School of Social and Political Science

Research interests

Policy, Health policy, Social Determinants of Health, disability, retirement, Population ageing, Demography

I am an academic lead of a work package within the Advanced Care Research Centre that will involve combining data from various sources to better understand the interrelationships between trajectories of health, wellbeing and social participation in later life. I lead research on the social and spatial determinants of combinations of health problems as a lead of the Artificial Intelligence and Multimorbidity: Clustering in Individuals, Space and Clinical Context project (AIM-CISC). 

I am a Social Statistician by training with both substantive and methodological research interests. My substantive research uses longitudinal data from social surveys in the UK and overseas to better understand the social and biological determinants of inequalities observed in health and wellbeing in later life. I have made methodological  research contributions around the development of local estimates and projections of populations and of populations in poor health in collaboration with the UK's National statistical agencies and local authorities.

Recent research publications

Cezard, G., Finney, N., Kulu, H., Marshall, A. (2020) Ethnic differences in self-assessed health in Scotland: the role of socioeconomic status and migrant generation. Population, Space and Place. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2403

Marshall, A., Skafida, V. (2020) Re-evaluating the Social Gradient in Handbook of Research Methods in Health Psychology. Ed. Keenan, J., Fish Ragin, D. Taylor & Francis. New York.

Prattley, J., Buffel, T., Marshall, A., Nazroo, J. (2020) Area effects on the level and development of social exclusion in later life. Social Science & Medicine. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112722

Rattray, N., Trivedi, D., Xu, Y., Chandola, T., Johnson, C., Marshall, A., Mekli, K., Rattray, Z., Tampubolon, T., Vanhoutte, B., White, I., Wu, F., Pendleton, N., Nazroo, J., Goodacre, R. (2019) Metabolic dysregulation in vitamin E and carnitine shuttle energy mechanisms associate with human frailty. Nature Communications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-12716-2

Cox, F., Marshall, A. (2019) Educational engagement, expectation and attainment of children with disabilities. Evidence from the Scottish Longitudinal Study. British Educational Research Journal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3576

Sabater, A., Graham, E., Marshall, A. (2019) Does having highly educated adult children reduce mortality risks for parents with low educational attainment in Europe? Ageing and Society. DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19000795

Hou, B., Nazroo, J., Banks, J., Marshall, A. (2019) Are cities good for health? A study of the impacts of planned urbanisation in China. International Journal of Epidemiology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz031

Hou, B., Nazroo, J., Banks, J., Marshall, A. (2019) Impacts of migration on health and well-being in later life in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Health and Place. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.01.003

Martin, G., Inchley, J., Marshall, A., Shortt, N., Currie, C. (2018) The neighbourhood social environment and alcohol use among urban and rural Scottish adolescents. International Journal of Public Health.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-018-1181-8

Godhwani, S., Jivraj, S., Marshall, A., Becares, L. (2018) Comparing subjective and objective neighbourhood deprivation and their association with health over time among older adults in England. Health & Place. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.10.006

Matthews, K., Nazroo, J., Marshall, A., (2018) Digital inclusion in later life: cohort changes in internet use over a ten-year period in England. Ageing and Society. DOI: 10.1017/S0144686X18000326

Hou, B., Banks, J., Nazroo, J., Marshall, A. (2018) Migration Status and Smoking Behaviors in Later-Life in China—Evidence From the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Frontiers in Public Health. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00346

Finney, N., Marshall, A. (2018) Is migration in later life good for wellbeing? A longitudinal study of ageing and selectivity of internal migration. Area. DOI: 10.1111/area.12428

Mekli K, Stevens A, Marshall A, Arpawong TE, Phillips DF, Tampubolon G, et al. (2018) Frailty Index associates with GRIN2B in two representative samples from the United States and the United Kingdom. PLoS ONE 13(11): e0207824. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0207824

Marshall, A., Christison, S., Simpson, L. (2017) Error in official age-specific population estimates over place and time. Statistical Journal of the International Association for Official Statistics

Eendebak., .T, Swiecicka, A., Gromski, PS., Pye, SR., O'Neill, TW., Marshall, A., Keevil, BG., Tampubolon, G., Goodacre, R., Wu, FCW., Rutter, MK. (2017), Ethnic differences in male reproductive hormones and relationships with adiposity and insulin resistance in older men. Clinical Endocrinology. DOI: 10.1111/cen.13305

Rogers, NT., Marshall, A., Roberts, CH., Demakakos, P., Steptoe, A., Scholes, S. (2017), Physical activity and trajectories of frailty among older adults: evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. PLoS One, vol 12, no. 2, e0170878. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170878

Wade, KF., Marshall, A., Vanhoutte, B., Wu, FCW., O'Neill, TW., Lee, DM. (2016), Does pain predict frailty in older men and women?: findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) Journals of Gerontology Series A - Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol Advance Access. DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glw226

Marshall, A., Nazroo, J., Vanhoutte, B., Pendleton, N. (2015a) A comparison of hypertension health care outcomes in the USA and England. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. doi:10.1136/jech-2014-205336

Marshall, A., Nazroo, J., (2015) Inequalities in trajectories of self-reported illness at retirement. Journal of Population Ageing. Doi: 10.1007/s12062-015-9130-2

Marshall, A. Nazroo, J., Tampubolon, G., Vanhoutte, B. (2015b) Socio-economic and gender inequalities in frailty: findings from a growth modelling approach. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 69:p 316-321 doi:10.1136/jech-2014-

204655

Mekli, K., Nazroo, J., Marshall, A., Kumari, M., & Pendleton, N. (2015). Proinflammatory genotype is associated with the frailty phenotype in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research (Online). DOI:10.1007/s40520-015-0419-z.

Mekli, K., Marshall, A., Nazroo, J., Vanhoutte, B., Pendleton, N., & Kumari, M. (2015). Genetic variant of Interleukin-18 gene is associated with the Frailty Index in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Age and Ageing, 44(6), 938-942. DOI:10.1093/ageing/afv122

Sperrin, M., Marshall, A., Higgins, V., Renehan, A., Buchan, I. (2015) Body mass index relates weight to height differently in women and older adults: Serial cross-sectional surveys in England (1992-2011). Journal of Public Health. 38(3). DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdv067

Marshall, A., Jivraj, S., Nazroo, J., Tampubolon, G. (2014) Does the level of wealth inequality within an area influence the prevalence of depression among older people? Health & Place 27: 194-204. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2014.02.012

Sperrin, M., Marshall, A., Higgins, V., Buchan, I. & Renehan, A. (2014). Slowing down of adult body mass index trend increases in England: a latent class analysis of cross-sectional surveys (1992 to 2010). International Journal of Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2013.161

Topics interested in supervising

Social determinants of health (particularly in later life) Retirement and health Population ageing Small area demographic estimation/forecasting

If you are interested in being supervised by Alan Marshall, please see the links below (open in new windows) for more information:

• PhD in Social Policy
• PhD in Sociology
• MSc (R) Public Health Policy
• MSc (R) Social Policy
• MSc (R) Sociology