Fengyan Tang

Professor Fengyan Tang earned her Ph.D. in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. Tang’s research focuses broadly on social engagement and health outcomes among older adults, assessing how to optimize engagement opportunities to maintain and improve physical, mental, cognitive health and quality of life.  She also conducts research on risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia among community-dwelling aging immigrants and the effects of activity engagement on cognitive health. Her work aims to address health disparities and advance social justice through investigation of the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, social class, and immigration – the social contexts of inequality over the life course with profound impacts on the well-being and engagement with life in old age.

Research Interests

• Social engagement in later life
• Healthy aging
• Older immigrants

Selected publications

Tang, F., Li, K., Rosso, A., Jiang, Y., & Li, M. (2022). Neighborhood Segregation and Cognitive Functioning among Older Chinese Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18167

Tang, F., Li, K., Rauktis, M.E., Buckley, T.D., & Chi, I. (2022). Immigration Experiences and Cognitive Trajectories among Older Chinese Immigrants. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, gbac120, https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac120

Tang, F., Li, K., & Jang, H. (2022). Longitudinal Relationship between Living Alone and Health among Chinese Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Activity Engagement. Journal of China Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/17525098.2022.2121738

Tang, F., Li, K., Rauktis, M.E., Farmer, E.M.Z., & McDaniel, S. (2022).  Stress, Coping, and Quality of Life among Custodial Grandparents. Journal of Gerontological Social Work. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2022.2103764

Tang, F., Li, K., Rauktis, M. E., Chi, I., & Dong, X. (2022). A Social-ecological Approach to Understanding Activity Engagement Patterns among Older Chinese Immigrants. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development. doi.org/10.1177/00914150221084648

Xu, L., Tang, F., Chen, Y., & Dong, X. (2022). Acculturation and depressive symptoms among older Chinese immigrants in the United States: The roles of positive and negative social interactions. Aging and Mental Health. Published online Feb 11, 2022.  DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2032592

Jang, H., Rauktis, M., & Tang, F. (2022). The quality of relationship with adult children and depressive symptoms among grandparents. Aging and Mental Health, 26 (12), 2381-2389. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1998349