Final Project_Milestone 2_RodriguezValerie
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FINAL PROJECT
1
Early-Life Misfortune and the Likelihood of Psychotropic Medication Use in Later Life
Valerie M. Rodriguez
Southern New Hampshire University
MAT-133 Intro to Statistical Analysis
Professor Jennifer Rolfes
May 26, 2022
FINAL PROJECT
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Introduction
Focus
The article initially left me puzzled because of how the journal is categorized under
SAGE Publications. “Research on Aging” does not exactly translate to psychotropic medication
use later in life because of childhood hardships. I admit my early suspicions of this paper were
more focused on the literal sense of a rough
childhood where many adults turn to psychotropic
drugs, primarily antidepressants. The paper delves into several elements of which I had not
considered to what constitutes an “early-life misfortune” and how they can contribute to the
development of mental illness later into adulthood, attributing to the use and, in many cases,
abuse of psychotropic medication. Key words like child abuse, life-course, and mental health are
intertwined throughout the research with details to support them.
Population
According to the authors, only one other study on the topic had been conducted. A key
difference between their study and the one previous is the scale of participants. The first study
targeted individuals enrolled in the San Diego Kaiser Health Plan. No numbers were provided
unfortunately. The present study expanded on a more national scale surveying English-speaking
U.S. men and women ranging between 25 to 74 years of age compiling data from three waves.
The first wave began in 1995 with a sample size of 3,032 participants. After excluding those who
did not meet the age variable and dependent variables, the final number of participants came to
2,999. Table 1 provided by the authors outlines a wide range of variables such as use of
psychotropic medication in each wave, childhood misfortune, and covariates such as race, sex,
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and marital status. Although demographics played a part in the overall data, they were not of
direct interest in the overall outcome.
Research Questions
The researchers have posed the question in the title of the study itself, “Does Early-Life
Misfortune Increase the Likelihood of Psychotropic Medication Use in Later Life?” They
address how over time most research studies of adult mental illness have been connected to
childhood experiences and tend to focus more on anxiety or depressive symptoms. “Tell me
about your childhood” is a popular phrase one considers coming up if or when they decide to
visit with a psychologist. According to the authors, these symptoms “may be transient” and
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FINAL PROJECT
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wanted to determine their hypothesis whether the use of psychotropic medication in adults is
associated to a misfortunate childhood “net of adult risk factors.” Intriguingly, the authors first
acknowledge “sensitive periods throughout the life course when people are more vulnerable to
the environment.” The term “sensitive periods” is broken into segments: fetal, child,
adolescence. Each of which, the authors investigate in their study utilizing data ranging from
preceding surveys and journals by which they refer throughout their findings.
Analysis
Research Methods
As mentioned under Population, the research data was compiled of three waves, the first
of which initiated in 1995. The original sample of respondents participated through “a computer-
assisted telephone interview.” Once the response rate was calculated, participants were sent a
questionnaire they were to self-administer. The second and third waves were conducted every ten
years thereafter, but the authors only state the experiment was conducted by survey. They do not
go into detail as to the type or method but do point out “the outcome is measured at all three
surveys.”
Outcomes
The analysis of the research was performed “in two phases using Stata, Version 14” [a
statistical analysis software]. The key predictor in the first two Models found in Table 2 was the
additive childhood misfortune (ACM) and its relationship with psychotropic medication. In
Models 3 and 4, “each domain of childhood misfortune” were treated “as separate variables to
investigate whether certain types of misfortune are associated with psychotropic medication” in
the first wave of the study. The research breaks down the data reflected in Table 2 concentrating
on how the variables affect the result of psychotropic medication use in adulthood. For example,
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the results from Model 1 reflect “ACM increases the likelihood of psychotropic medication use
(odds ratio [OR] = 1.435; p < .001. For each additional childhood misfortune, the odds of taking
psychotropic medication increase by about 44%.” Model 2 factored in “demographics and
potential risk factors in adulthood” proving “ACM remained significant (OR = 1.272, p < .001).
For each additional childhood misfortune, the odds of taking psychotropic medication increase
by approximately 27%...” As the analysis of the study continues into Models 3 and 4, additional
indicators account for the outcome.
Conclusions
I feel based on the data, the researchers were able to validate their generalization of psychotropic
medication in adults is in association with early-life misfortune. The results were a compilation
of twenty years’ worth of statistics evaluated with the inclusion and exclusion of the variables. It
is evident the researchers combed through each data point to determine their affect to the
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hypothesis. They could have made it easy on themselves by only
evaluating the data collected
from the phone interview and self-administered survey in 1995 but how dependable would that
have been? There are many elements to consider as one goes through stages of their adulthood
and in my opinion, collecting and analyzing data over a span of twenty-years is much more
validating for not only their research, but in future studies. References
Morton, P. M., & Ferraro, K. F. (2018). Does Early-Life Misfortune Increase the Likelihood of Psychotropic Medication Use in Later Life?
Research on Aging
,
40
(6), 558–579. https://doi.org/
10.1177/0164027517717045
Stata. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2022, from https://www.stata.com/why-use-stata/
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