Aging in context : from cognitive aging and functional transitions to late-life depression across the life course
Organizer
Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University
Event Title
Sociology Seminar Series 2025-2026
Document Type
Public Seminar
Date
5-28-2026
Time
11:00 a.m. -- 12:30 p.m.
Venue
LYH310, 3/F, Lau Lee Yuen Haan Amenities Building, Lingnan University
Description
China is home to the world's largest aging population, with the health consequences of demographic aging posing a public health challenge. Recent gerontological research increasingly points to aging as a heterogeneous process. Drawing on longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this research advances an understanding of different aging trajectories among older Chinese adults. The findings first demonstrate that distinct cognitive functions, particularly orientation, differentially predict patterns of functional status transitions over time, underscoring the heterogeneity of the aging process. Subsequently, social participation is shown to serve as a critical psychosocial buffer, mediating the reinforcing relationship between functional limitations and cognitive decline. Extending this inquiry further, the findings demonstrate that vulnerability to late-life depressive symptoms is shaped not only by contemporaneous factors but by adversities embedded early in the life course, including poor maternal relationships, family dysfunction, and childhood socioeconomic disadvantage, all of which independently predict trajectories of depressive symptoms in later life. These findings collectively underscore the heterogeneity of aging, demonstrating that cognitive, functional, and mental health trajectories are shaped by distinct and context-dependent processes.
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Tsang, A. P. L. (2026, May 28). Aging in context: From cognitive aging and functional transitions to late-life depression across the life course [Video podcast]. Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/videos/992/
Additional Information
Speaker
Dr. Alex Pak Lik Tsang is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Nursing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. A Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, he obtained his PhD in Psychology from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research areas encompass cognitive aging, gerontology, and the social determinants of health, with a particular focus on how functional, cognitive, and psychosocial processes unfold across the life course in older adults. Drawing on large-scale cohort datasets such as CHARLS and ELSA, his work applies longitudinal methods including latent class analysis, latent transition analysis, and cross-lagged panel modeling to examine health trajectories and mental health inequalities in aging populations. His work has been published in international journals including The Gerontologist, Mindfulness, and JMIR Aging.