Yu-An Chen
Research Interests: Medical Sociology; Aging and the Life Course; Social Inequality and Mobility; Environmental Sociology; Quantitative Methods
Education:
MSS, Bio-industry Communication and Development, 2014, National Taiwan University
BSS, Bio-industry Communication and Development, 2010, National Taiwan University
Bio: Yu-An Chen is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University at Buffalo. Her research examines how socioeconomic conditions and social connectedness shape health outcomes across the life course. Grounded in fundamental cause theory and the life course perspective, her dissertation investigates how asset and debt trajectories from middle age to later life are associated with chronic disease and depression. She also examines how childhood socioeconomic status can shape mental health through romantic relationships and gendered pathways among middle-aged couples, as well as the role of social support in the relationship between wealth and health later in life. Beyond her dissertation, Yu-An studies how different dimensions of individual and community social capital can lead to different health outcomes.
Publications:
- Grol-Prokopczyk, Hanna, Rui Huang, Chang Yu, Yu-An Chen, Sirat Kaur, Merita Limani, Ting-Hui Lin, Anna Zajacova, Zachary Zimmer, Penney Cowan, Roger B. Fillingim, Jennifer S. Gewandter, Ian Gilron, Adam T. Hirsh, Gary J. Macfarlane, Salimah H. Meghani, Kushang V. Patel, Ellen L. Poleshuck, Eric C. Strain, Frank J. Symons, Ursula Wesselmann, Robert H. Dworkin and Dennis C. Turk. 2025. “Over Fifty Years of Research on Social Disparities in Pain and Pain Treatment: A Scoping Review of Reviews.” PAIN 166(11): 2458-2472. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003676
- Smiley, Kevin T., Lauren Clay, Ashley Ross and Yu-An Chen. 2022. “Multi-scalar and Multi-dimensional Conceptions of Social Capital and Mental Health Impacts After Disaster: The Case of Hurricane Harvey.” Disasters 46: 473-498. https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12474
Email: ychen286@buffalo.edu
CV: Yu-An Chen's CV