William E. Haley, Ph.D.

William E. Haley, Ph.D.

Description of Research Interests

My research focuses on stress, coping, and adaptation in older adults and their family members. Most of my research has examined the experiences of family caregivers who often face potentially overwhelming chronic strain. This work has examined psychological, social and health impacts experienced by family members caring for relatives with Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, cancer and terminal illness; racial/ethnic differences in the impact of caregiving stress; and the application of stress and coping models to understanding individual differences in caregiver adaptation. Recently, my work with Dr. David Roth of Johns Hopkins has shown that caregiving also produces several psychological and physical health benefits, including greater longevity in caregivers compared to noncaregivers. We have also found that caregiving does not have a serious negative impact on biomarkers of inflammation, a widely cited mechanism of the possible impact of stress on caregiver health. This and other work challenges the narrative that caregiving is generally overwhelming, and generally leads to depression, disruption of immunity and inflammation, and poor health. I am also interested in the development and evaluation of psychosocial interventions to improve the adaptation of older adults facing stressful circumstances, including family caregiving, chronic illness, and bereavement. I have worked with several research teams that have developed and/or evaluated research-based patient or family caregiver interventions for diverse groups, including White, African-American, and Latino family caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease; family caregivers of hospice patients with terminal cancer and heart failure; and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Google Scholar Page

Professional Service

2018-present Member, American Psychological Association Committee on Aging (CONA). Chair in 2020.

2013 - 2014 - President, Division of Adult Development and Aging (Division 20), American Psychological Association.

2006 - 2009 - National Institute of Mental Health – member, Interventions Committee for Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Personality Disorders, and Disorders of Late Life (ITSP)scientific review panel.

2003 - 2004 Chair, Behavioral and Social Sciences Section, Gerontological Society of America.

2001 - President Section II (Clinical Geropsychology) of Division 12 (Clinical Psychology), American Psychological Association.

Honors and Awards

Current/ Recent Grant Support 

Transitions to Family Caregiving and Its Impact on Health Indicators. National Institute on Aging, 1 RO1 AG050609, 2016-2021. (Co-Investigator, D. Roth, PI)

Patient outcomes of a self-care management approach to cancer symptoms: A clinical trial. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), 2013-2016.(Co-Investigator—S. McMillan, PI).

Caregiving and Health Care Utilization after Stroke among Medicare Beneficiaries,National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2011-2016(Co-InvestigatorI—D. Roth PI).

Publications (representative publications selected from over 160)

PubMed Publications 

Haley, W. E.,Roth, D. L., Sheehan, O. C., Rhodes, J. D., Blinka, M. D., & Howard, V. J. (in press). Effects of transitions to family caregiving on well-being: A longitudinal population-based study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Templeman, M. E., Badana, A. N. S., & Haley, W. E. (in press). The relationship of caregiving to work conflict and supervisor disclosure with emotional, physical, and financial strain in employed family caregivers. Journal of Aging and Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264319848579

Roth, D. L., Haley, W. E., Sheehan, O. C., Huang, J., Chung, S., Rhodes, J. D., Durda, P., Howard, V. J., Walston, J. D., & Cushman, M. (2020). The transition to family caregiving and its effect on biomarkers of inflammation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2000792117

Liu, C., Badana, A. N. S., Burgdorf, J., Fabius, C. D., Roth, D. L., & Haley, W. E. (in press). Systematic review and meta-analysis of racial and ethnic differences in dementia caregivers’ well-being. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa028

Marino, V. R., Haley, W. E., & Roth, D. L. (2017). Beyond hedonia: A theoretical reframing of the impact of caregiving on caregiver well-being. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 3, 400-409. doi.org/10.1037/tps0000134

Classes Taught

Geriatric Assessment Video

GEY 7602 - Seminar in Family Caregiving
GEY 6934 - Assessment of Older Adults
GEY 4360 – Gerontological Counseling
GEY 4612 – Psychology of Aging
GEY 6206 – Family Caregiving in Aging and Chronic Illness (web based)
GEY 6614— Aging and Mental Disorders (web based)
GEY 6617-Gerontological Counseling Theories and Practice (web based)