Data come from the CHASRS - a 5-year cohort analysis of psychological, social, economic, and biomedical outcomes in 230 English-speaking men and women aged 50-67 years at study entry [43]. Annual study visits collected detailed biomedical, social, psychological, and economic assessments, including full medical histories, body mass index and waist circumference, diurnal measures of salivary cortisol, laboratory measures of autonomic nervous system activity, and psychometric measures of social network characteristics, stress, depression, and personality (detailed below). Health-relevant behavioral characteristics assessed include sleep quality, nutrition, exercise, memory and cognitive function. In 2005, 153 of the 166 remaining participants (92%) agreed to provide a 10 ml sample of peripheral blood for gene expression analysis. Gene expression analyses were carried out on samples from 14 individuals as outlined below. Procedures were approved by Institutional Review Boards at the University of Chicago and UCLA.
