I-Fen Lin

Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

I-Fen Lin’s areas of expertise include family sociology, aging, and survey methods. Much of her work examines parent-child relationships over the life course, with a focus on parents’ investment in children and adult children’s support of their aging parents. Her current projects examine the antecedents and consequences of gray divorce, family caregiving in late life, and discordance in parents' and children's reports of intergenerational transfer.

Recent Publications:

Lin, I-Fen and Judith A. Seltzer. 2023. “Stepfamily Variation in Parent-Child Relationship Quality in Later Life.” Journal of Marriage and Family. doi:10.1111/jomf.12946 (OnlineFirst)

Lin, I-Fen, Susan L. Brown, and Kagan A. Mellencamp. 2023. “Gray Divorce and Parent-Child Disconnectedness: Implications for Depressive Symptoms.” Journal of Marriage and Family. doi:10.1111/jomf.12936 (OnlineFirst)

Freedman, Vicki, A., Emily M. Agree, Judith A. Seltzer, Kira S. Birditt, Karen L. Fingerman, Esther M. Friedman, I-Fen Lin, Rachel Margolis, Sung S. Park, Sarah E. Patterson, Courtney A. Polenick, Rin Reczek, Adriana Reyes, Yulya Truskinovsky, Emily E. Wiemers, Huijing Wu, Douglas A. Wolf, Jennifer Wolff, and Steven H. Zarit. 2023. “The Changing Demography of Late-Life Family Caregiving: A Research Agenda to Understand Future Care Networks for an Aging U.S. Population.” The Gerontologist. doi:10.1093/geront/gnad036 (OnlineFirst)

Oyeyemi, Deborah M., I-Fen Lin, Haowei Wang, Daniel Gan, Monique J. Brown, Vicki A. Freedman, and Mark Manning. 2023. “Changes in Late-Life Assistance Networks for Black and White Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. doi:10.1111/jgs.18547 (OnlineFirst)

Brown, Monique, J., Haowei Wang, I-Fen Lin, Daniel Gan, Deborah Oyeyemi, Mark Manning, and Vicki A. Freedman. 2023. “COVID-19-Related Changes in Assistance Networks for U.S. Older Adults with and without Dementia.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 78(S1):S81-S90. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbac089

Brown, Susan L., I-Fen Lin, and Kagan A. Mellencamp. 2023. “A Brief Report on Living Arrangements Following Gray Divorce.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 78(8):1396-1401. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbad035

Lin, I-Fen, Susan L. Brown, and Kagan A. Mellencamp. 2022. “The Roles of Gray Divorce and Subsequent Repartnering for Parent-Adult Child Relationships.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 77(1):212-223. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbab139

Brown, Susan L. and I-Fen Lin. 2022. “The Graying of Divorce: A Half Century of Change.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 77(9):1710-1720. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbac057

Brown, Susan L., I-Fen Lin, and Kagan A. Mellencamp. 2022. “The Rising Midlife First Marriage Rate in the U.S.” Journal of Marriage and Family 84(4):1220-1233. doi:10.1111/jomf.12861

Brown, Susan L., Kagan A. Mellencamp, and I-Fen Lin. 2022. “Sole Family Survivors: Older Adults Lacking Family of Origin Kin.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 77(5):930-935. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbab239 (Editor’s Choice article)

Lin, I-Fen and Susan L. Brown. 2021. “The Economic Consequences of Gray Divorce for Women and Men.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 76(10):2073-2085. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaa157 (Editor’s Choice article)

Brown, Susan L., I-Fen Lin, Alyssa Vielee, and Kagan A. Mellencamp. 2021. “Midlife Marital Dissolution and the Onset of Cognitive Impairment.” The Gerontologist 61(7):1085-1094. doi:10.1093/geront/gnaa193 (Editor’s Choice article)

Brown, Susan L., I-Fen Lin, and Kagan A. Mellencamp. 2021. “Does the Transition to Grandparenthood Deter Gray Divorce? A Test of the Braking Hypothesis.” Social Forces 99(3):1209-1232. doi:10.1093/sf/soaa030

Lin, I-Fen and Susan L. Brown. 2020. “Consequences of Later-Life Divorce and Widowhood for Adult Well-Being: A Call for the Convalescence Model.” Journal of Family Theory & Review 12(2):264-277. doi:10.1111/JFTR.12366

Lin, I-Fen and Douglas A. Wolf. 2020. “Division of Parent Care among Adult Children.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 75(10):2230-2239. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbz162

Wright, Matthew R., Anna M. Hammersmith, Susan L. Brown, and I-Fen Lin. 2020. “The Roles of Marital Dissolution and Subsequent Repartnering on Loneliness in Later Life.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 75(8):1796-1807. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbz121

Lin, I-Fen, Susan L. Brown, Matthews R. Wright, and Anna M. Hammersmith. 2019. “Depressive Symptoms Following Later-Life Marital Dissolution and Subsequent Repartnering.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior 60(2):153-168. doi:10.1177/0022146519839683

Lin, I-Fen and Hsueh-Sheng Wu. 2019. “Early-Life Parent-Child Relationships and Adult Children’s Support of Unpartnered Parents in Later Life.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 74(5):869-880. doi:10.1093/geronb/gby020

Lin, I-Fen and Hsueh-Sheng Wu. 2019. “Sibling Influences, Sibling Similarities, and Parent Care in Late Life.” EurAmerica 49(1):45-73.

Brown, Susan L., I-Fen Lin, Anna M. Hammersmith, and Matthew R. Wright. 2019. “Repartnering Following Gray Divorce: The Roles of Resources and Constraints for Women and Men.” Demography 56(2):503-523. doi:10.1007/s13524-018-0752-x

Hammersmith, Anna M. and I-Fen Lin. 2019. “Evaluative and Experienced Well-Being of Caregivers of Parents and Caregivers of Children.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 74(2):339-352. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbw065

Lin, I-Fen, Susan L. Brown, and Cassandra Jean Cupka. 2018. “A National Portrait of Stepfamilies in Later Life.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 73(6):1043-1054. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbx150 (Editor’s Choice article)

Lin, I-Fen, Susan L. Brown, Matthew R. Wright, and Anna M. Hammersmith. 2018. “Antecedents of Gray Divorce: A Life Course Perspective.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 73(6):1022-1031. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbw164

Lin, I-Fen and Hsueh-Sheng Wu. 2018. “Intergenerational Transfer and Reporting Bias: An Application of the MIMIC Model.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 73(1):19-29. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbx080 (Editor’s Choice article)

Brown, Susan L., I-Fen Lin, Anna M. Hammersmith, and Matthew R. Wright. 2018. “Later Life Marital Dissolution and Repartnership Status: A National Portrait.” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 73(6):1032-1042. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbw051

Lin, I-Fen, Susan L. Brown, and Anna M. Hammersmith. 2017. “Marital Biography, Social Security Receipt, and Poverty.” Research on Aging 39(1):86-110. doi:10.1177/0164027516656139