SSRI welcomes new associate directors
Aug 11, 2022
The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) at Penn State announces the addition of two new associate directors, Jennifer Glick and Shedra Amy Snipes.Glick is the Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman Professor of Sociology and Criminology / Demography at Penn State, an SSRI cofunded faculty member, and…
The Americans Already Suffering Most From the Fall of Roe
Aug 11, 2022
SSRI cofund and CSA Director Guangqing Chi and Jessica Miller wrote this opinion peice for The Slate on limiting access to abortion increases social inequality and puts disproportionate burdens on women of lower income and minorities. Read more here.
In Rural America, Older Adult Vaccination Rates were Higher in Counties with More Aging and Disability Services
Aug 10, 2022
In this Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion research brief, PRI's Danielle Rhubart and Yue Sun describe how aging and disability services (ADS) played an important role for older adults in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, including sharing information, providing transportation, and serving…
The Russia-Ukraine war will hurt millions in Central Asia. Here's why.
Aug 8, 2022
by Guangqing Chi and Erin Hofmann, For The InquirerThe past three years haven’t been easy for Central Asian migrant workers in Russia like Murat and Aigul, a Kyrgyz couple who have worked in Moscow since 2018. In 2020, due to the pandemic lockdown in Moscow, the couple was confined for more than a…
Insecure: New study links tap water avoidance and food insecurity
Aug 4, 2022
Many Americans take tap water for granted. Water bills are often less expensive compared to people’s other bills, and tap water has been a part of most Americans’ lives since they were born. For nearly 61 million Americans, however, tap water is either unavailable or untrusted. New research from…
Race matters in COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, research finds
Jul 27, 2022
Hispanic and Black Americans have suffered higher rates of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 than white Americans. A new Penn State study analyzed data collected when COVID-19 vaccines first became available to determine whether these racial and ethnic disparities are related to vaccine…
Losing spouse to COVID may be worse for mental health than other causes of death
Jul 26, 2022
Losing a spouse can be a devastating experience for anyone. A new study found that experiencing the death of a spouse due to COVID-19 may be worse for mental health than deaths from other causes.Penn State researchers found that while there were strong associations between the recent death of a…
Venture Equity Project aims to remove barriers for entrepreneurs of color
Jul 15, 2022
Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development’s equity research was highlighted alongside other partners at Nasdaq MarketSite in NYC, the commercial marketing presence of the Nasdaq Stock Market in Times Square.Through a collaborative partnership with The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center,…
High incarceration rates may not help U.S. citizens feel safer
Jul 13, 2022
The U.S. is the world leader in incarceration rates, spending $80 billion a year to imprison two million people. But despite these practices aiming to help Americans feel safer, a new Penn State study suggests they may not result in the intended effect.In a study comparing feelings of safety in…
1 in 8 U.S. deaths from 2020 to 2021 came from COVID-19 – leaving millions of relatives reeling from distinctly difficult grief
Jul 12, 2022
By Emily Smith-Greenaway, Associate Professor of Sociology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; Ashton Verdery, Professor of Sociology, Demography and Social Data Analytics and Population Research Institute Associate, Penn State; Haowei Wang, Postdoctoral Research Associate in…
White children are especially likely to be overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD, according to a new study
Jul 7, 2022
By Paul L. Morgan, Eberly Fellow, Professor of Education and Demography, and Director of SSRI's Center for Educational Disparities Research, Penn State, for The ConversationWhite children are especially likely to be overdiagnosed and overtreated for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during…
Suicide vulnerability index, machine learning model help predict counties’ risk
Jun 29, 2022
Suicide is a leading cause of death in the United States, but the models that have been used to predict suicide rates weight risk factors equally and rely on data for large geographic areas, limiting the precision of the predictions, according to Penn State researchers. Now, the researchers have…
Intensifying heat waves threaten South Asia’s struggling farmers – many of them women
Jun 28, 2022
By Heather Randell, Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography and SSRI cofund, Penn State and Emily M L Southard, Ph.D. Candidate in Rural Sociology and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Penn State, for The ConversationSitting in a semi-circle in the yard outside of a village school…
Unemployment associated with worse mental and physical health later in life
Jun 23, 2022
When and how often a person experiences unemployment in their 20s, 30s and 40s has serious implications for their health later in life, which could be in part due to a lack of access to health care while unemployed, according to new research.The researchers found that people who had little…
Older adults more likely to have multiple health ailments than prior generations
Jun 22, 2022
Later-born generations of older adults in the United States are more likely to have a greater number of chronic health conditions than the generations that preceded them, according to a study conducted by Penn State and Texas State University.According to the researchers, the increasing frequency…
Losing a grandmother may trigger rise in depression for some of her survivors
Jun 17, 2022
Losing a beloved family member is never easy, but a new study suggests the loss of a grandmother in particular may have repercussions for the loved ones she leaves behind.The researchers found that for up to seven years after the death of their grandmother, adolescent boys had a 50% increase in…
Firearm injuries undermine mental, physical, and financial health
Jun 7, 2022
By Keren Landman for VoxIn his speech last Thursday about the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, President Joe Biden spoke about a young student who’d averted the shooter’s attention by smearing her classmate’s blood on her face.
“Imagine what it would be like for her to walk down…
PAA’s annual meeting features strong Penn State presence
May 9, 2022
Many researchers from Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and Population Research Institute (PRI) participated in the Population Association of America’s (PAA) annual meeting, which took place recently in Atlanta.This year’s conference featured 235 sessions from a variety of…
Disruptive kindergartners are likely to be bullied later in elementary school
May 5, 2022
By Paul Morgan, Professor of Education and Demography, and Director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research, for The ConversationKindergartners who act out, disrupt classrooms, get angry and argue with their teachers are especially likely to be bullied once they reach third, fourth and…
Joint Lerner/PRI Brief - Social Infrastructure (“Third Places”) is Not Distributed Equally Across the U.S.
May 3, 2022
By Danielle Rhubart, Penn State; Yue Sun, Claire Pendergrast, and Shannon M. Monnat, Syracuse UniversityThird places are the physical spaces in a community where people can gather to connect and share resources, support, and information. They can help support health because they promote social…
Gen Z does not dream of labor
May 2, 2022
PRI Associate Director Sarah Damaske was quoted in a Vox.com article about how over the past two years, young millennials and members of Gen Z have created an abundance of memes and pithy commentary about their generational disillusionment toward work. The jokes, which correspond with the rise of…
Save the date for Penn State's 30th Annual Family Symposium, Oct. 24 - 25
Apr 28, 2022
Despite its significance for individuals, families and the larger society, research on family socialization on issues of race/ethnicity and racism remains limited. The goal of Penn State’s 30th annual Family Symposium, "Family Socialization around Race/Ethnicity and Racism: Advancing Understanding…
Black children in Pennsylvania have unequal access to quality preschool
Apr 14, 2022
Black children in Pennsylvania are far less likely than their white peers to have access to quality preschool providers, according to Penn State College of Education researchers.“Gaps in educational resources at a young age are a problem because children’s early learning experiences lay the…
Van Hook quoted in article on Chicago's undocumented seniors
Apr 6, 2022
SSRI cofund and PRI associate Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography in the College of the Liberal Arts, was quoted in an article about older adults in Chicago who don't have legal status and are disqualified from federally funded senior housing.Family ties are often…
New initiative on migration forming at Penn State
Apr 6, 2022
In one of the largest mass-migration flows in recent history, approximately 3.4 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine since late February. Most are women and children, and many families have been torn apart because the Ukraine State Border Guard Service has prohibited men ages 18 to 60…