Research Professor, Population Studies Center and Research Professor, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research

Biography
Narayan Sastry is a Research Professor in the Survey Research Center and the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. He is also an Adjunct Senior Social Scientist at the RAND Corporation. Sastry has been at the University of Michigan since 2006.
Sastry was previously a Senior Social Scientist at RAND and Associate Director of RAND’s Labor and Population Program and Population Research Center.
Sastry’s research interests center on studying the social and spatial dimensions of health, development, and well-being of children and adolescents, both in the United States and in less developed countries.
Sastry serves as an Associate Director of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and he directs the PSID Child Development Supplement (PSID-CDS) and the PSID Transition into Adulthood Supplement (PSID-TAS). He is the Co-Director of the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS). Sastry is also the Director of the Displaced New Orleans Residents Survey (DNORS) that was designed to study the long-term demographic effects of Hurricane Katrina on the pre-storm population of New Orleans.
Sastry received his Ph.D. in Demography and Public Affairs from Princeton University in 1995.
Projects
Funded Research
- Assessing Children’s Learning Achievement Using Remote Video Technology
- Childhood Housing Assistance and Adult Health: Life Course Critical Periods and Cumulative Impact
- Continuity and Change in American Economic and Social Life: The PSID 2017 – 2020
- Covid-19 Effects on Children & Families: 2021 Follow-Up of the PSID Child Development Supplement
- Developing Data on Food Security for New PSID Components
- Enhancing and Archiving Genomic Data of the PSID Child Development Supplement
- Family Dynamics, Fertility and Contraception, and Investments in Children across Generations
- Family Dynamics, Fertility, and Investments in Children across Generations
- Philanthropy and Data Equity Hub – PSID 2023 Philanthropy Module (Wave 43) Google
- Philanthropy Panel Study – PSID 2023 Philanthropy Module (Wave 43) Gates
- Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS) – PSID 2023 Philanthropy Module (Wave 43) Mott
- Preparing Philanthropy for Purpose – PSID 2023 Philanthropy Module (Wave 43) Fidelity
- PSID 2021-2024: Continuity and Change in American Economic and Social Life
- PSID 2025: Continuity and Change in American Economic and Social Life
- Puerto Rico Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PR-PSID)
- The Transition from Childhood into Adulthood among PSID Children, 2021 and 2023
- Transition to Adulthood within its Life Course & Intergenerational Family Context
- Transitions from Preschool through High School: Family, Schools & Neighborhoods
- Transitions from Preschool through High School: Family, Schools & Neighborhoods
Publications
- Katherine A McGonagle, Narayan Sastry. 2023. Transitioning to a Mixed-Mode Study Design in a National Household Panel Study: Effects on Fieldwork Outcomes, Sample Composition and Costs. Survey Research Methods 17(4):411-427.
- Huang, Cher X., Halfon, Neal, Narayan Sastry, Chung, Paul J., Schickedanz, Adam. 2023. Positive Childhood Experiences and Adult Health Outcomes. Pediatrics 152(1):e2022060951.
- Elizabeth S. Barnert, Lindsay M. Schlichte, Destiny G. Tolliver, Jaime La Charite, Christopher Biely, Rebecca Dudovitz, Kathryn Leifheit, Shirley Russ, Narayan Sastry, Cecile Yama, George M. Slavich, Adam Schickedanz. 2023. Parents’ Childhood Experiences and Offspring Involvement With the Legal System. JAMA Network Open 6(10):e2339648-e2339648.
- La Charite, Jaime, Khan, Mariam, Dudovitz, Rebecca, Nuckols, Teryl, Narayan Sastry, Huang, Cher, Lei, Yvonne, Schickedanz, Adam. 2023. Specific domains of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) associated with improved adult health: A nationally representative study. SSM - Population Health 24:101558.
- Narayan Sastry, Katherine A McGonagle. 2022. Switching from telephone to web-first mixed-mode data collection: Results from the Transition into Adulthood Supplement to the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society) 185(3):933-954.
- Lauren A. Tighe, Kira S Birditt, Angela Elizabeth Turkelson, Narayan Sastry. 2022. Under my skin: Parenting behavior and children’s cortisol in the Los Angeles family and neighborhood survey. Developmental Psychobiology 64(4):e22263-undefined.
- Katherine A McGonagle, Narayan Sastry, Vicki A Freedman. 2022. The Effects of a Targeted “Early Bird” Incentive Strategy on Response Rates, Fieldwork Effort, and Costs in a National Panel Study. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology
- Katherine A McGonagle, Narayan Sastry. 2021. An Experimental Evaluation of an Online Interview Scheduler: Effects on Fieldwork Outcomes. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology 9(3):412-428.
- Lei, Yvonne, Shah, Vivek, Biely, Christopher, Jackson, Nicholas, Dudovitz, Rebecca, Barnert, Elizabeth, Hotez, Emily, Guerrero, Alma, Bui, Anthony L., Narayan Sastry, Schickedanz, Adam. 2021. Discrimination and Subsequent Mental Health, Substance Use, and Well-being in Young Adults. Pediatrics 148(6)
- Narayan Sastry, Paula Fomby, Katherine A McGonagle. 2021. Effects on Core Panel Attrition and Fieldwork Outcomes from Selection for a Supplemental Study: Evidence from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Advances in Longitudinal Survey Methodology :74-99.
- Narayan Sastry, William G Axinn, Julie Ann Josefosky de Jong, Dirgha Jibi Ghimire, Emily Treleaven. 2021. Assessing the Opportunities and Challenges in the Transition to Computer-Based Survey Data Collection: The Role of Key Software System Features. Report to the World Bank
- Schickedanz, Adam, José J. Escarce, Halfon, Neal, Narayan Sastry, Chung, Paul J.. 2021. Intergenerational Associations between Parents’ and Children’s Adverse Childhood Experience Scores. Children 8(9):747.
- Handcock, Mark S., Hicks, Andrew L., Narayan Sastry, Pebley, Anne R.. 2021. A Note on “Sequential Neighborhood Effects” by Hicks et al. (2018). Demography 58(2):773-784.
- Robert Bozick, Narayan Sastry, Airan Liu. 2020. Health in Early Adolescence and Paid Employment. Youth & Society
- Narayan Sastry, Katherine A McGonagle, Paula Fomby. 2020. Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Survey Fieldwork: Experience and Lessons From Two Major Supplements to the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Survey Research Methods 14(2):241-245.
- Narayan Sastry, Gregory, Jesse . 2020. Returning to New Orleans in the Year after Hurricane Katrina: Disparities by Race and the Effects of Flooding. PSC Research Report Series (No. 20-896.)
- Paula Fomby, Narayan Sastry. 2019. Data Collection on Sensitive Topics with Adolescents Using Interactive Voice Response Technology. methods, data, analyses 13(1)
- Narayan Sastry, Schickedanz, Adam B, Escarce, José J, Halfon, Neal , Chung, Paul J. 2019. Adverse Childhood Experiences and Household Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Costs. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 56(5):698-707.
- Narayan Sastry, Hicks, Andrew L, Handcock, Mark S, Pebley, Anne R. 2018. Sequential Neighborhood Effects: The Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Concentrated Disadvantage on Children's Reading and Math Test Scores. Demography 55(1):1-31.
- Narayan Sastry, Schickedanz, Adam , Halfon, Neal , Chung, Paul J. 2018. Parentsà Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their ChildrenÃs Behavioral Health Problems. Pediatrics 142(2):e20180023.
- Johnson,David Scott, Katherine A McGonagle, Vicki A Freedman, Narayan Sastry. 2018. Fifty Years of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Past, Present, and Future. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 680(1):9-28.
- Andrew L. Hicks, Mark S. Handcock, Narayan Sastry, Anne R. Pebley. 2018. Sequential Neighborhood Effects: The Effect of Long-Term Exposure to Concentrated Disadvantage on Childrenâs Reading and Math Test Scores. Demography 55(1):1-31.
- Narayan Sastry, Paula Fomby, Katherine A McGonagle. 2018. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to Conduct Life Course Health Development Analysis. Handbook of Life Course Health Development :579-599.
- Adam Schickedanz, Neal Halfon, Narayan Sastry, Paul J. Chung. 2018. Parentsâ Adverse Childhood Experiences and Their Childrenâs Behavioral Health Problems. Pediatrics 142(2):e20180023.
- Paula Fomby, Narayan Sastry, Katherine A McGonagle. 2017. Effectiveness of a Time-limited Incentive on Participation by Hard-to-reach Respondents in a Panel Study. Field Methods 29(3):238-251.
- Katherine A McGonagle, Narayan Sastry. 2015. Cohort Profile: The Panel Study of Income Dynamicsâ Child Development Supplement and Transition into Adulthood Study. International journal of epidemiology 44(2):415-422.
- Narayan Sastry. 2012. Neighborhood Effects on Childrenâs Achievement: A Review of Recent Research. The Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Child Development :423-477.
- Narayan Sastry, A. R. Pebley. 2010. Family and neighborhood sources of socioeconomic inequality in childrenâs achievement. Demography 47(3):777-800.
- Anne R. Pebley, Narayan Sastry. 2008. Neighborhoods, poverty and childrenâs well-being: A review. Social stratification : class, race, and gender in sociological perspective :360.
- A. Weathers, S. Novak, Narayan Sastry, E. Norton. 2008. Parental Nativity Affects Childrenâs Health and Access to Care. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 10(2):155-165.
- Anne R. Pebley, Narayan Sastry. 2007. Neighborhoods, poverty, and childrenâs well-being. The inequality reader: contemporary and foundational readings in race, class, and gender 165-178:165-178.
- Julia C. Prentice, Anne R. Pebley, Narayan Sastry. 2006. Authors respond to âCollection of legal status information: Cautionâ. American Journal of Public Health 96(3):399-400.
- Anne R. Pebley, Narayan Sastry. 2004. Neighborhoods, Poverty and Childrenâs Well-being: A Review. Social Inequality :119.
- Narayan Sastry. 2002. Urbanization, development and under-five mortality differentials by place of residence in São Brazil, 1970-1991. Demographic Research, Special Collection 2 :355-386.