My CV can be downloaded here.
Li, Yiang, Jason Wong, and Linda Waite. 2026. Yours, Mine and Ours: Childhood Disadvantage and Late-Life Social Connectedness in Marital Dyads. Social Science Research.
Abstract: Life course theory describes each person's trajectory as intertwined with others, with the family serving as a key conduit through which resources and experiences, including those in childhood, are exchanged. We apply the framework of “linked long arms” that extends the linked lives perspective within intimate dyads, allowing for the early-life experiences and resources of one partner to affect both their own experiences and resources and those of their partner later in life. Using dyadic models with couple-level data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 1214 couples), we estimate how childhood disadvantage is associated with one's own and one's partner's later-life social connectedness. Results show that people carry the influence of childhood socioeconomic and family disadvantages, but not that of violence, into their family social lives many decades later. Older women who experienced disadvantage in childhood, particularly low parental education and family unhappiness, report having fewer friends and fewer confidants, less frequent socializing, and lower participation in community organizations than others. Husbands of women whose families were unhappy report fewer friends than others, but we see no other spillovers from the wife's early disadvantage to the husband's later social life. In contrast, the wives of men who experienced disadvantage in childhood, especially lower parental education, report fewer friends and less frequent formal community participation. Older adults who grew up in families that were socially, economically, or emotionally disadvantaged show diminished late-life social well-being, and often so do their spouses, with women particularly sensitive.
Wong, Jason and Emma Zang. 2025. Regional Disparities in Cognitive Life Expectancy: The Role of Birth and Current Residence in the United States. Health & Place.
Abstract: Regional disparities in cognitive impairment are well-documented, but the combined impact of birth and current residence remains unclear. Prior studies examine geographic patterns, yet none estimate years spent in different cognitive states-key for understanding long-term health and policy implications. Using data from the 1998-2020 Health and Retirement Study (105,491 observations from 19,213 individuals), we employ a Bayesian multistate life table approach to estimate cognitively healthy and impaired life expectancies at age 50 across different combinations of birth and current regions. Our findings show that birth region plays a stronger role in cognitive impairment risk than current residence. At age 50, Southern-born individuals, regardless of where they live later, have fewer years without cognitive impairment (Men: 20.5-21.5; Women: 24.8-25.4) and more years with dementia (Men: 2.3-2.5; Women: 3.0-3.1) than those born elsewhere. Those both born and living in the South have the shortest cognitively healthy life expectancy. Regional differences based on current residence alone are minimal and only evident when considered alongside birthplace. Beyond the Southern birth disadvantage, we also identify a Western birth disadvantage, particularly in life expectancy with dementia and, for women, a higher percentage of life spent with cognitive impairment but not dementia. This suggests that Western-born individuals, especially women, may experience prolonged cognitive decline even if they avoid full-blown dementia. These findings provide new evidence of the lasting impact of early-life geographic exposures on cognitive impairment risk, underscoring that growing up in certain regions, particularly the South and, in some respects, the West, can shape cognitive health trajectories decades later.
Wong, Jason, Mengke Zhao, Yuying Tong, and Feinian Chen. 2025. Socially Withdrawn or Socially Engaged? The Impacts of Caring for Grandchildren on Social Participation among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in China. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Social Sciences.
Abstract: Grandparents caring for grandchildren (i.e., grandparenting) is a key aspect of intergenerational family dynamics. While extensive research has documented the health implications of grandparenting, relatively few studies have explored its association with social well-being. Grandparenting can either promote or constrain grandparents' social participation, depending on caregiving intensity and intergenerational living arrangements. These associations may also vary by gender due to gendered social norms and differences in opportunities for social networking. This study investigates the longitudinal association between grandparenting and social participation among grandparents and examines how this association differs by gender. Data are drawn from the 2011, 2013, and 2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N = 8,907, aged 45-80). We use fixed-effects Poisson regression models to examine the association between different types of grandparenting and the number of social participation activities of grandparents. Subgroup analyses are conducted by grandparents' gender. In fixed-effects regression models adjusting for time-varying covariates, we find that nonintensive noncoresident grandparenting, intensive noncoresident grandparenting, and skipped-generation grandparenting are associated with increased social participation among grandparents compared to no grandparenting. However, no significant difference in social participation is observed between three-generation grandparenting and no grandparenting groups. Grandfathers show higher levels of social participation when engaging in nonintensive or intensive noncoresident grandparenting, whereas grandmothers experience increased social participation primarily with nonintensive noncoresident grandparenting. Overall, grandparenting promotes rather than hinders social participation among grandparents. This study highlights the role of intergenerational family relationships in facilitating older adults' social engagement in later life.
Wong, Jason*, Siyao Lu*, Yifan Lou, Emma Zang, and Deborah Carr. 2025. A Novel Time Use Approach on Daily Active Engagement with Life: The Intersectionality of Race and Gender (*Equal first authors). The Gerontologist.
Abstract: Active engagement with life (AE) is an integral aspect of successful aging. Using time diary data, this study explored how U.S. older adults structure their daily lives involving social participation and productive engagement, and the extent to which these patterns differ by race and gender. We used American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data (n = 17,990) and sequence and cluster analyses to identify distinctive daily AE patterns. Multivariable linear regression models were used to evaluate associations between AE patterns and self-rated health, and the moderating roles of race and gender. Five AE clusters were identified: Low Degree of AE (26%), Moderate Unpaid Work and Light Social Participation (39%), Persistent Unpaid Work (20%), Persistent Paid Work (10%), and Persistent Social Participation (4%). White women were the most likely and Black men the least likely to have any AE. Compared to "Low Degree of AE," all other AE clusters were associated with better self-rated health, with these associations varying by gender and race. The strongest positive association was observed for "Persistent Paid Work," especially among women. Racial differences in the association between AE and health were more prominent among women than men. Differences by AE were less pronounced among Black women in comparison to White women. We found that the association between AE and self-rated health varies by race and gender. Persistent structural barriers may prevent older adults from historically minoritized backgrounds, particularly Black women, from benefiting from AE.
Hu, Yue, Yiqi Wangliu, Helene Fung, Jamila Bookwala, Jason Wong, and Yuying Tong. 2024. The Profile of Stress and Coping Related to Successful Aging among Chinese Migrant and Non-migrant Grandparents. The Gerontologist.
Abstract: Around eight million older adults have internally migrated to take care of grandchildren in China. This study aimed to explore how Chinese migrant and nonmigrant grandparents perceived successful aging and how they coped with challenges to successful aging. Based on ecological systems theory, semistructured interviews were conducted among 21 grandparents (12 migrants, median age = 59 years old) from urban areas in China who provided noncustodial grandchild care. Deductive content analysis was employed to examine the data pertaining to the definition of successful aging, the stressors encountered, and coping strategies employed by both groups. Findings revealed that both migrant and nonmigrant grandparents placed a higher emphasis on family prosperity than their own physical health, in their definitions of successful aging. Although both groups experienced common stressors in the microsystem (e.g., intergenerational conflicts), migrant grandparents uniquely encountered stressors in the mesosystem (e.g., hardships in their close relationships) and in the macrosystem (e.g., uncertainty in aging preparation). In terms of coping, migrant grandparents exhibited a distinctive pattern of utilizing avoidant coping strategies when navigating intergenerational conflicts and planning for their later life, compared to nonmigrant grandparents. Our findings suggested that although migration was not associated with grandparents' definition of successful aging, migrant grandparents encountered specific challenges in achieving successful aging. This highlights the necessity of providing more support to grandparents through the family, community, or state, particularly to those who are migrants.
Yang, Frances Lu, Adelaide Tsznok Au, Jason Yue Hei Wong, and Vivian Weiqun Lou. 2022. The Deprived or The Devil? A Content Analysis of Media Representation of the Older Adults under COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Ageing and Society.
Abstract: Older adults have been statistically proved to be at a higher risk of getting severely infected by the coronavirus COVID-19, evoking sweeping narratives of compassionate ageism surrounding them in different discourses. By analysing the media content, scholars from different areas have alerted us about the amplified ageism aroused by the pandemic crisis. However, we are still short of empirical evidence to learn how ageism is constructed in diverse sociocultural contexts in the wake of this global pandemic crisis. This study provides the case of Hong Kong to reflect on how ageism, as a set of social inequalities, is constructed. By examining 814 articles collected from the three most popular newspapers with different political orientations in Hong Kong, this study uses quantitative and qualitative content analysis to examine how older people have been generally represented. Then it further compares how these representations have been influenced by the media's liberal or conservative preferences. Third, it examines the relationship between the political orientation of newspapers and how different forms of ageism are constructed. The findings indicate that despite the liberal or conservative inclination of the three newspapers, they portray the older population as frail, dependent and deprived not only at the biomedical level but in all aspects of life. This study also reveals that the newspapers with a populist inclination in both camps have shown more hostile attitudes in representing compassionate ageism. In contrast, liberal and conservative-leaning media affirmed the government's dominant role in taking full responsibility for caring for the older population. The findings indicate that the polarised ageism frame cannot fully explain the underpinnings of ageism and implied policy processing in different contexts.