, and The Gerontologist.
Recent
publications:
Peek, M.K.,
Patel, K., and Ottenbacher, K.J. (2005). Expanding the Disablement
Process Model among older Mexican Americans.
Journal of Gerontology: Medical
Sciences, 60, M334-M339.
Patel, K.V.,
Peek, M.K., Wong, R., and Markides, K.S. (2006). Comorbidity and
disability in elderly Mexican and Mexican American adults: Findings from
Mexico and the southwestern United States.
Journal of Aging and Health, 18,
315-329.
Peek, M.K.,
Stimpson, J., Townsend, A.L., and Markides, K.S.
(2006). Well-being in older Mexican American spouses.
The Gerontologist, 46,
258-265.
Stimpson, J.,
Peek, M.K., and Markides, K.S. (2006). Depression and mental health
among older Mexican-American spouses.
Aging and Mental Health, 10,
1-8.
Masel, M.,
Rudkin, L., & Peek, M.K. (2006). Examining the role of acculturation in
health behaviors of older Mexican Americans.
American Journal of Health Behavior, 30, 684-699.
Meyler D,
Stimpson JP, Peek MK. (2007). Concordance of health among spouses: a
review of the literature. Social
Science and Medicine, 64, 2297-2310.
Stimpson JP,
Kuo YF, Ray LA, Raji MA, and Peek MK. (2007). Risk of mortality related
to widowhood in older Mexican Americans.
Annals of
Epidemiology, 17,
313-9.
Peek, M.K.,
Cutchin, M.P., Freeman, D.H., Perez, N.A., and Goodwin, J.S. (In Press).
Perceived health change in the aftermath of a petrochemical accident: An
examination of pre-accident, within accident, and post-accident
variables. Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health.
Biography:
Dr. Peek’s primary research focus
has been on the effects of race and ethnicity on aging and health. As a
graduate student at Duke University, she was involved in the collection
and analysis of the Duke EPESE (focusing on older rural African Americans
and non-Hispanic Whites). As a post-doctoral fellow at the University of
Florida School of Medicine, she was an investigator on a six-wave panel
study of older African Americans and non-Hispanic Whites in rural Florida
that concentrated on transitions into disability and long-term care
patterns. Since joining PMCH in 2000, she has been involved with the
Hispanic EPESE (co-Investigator) (R01 AG10939) and an R01
(co-Investigator) focusing on the influence of sociocultural factors on
the process of becoming disabled among a subset of older adults from the
Hispanic EPESE (R01 AG17638). She recently received an R01 (Principal
Investigator) to examine health and depression among older Mexican
American couples (R01 AG21089).
Dr. Peek is a member of the
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and teaches in the Sociomedical
Sciences curriculum in the PMCH graduate program. Her classes are
Society and Health Care, a class focusing on social factors and health
as well as the organization of care, and Research Methods in
Sociomedical Sciences.
PMCH