Research Assistant Professor, Family Demography, Survey Research Center and Faculty Associate, Populations Studies Center, Institute for Social Research

Biography
Dr. Mitchell’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of family formation behavior. He examines how social context such as neighborhood resources and values influence family processes and how those processes interplay with an individual’s genetic and epigenetic makeup to influence behavior, wellbeing, and health. His research also includes the development of new methods for integrating the collection and analysis of biological and social data.
Projects
Funded Research
- Effects of poverty on affective development: A multi-level, longitudinal study
- Effects of poverty on affective development: A multi-level, longitudinal study
- Epigenetic Mediation of Adverse Social Context on Stress Response, Socioemotional Development, and Health in a Population-based Study of Minority and Low SES Children and Adolescents
- Epigenetic Mediation of Adverse Social Context on Stress Response, Socioemotional Development, and Health in a Population-based Study of Minority and Low SES Children and Adolescents
- Jacobs Foundation Research Fellowship 2017-2019 – Colter Mitchell
- Racial inequalities in health throughout adulthood: The cumulative impact of neighborhood chemical and non-chemical stressors on epigenomic pathways
- Transitions from Preschool through High School: Family, Schools & Neighborhoods
Publications
- Hein, Tyler C.; Mattson, Whitney I.; Dotterer, Hailey L.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Lopez-Duran, Nestor; Thomason, Moriah E.; Peltier, Scott J.; Welsh, Robert C.; Hyde, Luke W.; Monk, Christopher S. (2018). Amygdala habituation and uncinate fasciculus connectivity in adolescence: A multi-modal approach. NeuroImage, 183, 617-626.
- Goosby, Bridget J.; Cheadle, Jacob E.; Mitchell, Colter M. (2018). Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms of Discrimination and African American Health Inequities. Annual Review of Sociology, 44(1), 319-340.
- Kuckertz, Jennie M.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Wiggins, Jillian Lee (2018). Parenting mediates the impact of maternal depression on child internalizing symptoms. Depression and anxiety, 35, 89-97.
- Smith, Jennifer A.; Kho, Minjung; Zhao, Wei; Yu, Miao; Mitchell, Colter M.; Faul, Jessica D. (2018). Genetic effects and gene-by-education interactions on episodic memory performance and decline in an aging population. Social Science & Medicine.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; McLanahan, Sara; Schneper, Lisa; Garfinkel, Irv; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Notterman, Daniel (2017). Father Loss and Child Telomere Length. Pediatrics, 140(2), e20163245.
- Thornton, Arland; Binstock, Georgina; Young-DeMarco, Linda; Mitchell, Colter M.; Yount, Kathryn M.; Xie, Yu (2017). Evaluating the measurement reliabilities and dimensionality of developmental idealism measures. Chinese Journal of Sociology, 2(4), 609-635.
- Needham, Belinda L.; Hicken, Margaret T.; Govia, Ishtar O.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Abdou, Cleopatra M. (2017). Maternal Social Disadvantage and Newborn Telomere Length in Archived Dried Blood Spots from the Michigan Neonatal Biobank. Biodemography and social biology, 63(3), 221-235.
- Ratanatharathorn, Andrew; Boks, Marco P.; Maihofer, Adam X.; Aiello, Allison E.; Amstadter, Ananda B.; Ashley-Koch, Allison; Baker, Dewleen G.; Beckham, Jean C.; Bromet, Evelyn; Dennis, Michelle; Garrett, Melanie E.; Geuze, Elbert; Guffanti, Guia; Hauser, Michael A.; Kilaru, Varun; Kimbrel, Nathan A.; Koenen, Karestan C.; Kuan, Pei-Fen; Logue, Mark W.; Luft, Benjamin J.; Miller, Mark W.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Nugent, Nicole R.; Ressler, Kerry J.; Rutten, Bart P. F.; Stein, Murray B.; Vermetten, Eric; Vinkers, Christiaan H.; Youssef, Nagy A.; Mid-Atlantic, MIRECC Workgroup VA; PTSD, Epigenetics Workgroup PGC; Uddin, Monica; Nievergelt, Caroline M.; Smith, Alicia K. (2017). Epigenome-wide association of PTSD from heterogeneous cohorts with a common multi-site analysis pipeline. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 174(6), 619-630.
- Stein, Murray B.; Ware, Erin B.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Chen, Chia-Yen; Borja, Susan; Cai, Tianxi; Dempsey, Catherine L.; Fullerton, Carol S.; Gelernter, Joel; Heeringa, Steven G.; Jain, Sonia; Kessler, Ronald C.; Naifeh, James A.; Nock, Matthew K.; Ripke, Stephan; Sun, Xiaoying; Beckham, Jean C.; Kimbrel, Nathan A.; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Clinical Center, Education, and; Ursano, Robert J.; Smoller, Jordan W. (2017). Genomewide association studies of suicide attempts in US soldiers. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 174(8), 786-797.
- Allendorf, Keera; Thornton, Arland; Mitchell, Colter M.; Young-DeMarco, Linda; Ghimire, Dirgha J. (2017). Early Women, Late Men: Timing Attitudes and Gender Differences in Marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79(5), 1478-1496.
- James, Sarah; McLanahan, Sara; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Mitchell, Colter M.; Schneper, Lisa; Wagner, Brandon; Notterman, Daniel A. (2017). Sleep Duration and Telomere Length in Children. The Journal of pediatrics, 187, 247-252.e2.
- Lewandowski-Romps, Lisa; Schroeder, Heather M.; Berglund, Patricia A.; Colpe, Lisa J.; Cox, Kenneth; Hauret, Keith; Hay, Jeffrey D.; Jones, Bruce; Little, Roderick J. A.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Schoenbaum, Michael; Schulz, Paul; Stein, Murray B.; Ursano, Robert J.; Heeringa, Steven G. (2017). Medical-encounter mental health diagnoses, non-fatal injury and polypharmacy indicators of risk for accident death in the US Army enlisted soldiers, 2004-2009. Preventive medicine, 111, 299-306.
- Stein, Murray B.; Chen, Chia-Yen; Ursano, Robert J.; Cai, Tianxi; Gelernter, Joel; Heeringa, Steven G.; Jain, Sonia; Jensen, Kevin P.; Maihofer, Adam X.; Mitchell, Colter M. (2016). Genome-wide association studies of posttraumatic stress disorder in 2 cohorts of us army soldiers. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(7), 695-704.
- Trentacosta, Christopher J.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Hyde, Luke; Dolinoy, Dana (2016). Environmental Contaminants and Child Development. Child Development Perspectives, 10(4), 228-233.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; Schneper, Lisa M.; Notterman, Daniel A. (2016). DNA methylation, early life environment, and health outcomes. Pediatric research, 79(1-2), 212-219.
- Faul, Jessica D.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Zhao, Wei (2016). Estimating Telomere Length Heritability in an Unrelated Sample of Adults: Is Heritability of Telomere Length Modified by Life Course Socioeconomic Status?. Biodemography and Social Biology, 62(1), 73-86.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; Brooks-Gunn, J.; Garfinkel, I.; McLanahar, S.; Notterman, D. and Hobcraft, J. (2015). Family Structure Instability, Genetic Sensitivity, and Child Well-being. American Journal of Sociology, 120(4), 1195-1225.
- Wiggins, Jillian L.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Hyde, Luke W. and Monk, Christopher S. (2015). Identifying Early Pathways of Risk and Resilience: The Codevelopment of Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms and the Role of Harsh Parenting. Development and Psychopathology, 27(4), 1295-1312.
- Notterman, Daniel A. and Mitchell, Colter M. (2015). Epigenetics and Understanding the Impact of Social Determinants of Health. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 62(5), 1227-1240. Pediatric Prevention.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; Hobcraft, J.; McLanahan, S. S.; Siegel, S. R.; Berg, A.; Brooks-Gunn, J.; Garfinkel, I. and Notterman, D. (2014). Social Disadvantage, Genetic Sensitivity, and Children’s Telomere Length. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(16), 5944-5949.
- Mitchell, Colter M. (2014). Born Together—Reared Apart: The Landmark Minnesota Twin Study. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 43(2), 262-264.
- Wiggins, J. L.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Stringaris, A. and Leibenluft, E. (2014). Developmental Trajectories of Irritability and Bidirectional Associations with Maternal Depression. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 53(11), 1191-1205.
- Lewandowski-Romps, L.; Peterson, C.; Berglund, P. A.; Collins, S.; Cox, K.; Hauret, K.; Jones, B.; Kessler, R. C.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Park, N.; Schoenbaum, M.; Stein, M. B.; Ursano, R. J. and Heeringa, Steven G. (2014). Risk Factors for Accident Death in the U.S. Army, 2004-2009. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(6), 745-753.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; McLanahan, S.; Brooks-Gunn, J.; Garfinkel, I.; Hobcraft, J. and Notterman, D. (2013). Genetic Differential Sensitivity to Social Environments: Implications for Research.. American Journal of Public Health, 103(Suppl 1), S102-10.
- Falk, E. B.; Hyde, L. W.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Faul, Jessica D.; Gonzalez, R.; Heitzeg, M. M.; Keating, Daniel P.; Langa, Kenneth M.; Martz, M. E.; Maslowsky, J.; Morrison, Frederick J.; Noll, D. C.; Patrick, Megan E.; Pfeffer, Fabian T.; Reuter-Lorenz, P. A.; Thomason, M. E.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.; Monk, Christopher S. and Schulenberg, John E. (2013). What is a Representative Brain? Neuroscience Meets Population Science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(44), 17615-17622.
- Thornton, Arland; Binstock, Georgina; Abbasi-Shavazi, Mohammad J.; Ghimire, Dirgha J.; Gjonca, Arjan; Melegh, Attila; Mitchell, Colter M.; Moaddell, Mansoor; Xie, Yu; Yang, Li-shou; Young-DeMarco, Linda C. and Yount, Kathryn M. (2012). Knowledge and Beliefs about National Development and Developmental Hierarchies: The Viewpoints of Ordinary People in Thirteen Countries. Social Science Research, 41(5), 1053-1068.
- Thornton, Arland; Ghimire, Dirgha J. and Mitchell, Colter M. (2012). The Measurement and Prevalence of an Ideational Model of Family and Economic Development in Nepal. Population Studies, 66(3), 329-345.
- Heaton, Tim B. and Mitchell, Colter M. (2012). Changing Intergroup Boundaries in Brazilian Marriages: 1991-2008. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 43(4), 461-482.
- Mitchell, Colter M. (2011). Biosocial Foundations of Family Processes by A. Booth, S. M. McHale, and N. S. Landale. Biodemography and Social Biology, 57(2), 258-260.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; Notterman, D.; Brooks-Gunn, J.; Hobcraft, J.; Garfinkel, I.; Jaeger, K.; Kotenko, I. and McLanahan, S. (2011). Role of Mother’s Genes and Environment in Postpartum Depression. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(20), 8189-8193.
- Mitchell, Colter M.; Fu, X.; Heaton, Tim B. and Jacobson, C. K. (2010). Urbanization, Education and Racial Intermarriage in Brazil. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, 47(2), 273-294.
- Mitchell, Colter M. (2010). Are Divorce Studies Trustworthy? the Effects of Survey Nonresponse and Response Errors. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 72(4), 893-905.
- Thornton, Arland; Aachen, S.; Barber, Jennifer S.; Binstock, Georgina; Garrison, W.; Ghimire, Dirgha J.; Guangzhou, W.; Inglehart, R.; Jayakody, Rukmalie; Jiang, Y.; De Jong, Julie; King, K.; Lesthaeghe, Ron; Mehenna, W.; Mitchell, Colter M.; Moaddell, Mansoor; Ofstedal, Mary Beth; Schwarz, Norbert; Xie, Yu; Yang, Li-Shou; Young-DeMarco, Linda C. and Yount, K. (2010). Creating Questions and Protocols for an International Study of Development and Family Life. In Harkness,Janet A.; Braun,M.; Edwards,B.; Johnson,T.; Lyberg,Lars; Mohler,Peter P.; Pennell,Beth-Ellen and Smith,T. W. (Ed.), Survey Methods in Multinational, Multiregional, and Multicultural Contexts. Wiley:Hoboken, N.J.