Congratulations to Janet Wilmoth who was appointed Distinguished Professor of Sociology. Distinguished Professors are members of the professorate who have achieved exceptionally distinguished stature in their academic specialties and have a substantive and sustained impact on their fields.
ASI
CAPS affiliates at the Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting
Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meeting –April 10-13, 2025 in Washington, DC
The Population Association of America’s annual meeting is the premier conference of demographers and social and health scientists from the United States and abroad. Here demographers at all career stages are afforded the opportunity to present their research in oral and poster sessions, hear others’ findings, and network with their peers.
CAPS affiliates will present their work at the 2025 Population Association of America Annual Meeting.
List of Presentations
Friday, April 11, 2025
8:00 AM-9:15 AM
Room: LeDroit Park
Life Course Exposure to State Policy Liberalism Contexts and Later-Life Cognitive Health
Jason Wong, Yale University; Emma Zang*, Yale University; Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University
8:00 AM-9:15 AM
Room: Mint
Does Despair in Young Adulthood Predict Mortality?
Iliya Gutin, Syracuse University; Lauren Gaydosh, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
11:00 AM-12:15 PM
Room: Supreme Court
Major Trends in the Demography of Aging: Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) P30 Centers
CHAIR: Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University
2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Room: LeDroit Park
Redlining Policy and Later-Life Mortality: An Analysis of the Linked HRS-1940 Census Data
Samantha Friedman, University at Albany-SUNY; Janet Wilmoth, Syracuse University; Miriam Mutambudzi; Rui Li, University at Albany, SUNY; Jin-Wook Lee, University at Albany, SUNY
2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Room: Farragut North
Unpacking Explanations for the Tightening Association Between Education and Health
Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University; Julia Finan*, Syracuse University; Scott Landes, Syracuse University; Anna Zajacova, University of Western Ontario
3:30 PM-4:45 PM
Room: Silver Linden
A Lasting Impression: Early Arrests and Attitudes Toward the Law
Lili Dodderidge, Cornell University; Erin York Cornwell, Cornell University
Saturday, April 12, 2025
8:00 AM-9:15 AM
Room: Scarlet Oak
The Well-being of Frontline Workers Following the COVID-19 Pandemic
Emily Wiemers, Syracuse University; Halim Yoon, Syracuse University; I-Fen Lin, Bowling Green State University; Janecca Chin, Bowling Green State University; Vincent Hotz, University of Chicago
8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Room: Liberty & Independence Ballrooms
Power Outages in an Era of Climate Change: A Microlevel Examination of the Household and Residential Correlates, 2023
Samantha Friedman, University at Albany-SUNY; Elizabeth Fussell, Brown University; Shao Lin, University at Albany, SUNY; Chunxu Fang, University at Albany, SUNY
9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room: Monument
Contexts of Extended Families during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Emily Wiemers, Syracuse University
9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room: Monument
State Policy Contexts and Working-Age Adult Mental Health Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Iliya Gutin, Shannon Monnat, Jennifer Karas Montez, Emily Wiemers, Douglas Wolf. Syracuse University
9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room: Capitol Hill
Parental Dementia and Mental Health Trajectories of Black and White Adult Children
Haowei Wang, Syracuse University
9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room: Mount Vernon Square
Extreme Temperature and Chronic Pain Among Older Adults: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Survey
Feinuo Sun*, University of Texas at Arlington; Kai Zhang, University at Albany
9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room: Dogwood
Gendered Work–Family Pathways and Midlife Health Among College Leavers
Paula Fomby, University of Pennsylvania; Meiying Li, Cornell University; Kelly Musick, Cornell University
9:30 AM-10:45 AM
Room: Eastern Market
Use and Consequences of Paid Maternity Leave Across Two American Cohorts Camille Portier, EUI (European University Institute); Vida Maralani, Cornell University
11:00 AM-12:15 PM
Room: L’Enfant Plaza
The Enduring Gender Gap in Care Expectations for Daughters and Sons
Sarah Patterson*, University of Michigan; Adriana Reyes, Cornell University
2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Room: Congress
Race, Place, and Economic Inequality
(CHAIR) Tse-Chuan Yang, University at Albany, SUNY
3:30 PM-4:45 PM
Room: Tulip
U.S. State Policy Contexts, County Economic Contexts, & Working-Age Mortality, 1990– 2019
Iliya Gutin, Syracuse University; Shannon Monnat, Syracuse University; Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University; Emily Wiemers, Syracuse University; Douglas Wolf, Syracuse University
3:30 PM-4:45 PM
Room: Magnolia
U.S. State & County Contributors to Growing Geographic Disparities in Working-Age Mortality
Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University; Shannon Monnat, Syracuse University; Iliya Gutin, Syracuse University; Emily Wiemers, Syracuse University; Douglas Wolf, Syracuse University
Sunday, April 13, 2025
9:00 AM-10:15 AM
Room: Magnolia
Physical and Cognitive Impairments Among Midlife Working-Age Latinos in the United States: Subgroup and Subnational Variation
Elise Parrish*, University of Pennsylvania; Courtney Boen, Brown University; Marc A. Garcia, Syracuse University
10:30 AM-11:45 AM
Room: Treasury
Causal Inference Methods
CHAIR: Lawrence Wu, New York University
DISCUSSANT: Seth Sanders, Cornell University
DISCUSSANT: Tyler Mccormick, University of Washington
Poster Presentations
Friday, April 11, 2025
Room: Liberty & Independence Ballrooms
8:30 AM-10:00 AM
Theme: Aging and the Life Course/Applied Demography
- Intergenerational Support and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Planning for Retirement
Adriana Reyes, Cornell University; Nekehia Quashie, University of Rhode Island; Yinan Yao, City University of New York; Jessica Hardie, Hunter College, CUNY - Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Pandemic-Related Economic Hardship Among Older Adults: Examining the Role of Local Inequalities
Emily Wiemers, Syracuse University; Anna Wiersma Strauss, Syracuse University; Marc A. Garcia, Syracuse University; I-Fen Lin, Bowling Green State University; Halim Yoon, Syracuse University; Janecca Chin, Bowling Green State University; Judith Seltzer, University of California, Los Angeles; Vincent Hotz, University of Chicago - Intergenerational Support and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Planning for Retirement
Adriana Reyes, Cornell University; Nekehia Quashie, University of Rhode Island; Yinan Yao, City University of New York; Jessica Hardie, Hunter College, CUNY - Latino–White Inequality and the Earned Income Tax Credit
Kate Strully, SUNY University at Albany; Christopher Lowenstein, Stanford University; David Rehkopf, Stanford University - Trends Over Time in Parental Sex Preferences for Children and Gender Gaps in Education
Vida Maralani, Cornell University; Chae Kim, Cornell University
Room: Liberty & Independence Ballrooms
3:45 PM-5:15 PM
Theme: Migration, Development, and Environment
- “Immigrant Health Paradox” in Self-care Disability in Later Life: Insights From Multinational Comparison
Zoya Gubernskaya, University at Albany, SUNY - Assailing Asylum: Social and Structural Determinants of Asylum Grant Rates to the United States, 1990–2023.
Vicente Mata, Cornell University; Bryan L. Sykes, Cornell University
Sunday, April 13, 2025
Room: Liberty & Independence Ballrooms
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Theme: Data and Methods/Other
- Measuring Rationalization Bias in Sex Preferences for Children in a Cross-National Perspective
Vida Maralani, Cornell University; Jack Donnellan*, Cornell; Chae Kim, Cornell University - Predictive Modeling of Cognitive Function: A Comparative Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques
Cheng-Hsi Yang, The Pennsylvania State University; Muntasir Masum, University at Albany – SUNY; Suman Saha, The Pennsylvania State University; Mahfuza Farooque, The Pennsylvania State University
Maria Brown Talks Alzheimer’s on Live with Greg Olson
Maria Brown was a guest panelist on Live with Greg Olson: Alzheimer’s: New Science/Early Detection presented by the New York State Office for Aging. The panelists discussed ways to detect Alzheimer’s earlier thanks to recently developed technology. Check it out here.
Merril Silverstein Talks to NPR About China’s Economy Adapting to Serve the Aging Population
In China, companies and services are adapting to serve what demographers call the silver economy—hundreds of millions of people over the age of 60.
For the first time in modern China, 60-plus people comprise more than a fifth of its population, putting it on track to be a super-age society by the next decade, according to the World Bank.
Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor in Aging, says, “Better health, you know, is a function of greater economic well-being, for one thing.” He is studying how infrastructure development is increasingly geared towards an older society in China and has observed market improvements in China as people’s purchasing power shot up.
“Those in more developed villages have less aging anxiety about whether their needs will be met, whether they’ll be, you know, happy or not as they get older,” says Silverstein.
Listen to the full interview here.
Scott Landes and colleague published in Disability and Health Journal
Three milestone disability health equity related decisions occurred between September 2023 and May 2024. Though each is to be celebrated in its own right, the continued failure to collect and/or limitations with disability data block the path to achieving disability health equity in the US.
Three milestone disability health equity related decisions occurred between September 2023 and May 2024: 1) designation of disabled people as a health disparities population; 2) the halting of plans to switch to questions that would underestimate the disabled population in the American Community Survey; and 3) the announcement of a Final Rule tightening regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. While each milestone represents progress in the path towards disability health equity and highlights the strength of the US disability community, the lack of comprehensive and equitable disability data collection remains a critical barrier to achieving full disability health equity. In this invited commentary, we summarize these milestones and offer three recommendations essential improving disability data collection in the US. Read more.
ASI at GSA 2024
Gerontological Society of America (GSA) Annual Scientific Meeting – November 13-16, 2024 in Seattle, WA
GSA the premier annual scientific meeting for cutting-edge scholarship, research, and networking relating to the fields of aging and gerontology. This years theme is “The Fortitude Factor.”
ASI faculty and students presented their work at the 2024 Gerontological Society of America Conference.
List of Presentations
- Catherine Garcia, Maria P. Aranda, and Michael Crowe
Race, Neighborhood Dynamics, and Mortality Patterns in Older Puerto Ricans
Wednesday, November 13
12:00 – 1:00 PM PST
Location: Room 205 - Joonsik Yoon
Transnational Parent-Care and Filial Piety: The Paradox of Idealized Traditional Immigrant Values
Wednesday, November 13
6:00 – 7:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 429 - Peiyuan Zhang, Sarah Clem, Ting Guan, Todd D. Becker, and Paul Sacco
Validation of Modified Sense of Control Scale Among Older Cancer Patients
Wednesday, November 13
6:00 – 7:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 164 - Amanda N. Leggett, Yulya Truskinovsky, Vicki Freedman, Emily Wiemers, Jennifer Corman, and Geoffrey Hoffman
Changes in Care Trajectories During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Older Adults with Care Needs
Wednesday, November 13
6:00 – 7:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 227 - Maria T. Brown and Jane A. McElroy
Disparities in Health Outcomes Among Middle-Aged and Older Sexual Minority Cancer Survivors
Wednesday, November 13
6:00 – 7:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 5 - Shu Xu and Haowei Wang
Visual Difficulty and Valued Activity Among Older Adults: Findings From the National Health and Aging Trends Study
Wednesday, November 13
6:00 – 7:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 48 - Heather L. Menne, Jason W. Osborne, and Claire Pendergrast
Geography and Living Arrangement as Loneliness Factors for OAA Nutrition Clients During COVID-19
Wednesday, November 13
6:00 – 7:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 329 - Marc A. Garcia, Blakelee Kemp, and Wassim Tarraf
State Policy and Political Landscapes: Implications for Cognitive and Functional Health
Thursday, November 14
8:00 – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 603 - Andrew London (Chair)
Life-Course Perspectives on Military Service Experiences, Stress Exposure, and Later-and End-of-Life Outcomes
Thursday, November 14
12:00 – 1:30 PM PST
Location: Room 614 - Ying Xu, Xiaoyu Fu, and Merril Silverstein
Exploring the Impact of Childhood Trauma, Social Network, and Gender Moderation on Depression Among Older Adults
Thursday, November 14
2:00 – 3:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB – Poster Board 463 - Jeung Hyun Kim and Merril Silverstein
Cultural Resources and Psychological Well-Being Influences on Cognitive Function in Mexican American Immigrants
Friday, November 15
8:00 – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 604 - Merril Silverstein, Seonhwa Lee, and Martin Lakomy
Do Stepchildren Provide Dementia Care to Aging Biological Parents Commensurate with their Level of Need?
Friday, November 15
10:00 – 11:30 AM PST
Location: Room 3B - Catherine Garcia, Morgan Parella, De’Lisia Adorno, Eniola Z. Festus, and Londi Rowell
Life Histories and Trajectories of Physiological Functioning Among Older Racialized Groups in the US
Friday, November 15
10:00 – 11:30 AM PST
Location: Room 613 - Tianqi Zhou, Martin Lakomy, and Merril Silverstein
Individualistic Values and Support Provided to Grandchildren
Friday, November 15
12:00 – 1:30 PM PST
Location: Room 606 - Catherine Garcia (Chair)
Cultivating Resilience Across Diverse Aging Communities
Saturday, November 16
8:00 – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 201 - I-Fen Lin, Judith A. Seltzer, Janecca Chin, Emily Wiemers, Anna Wiersma Strauss, V. J. Hotz
Time Help From Adult Children: Differences Among Biological and Step-Children in Non-Stepfamilies and Stepfamilies
Saturday, November 16
8:00 – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 617 - Claire Pendergrast
Socio-Spatial Determinants of Community-Based Long-Term Care Availability in Rural Counties
Saturday, November 16
8:00 – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 604 - Woo Jang, Drew A. Krull, Seonhwa Lee, and Merril Silverstein
Investigating Healthcare Access Disparities in Minnesota through GIS Analysis
Saturday, November 16
8:00 – 9:30 AM PST
Location: Room 608 - Xiaoyu Fu, Ying Xu, and Merril Silverstein
Aging Attitudes: The Effects of Intergenerational Relationships and Village Economic Context in Rural China
Saturday, November 16
2:00 – 3:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB - Haowei Wang, Shu Xu, and Yalian Pei
Childhood Speech Impairment and Dementia Risks among US Older Adults
Saturday, November 16
2:00 – 3:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB - Hyeonji Cho, Meejung Chin, and Catherine Garcia
Four Types of Financial Support among “Sandwiched” Middle-Aged Adults: Life and Family Relationship Satisfaction
Saturday, November 16
2:00 – 3:15 PM PST
Location: Exhibit Hall 4AB
New Volume edited by Merril Silverstein and Maria Brown – Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations Passing on Faith in Families of Six European and North American Nations
Edited by Merril Silverstein; Christel Gärtner and Maria T. Brown, Lexington Press
This volume brings together scholars of religious studies, secularism, and family science to examine how religion is passed down the generations in six European and North American nations. Taking a social change perspective within the context of family socialization theory, the authors treat intergenerational change and continuity in religion and spirituality as occurring under specific national and historical conditions.
Janet Wilmoth and colleagues featured in the American Journal of Hypertension – “Estimated Pulse Wave Velocity Is Associated With a Higher Risk of Dementia in the Health and Retirement Study”
In this paper, we use the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the relationship between an estimated measure of pulse wave velocity (ePWV) and cognitive impairment with no dementia and dementia, respectively.
We modeled the relationship between ePWV and cognitive status in 2006/2008 using data from 8,492 men and women (mean age 68.6 years) controlling for age, blood pressure, sociodemographic, and socioeconomic characteristics (sex, race and ethnicity, education, income, wealth), health behaviors (smoking and physical activity), body mass index (BMI), health status and related medication use (history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke), and cerebrovascular disease (CVD)-related biomarkers (C-reactive protein, cystatin-C, hemoglobin A1c, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol). We assess cognitive function with the 27-item Langa-Weir Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS) scale. ePWV is derived from an equation based on participant age and resting blood pressure.
In a model that controlled for the constituent components of ePWV (age, age squared, systolic and diastolic blood pressure), ePWV is associated with increased odds of having cognitive impairment with no dementia (OR = 2.761) and dementia (OR = 6.344) relative to a group with no cognitive impairment or dementia. After controlling for the constituent components of ePWV, sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health behaviors, BMI, health status and medication use, and CVD-related biomarkers, ePWV remains significantly associated with dementia (OR = 3.969) but not cognitive impairment with no dementia (OR = 1.782).
These findings suggest that ePWV may be a novel research tool and biomarker of vascular aging that can be used in large, population-representative studies to examine cognitive aging and dementia risk.
Read more here.
Syracuse University, Upstate Collaborate to Bring Memory Screenings to Area Offices for the Aging
Residents over the age of 60 in seven Central New York counties—Cayuga, Herkimer, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and Tompkins—can receive free memory screenings from their local Office for the Aging (OFA) as part of a collaborative project between SUNY Upstate Medical University and Syracuse University to assess the benefits of this type of screening in this setting.
The project is the first step in a plan that could possibly make such screenings available at OFAs across New York.
Early recognition of memory changes that could indicate an early stage dementia is important in order to help older adults gets the medical attention they need to avoid a crisis.
“If we are aware of early signs of memory issues, we are able to connect the individual to health care professionals who can begin appropriate treatment, while taking steps to educate and support families to improve the individual’s quality of life,” says Sharon Brangman, MD, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and chair of the Geriatrics and director of the Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease. “The ability to easily screen this segment of the population has the potential to significantly benefit both the individual and their families.”
Changes that might be caused by early dementia can include changes in memory, depression, anxiety, aggression or lack of interest, Brangman says.
Here’s how the program works: OFA case managers in the selected counties have been trained by Upstate staff to administer what is called the “Mini-Cog,” a three-minute screening tool to assess potential memory loss. The screening can be administered in an individual’s home during a routine visit by OFA staff or at the county office. OFA case managers will not make any diagnoses based on the screening results; they will only administer the screening.
If the Mini-Cog shows any sign of memory change, the individual will be referred to Upstate University Geriatricians for a comprehensive geriatric assessment.
To evaluate the merits of this screening approach in community settings, Maria Brown, Ph.D., associate research professor in Syracuse University’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and Aging Studies Institute, will analyze screening information over the yearlong project to identify the number of clients screened, number of clients with scores indicating memory changes, number of clients who receive follow-up comprehensive assessments and their diagnostic results.
“We are excited about improving the ability of OFAs to identify older adults across the Central New York region who could benefit from geriatric evaluations and connection to services to address their changing needs,” Brown says. Read more here.
Participants for Research Project Needed
Jason DeFreitas, Professor of Exercise Science, is recruiting participants for a research project – “Modulation of Sensory Function with Aging.” The purpose of the study is to examine on how our brain adjusts incoming sensory information, and how that may change with aging. For more information go to https://asi.syr.edu/modulation-of-sensory-function-with-aging/.