Dave Almeida, Ph.D.

Dave Almeida
Professor of Human Development & Family Studies

The Gerontology Center
114-H Henderson Building

University Park, PA 16802

Dr. Almeida is a life-span developmental psychologist whose primary interests are stress and the ways individuals cope with their concerns during middle adulthood. Presently focusing on stressful daily experiences within the family and other social contexts, Dr. Almeida's interest in how people change and grow throughout adulthood began with his studies of how parents affected their children.

"During the course of my research, I noticed also how children affected their parents."  This interest further developed into his studies of stress, specifically how stress as a process has an effect on physical and psychological health over time.

His past and current projects include examining the stress of major life events, such as marital disruption and job loss, as well as the health effects of everyday stressors such as work and family interactions.  "I believe that not only minor daily stressors influence our immediate emotional and physical functioning, but also, by accumulating over time, they create persistent irritations and frustrations that result in more serious stress reactions such as anxiety and depression."

Current Research Projects

• Daily Stressors and Well-Being during Adulthood, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 2001-2004 (Principal Investigator).
• Changes in Daily Stress During Adulthood National Institute on Aging . National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 2003-2008, (Principal Investigator).
• Personality and Well-being Trajectories in Adulthood . National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 1999-2004, (Co-Investigator).
• Daily Depressive Affect & Disease Management in Diabetes . National Institute on Diabetes and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 2003-2008, (Co-Investigator).
• Hotel Work and Well-Being: the Penn State Hotel Managers Initiative . Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, 2005-2008 (Co-Investigator).
• Work Stress Health and Parenting among Hotel Employees. National Institute of Child Health and Development, National Institutes of Health (Co-Principal Investigator)

Publications

• Almeida, D.M. (2005). Resilience and vulnerability to daily stressors assessed via diary methods. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14 , 64-68.
• Almeida, D. M. & McDonald, D. (2005). The time Americans spend working for pay, caring for families, and contributing to communities. In J. Heymann (Ed.) Unfinished Work: Balancing equality and democracy in an era of working families (pp. 180-203) . New York : The New Press.
• Almeida, D.M., Neupert , S.D. , Banks, S.R., & Serido, J. (2005). Do daily stress processes account for socioeconomic health disparities? Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences .
• Birditt, K., S., Fingerman, K., L., & Almeida, D. M (2005). Age differences in exposure and reactions to interpersonal tensions: A daily diary study. Psychology and Aging .
• Charles, S, & Almeida, D. M., (2005). The Relation between Health and Negative Affect: Not all symptoms are created equal. Psychology and Health .
• Mallars, M. C., Almeida, D. M., & Neupert, S. D. (2005). Women's daily physical health symptoms and stressful experiences across adulthood. Psychology and Health , 20 , 389-403.
• Neupert , S.D. , Almeida, D.M., Mroczek, D.K., & Spiro, A. III. (2005). The effects of the Columbia shuttle disaster on the daily lives of older adults: Findings from the VA Normative Aging Study. Experimental Aging Research.

Honors and Awards

1999: Teaching Award of Merit, National Association of Colleges of Agriculture, College of Agriculture, University of Arizona.

1996: Outstanding Alumni Award, California State University, Northridge

1994: MacArthur Foundation Research Network Affiliate

Education