Kira S Birditt
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BIO
Kira Birditt earned a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University and B.A. and M.S. degrees in Psychology from Western Washington University. She serves as a Research Associate Professor at the Survey Research Center and the Director of the Aging and Biopsychosocial Innovations Program, both at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR).
Dr. Birditt’s program of research focuses on negative aspects of relationships, stress, and the implications of relationships and stress for health and well-being over time (using both self-reported and biological indicators of health). She is particularly interested in understanding how relationships differentially influence health and well-being depending on the context of stress. Most of her projects involve examining individuals and dyads either over time and or within families. Results from multiple projects indicate that aspects of relationships that are beneficial or harmful are often very different when individuals are under stress.
- Dustin Gad, Jenna L. Wells, Amanda Piechota, Brooke Feeney, Kira S Birditt, Richard A. Marottoli, Joseph E. Gaugler, Ana-Maria Vranceanu, Joan K. Monin. 2025. Positive affect expression during a play interaction and psychological health among older adults living with cognitive impairment and their adult children. Aging & Mental Health 29(1):69-77.
- Ng, Yee To, Vicki A Freedman, Kratz, Anna, Kira S Birditt. 2025. Beyond Caregiving: Daily Pleasant Activities among Caregivers to Older Adults with and without Dementia. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 80(2):gbae198.
- Huo, Meng, Leger, Kate A., Kira S Birditt, Fingerman, Karen L.. 2025. Empathy is associated with older adults' social behaviors and verbal emotional expressions throughout the day. Scientific Reports 15(1):1-11.
- Jane M. Stephenson, Angela Turkelson, Karen L. Fingerman, Kira S Birditt. 2025. I love you no matter what: Negative relationship quality and daily encounters in the parent-child tie and their implications for daily mood across the lifespan. Family Process 64(1):e13094.
- Lisha Lin, Wei Zhao, Zheng Li, Scott M. Ratliff, Yi Zhe Wang, Colter Mitchell, Jessica Danielle Faul, Sharon L. R. Kardia, Kira S Birditt, Jennifer Ann Smith. 2025. Poly-epigenetic scores for cardiometabolic risk factors interact with demographic factors and health behaviors in older US Adults. Epigenetics
- Vicki A Freedman, Agree, Emily M, Seltzer, Judith A, Kira S Birditt, Fingerman, Karen L, Esther M Friedman, Lin, I-Fen, Margolis, Rachel, Park, Sung S, Sarah Elizabeth Patterson, Polenick, Courtney A, Reczek, Rin, Reyes, Adriana M, Truskinovsky, Yulya, Wiemers, Emily E, Wu, Huijing, Wolf, Douglas A, Wolff, Jennifer L, Zarit, Steven H. 2024. Changing Demography of Late-Life Family Caregiving: A Research Agenda to Understand Future Care Networks for An Aging U.S. Population. The Gerontologist 64(2):gnad036.
- Fingerman, Karen L, Zhou, Zexi, Huo, Meng, Luong, Gloria, Kira S Birditt. 2024. Enduring Bonds: Duration and Contact in Close Relationships in Late Life. The Gerontologist 64(4):gnad091.
- Kira S Birditt, Angela Elizabeth Turkelson, Polenick, Courtney A, Cranford, James A, Jennifer Ann Smith, Erin Bakshis Ware, Blow, Frederic C. 2024. Alcohol Use and Mortality among Older Couples in the United States: Evidence of Individual and Partner Effects. The Gerontologist 64(2)
- Vicki A Freedman, Agree, Emily M, Seltzer, Judith A, Kira S Birditt, Fingerman, Karen L, Esther M Friedman, Lin, I-Fen, Margolis, Rachel, Park, Sung S, Sarah Elizabeth Patterson, Polenick, Courtney A, Reczek, Rin, Reyes, Adriana M, Truskinovsky, Yulya, Wiemers, Emily E, Wu, Huijing, Wolf, Douglas A, Wolff, Jennifer L, Zarit, Steven H. 2024. The Changing Demography of Late-Life Family Caregiving: A Research Agenda to Understand Future Care Networks for an Aging U.S. Population. The Gerontologist 64(2):gnad036.
- Zexi Zhou, Shiyang Zhang, Yijung K. Kim, Kira S Birditt. 2024. Need to belong, daily social engagement, and transient loneliness in late life. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 41(1):115-136.