My current research projects focus on how social relationships over the life course produce health inequalities in later life in the United States and China. I am interested in the following questions:
Selected publications (2016-2022)
Zhang, Zhenmei, Hui Liu and Yan Zhang. 2022. "Marital Loss and Cognitive Function: Does Timing Matter?" The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbac069.
Hsieh, Ning and Zhenmei Zhang. 2021. “Childlessness and Social Support in Old Age in China.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology. 36(2):121-137. doi: 10.1007/s10823-021-09427-x.
Zhang, Zhenmei., Hui Liu, & Seung-won Choi. 2021. "Marital Loss and Risk of Dementia: Do Race and Gender Matter?" Social Science & Medicine, 275, 113808. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.
Choi, Seung-won and Zhenmei Zhang (2021). Caring as Curing: Grandparenting and Depressive Symptoms in China. Social Science & Medicine, 289, 114452. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114452
Zhenmei Zhang, Hui Liu, and Seung-won Choi. 2020. “Early-life Characteristics, Midlife
Socioeconomic Status, and Late-life cognition: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.” Social Science & Medicine Volume, 244, 112575.
Liu, Hui, Zhenmei Zhang, Seung-won Choi, and Kenneth M Langa. 2020. “Marital Status and Dementia: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.” The Journals of Gerontology,
Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 75(8) S1873-S1795.
Yan-Liang Yu and Zhenmei Zhang. 2020. “Relationship Quality and Functional Limitations among Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease in the United States.” Ageing & Society 40(8):1694-1717.
Zhang, Zhenmei., Lydia Li, Hongwei Xu, and Jinyu Liu. 2019. "Does Widowhood Affect Cognitive Function Among Chinese Older Adults?" Social Science & Medicine – Population Health, 7, 100329.
Xu, Hongwei, Zhenmei Zhang, Lydia Li, and Jinyu Liu. 2018 “Early-Life Exposure to China’s 1959-61 Famine and Midlife Cognition.” International Journal of Epidemiology. 47(1):109-120.
Zhang, Zhenmei, Jinyu Liu, Lydia Li, and Hongwei Xu. 2018. “The Long Arm of Childhood in China: Early-Life Conditions and Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults.” Journal of Aging and Health. 30(8): 1319-1344.
Zhang, Zhenmei and I-Fen Lin. 2017. “Intergenerational Support Among Widowed Older Adults in China.” International Journal of Population Studies, 3(1): 94–109.
Zhang, Zhenmei, Mark D. Hayward, and Yan-Liang Yu. 2016. “Life Course Pathways to Racial Disparities in Cognitive Impairment Among Older Americans.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 57(2): 184-199.
Xu, Hongwei, Lydia Li, Zhenmei Zhang, and Jinyu Liu. 2016. “Is Natural Experiment a Cure? Re-examining the Long-Term Health Effects of China’s 1959-1961 Famine.” Social Science and Medicine.
148:110-122.
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