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Department of Sociology - Tracey LaPierre
Research Interests
My research interests lie at the intersection of families and health and well-being, with a particular focus on changes over the life course and older populations. This theme can be found in a number of my research projects including the impact of marital status on depressive symptoms over the life course and research on informal caregiving. One main research area that I am involved in focuses on grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.Over the past few decades we have seen considerable changes in the American family and by necessity a number of alternative family forms have been growing in prevalence, including grandparents taking on primary caregiving responsibilities for their grandchildren. This non-normative family form often has difficulty in gaining adequate access to necessary resources. My recent work in this area has investigated the health impact of caring for grandchildren and explored who becomes a grandparent caring for their grandchild. I have recently begun a new study on how grandparents raising grandchildren make decisions regarding the legal relationships they have with their grandchildren. In particular I am interested in how the legal and policy climates surrounding grandparent caregivers interact with individual and family level characteristics in making these important decisions. I also seek to understand the implications of these legal relationships for the well being of everyone involved, and how the legal process itself may have a positive or negative effect.
Selected Publications
LaPierre, Tracey A., and Mary Elizabeth Hughes. (Forthcoming) “Demography of Aging in the United States and Canada”. Chapter 10 in the Encyclopedia of Aging, Peter Uhlenberg (Editor).
Hughes, Mary Elizabeth, Linda Waite, Tracey A. LaPierre, and Ye Luo. (2007) “All in the Family: The Impact of Caring for Grandchildren on Grandparents’ Health.” Journal of Gerontology, Social Sciences, 60: S108-119.
Selected Presentations
LaPierre, Tracey A. (2007, November). “Marital Status and Depressive Symptoms: The Relative Importance of Hypothesized Pathways.” Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
LaPierre, Tracey A. (2007, March). “Marital Status and Depressive Symptoms Over Time: Modeling the Effects of Status Duration.” Paper presented at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting, New York, New York.
Hughes, Mary Elizabeth, Ye Luo, Tracey A. LaPierre and Linda Waite. (2006, November). “Grandparents Providing Care to Grandchildren: Who Becomes a Caregiver?” Paper presented at the Gerontological Society of America Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas.
LaPierre, Tracey A., and Norah Keating. (2004, August). “Informal Caregiving to the Frail Elderly: Is the Care Provided by Non-Kin Substantial?” Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California. |
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