Doctoral student accepted at prestigious Workshop on Aging Research

Morgantown, WV, July 28, 2006:  While the nation’s Baby Boomers are heading into older adulthood, one Psychology student, with the support of West Virginia University, is researching ways to improve their future health. Doctoral student Brian Ayotte, from the Department of Psychology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at WVU, has been accepted to attend a prestigious methodology workshop in aging research.

The goal of the program entitled, “Applied General Latent Variable Methods in Aging Research,” is to provide doctoral trainees with experience using and interpreting results from latent variable analysis models. The workshop will be held at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at the Harvard Medical School Interdisciplinary Center on Aging. Ayotte will examine how an older adult’s own chronic illnesses and functional health, and the health of their spouse, are related to depression in a nationally representative sample.

“My current goals are to continue to examine the role of self and spousal characteristics in physical and mental health by engaging in additional post-doctoral training,” he explained.

Ayotte became interested in working with older adults after he assisted in a study examining people’s experiences during the flu pandemic of 1918. “After hearing all of the different stories of how people coped with health-related issues when they were younger, as well as how they are coping with health-related issues now, I became interested in examining the predictors of health-promoting and health-risk behaviors,” he described.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and his Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Currently, he is working toward his PhD in Life-Span Developmental Psychology at WVU. He was also featured in the January 2006 issue of gradPsych, the magazine for graduate student members of the American Psychological Association.

Ayotte will be sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the William K. Wilson and Edith G. Wilson Student Enrichment Fund and the Department of Psychology in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. The Student Enrichment Fund was created through the generosity of William K. and Edith G. Wilson, native West Virginians, and is intended to support students who engage in learning activities which compliment, extend and enhance their academic experiences at WVU.

“The department is proud that Brian was selected to participate in this prestigious workshop,” said Michael Perone, Chair of the Department of Psychology. “Through the support of the Eberly College and the National Institutes of Health, Brian is able to get advanced training on cutting-edge methods in the study of aging.”

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