Skip to main content
University of Texas at Austin Home
Center for Health and Social PolicyCenter for Health and Social Policy logo
Menu
University of Texas at Austin Home
The University of Texas at Austin
Center for Health and Social Policy
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • About Expand
    • About CHASP
    • Connect
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
    • CHASP Event Materials
  • Research Expand
    • Partner Centers
    • Interdisciplinary Collaborations
    • Convenings and Conferences
  • Faculty Fellows Expand
  • Students and Alumni Expand
    • Social Policy Network (SPN)
  • News Expand
  • Events of Interest Expand
  • Home
  • Karen Fingerman, Ph.D.
FingermanKaren

Karen Fingerman, Ph.D.

College of Natural Sciences-Human Development and Family Sciences


Karen Fingerman, Ph.D. is a Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences and Co-Director of the Aging and Longevity Center at The University of Texas at Austin. She studies adult development and aging and directs the Aging Network (an interdisciplinary group of faculty and graduate students who study aging) and the Graduate Portfolio in Aging and Health.

Her research has asked how relationships with family members, friends, and acquaintances change from young adulthood to old age, with particular attention to emotional qualities of ties and support exchanges. She has published over 150 scholarly articles on families and friends in late life. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) has funded her work for nearly 20 years

NIA provided funds for Dr. Fingerman’s Family Exchanges Study, a longitudinal study involving middle-aged adults, their romantic partners, grown children and aging parents. This project has shown the ways in which midlife adults negotiate demands and connections with generations above and below as well as considering the implications of family ties for young adults and older adults.

Fingerman is currently conducting the NIA-funded Daily Experiences and Well-being in Late Life Study looking at over 300 older adults’ social relationships and physical and cognitive functioning in a daily context using a variety of sensory and ecologically valid assessments.

Her prior work has been funded by the Brookdale Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation Network on Transitions to Adulthood and the MacArthur Foundation Network on an Aging Society. Her research has drawn on survey methods, observational studies, experimental paradigms, daily diary, and salivary hormone data collection techniques.

More:

  • Co-Director, Aging and Longevity Center
  • Director, Aging Network
  • Director, Graduate Portfolio in Aging and Health
  • Lead, Adult Family Project
  • The Adult Family Project also runs the NIA-sponsored Family Exchanges Study R01AG027769.
  • NIA-funded Daily Experiences in Late Life Study R01AG046460

News:

  • Young Adulthood in America: Children Are Grown, but Parenting Doesn’t Stop (New York Times, 3/13/19)
  • Being Socially Active Helps Older Folk Age Well (2/20/19, U.S. News and World Report)
  • UT-Austin's New Center Wants Baby Boomers To Age In A Healthier, Happier Way (1/28/19, Texas Public Radio)
  • With silver tsunami coming, UT opens center on aging and longevity (1/24/19, KXAN)
  • New Aging & Longevity Center to Address Future Needs of Texas’ Growing Elderly Population (1/24/19, UT News)
  • How casual daily interactions protect your health (7/7/18, The Washington Post)
  • The New York Times — The Maternal Grandparent Advantage (3/22/18, The New York Times)
  • MarketWatch — Here’s good news for older people considering online dating (12/22/17, MarketWatch)
  • The Wall Street Journal — What Online Dating Profiles say about our View of Aging (11/10/17, The Wall Street Journal)
  • The New York Times — How to Thrive in an Empty Nest (8/2/17, The New York Times)

Contact Info

Location:
2315 Red River Street
Austin, Texas 78712
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box Y
Austin, Texas 78713-8925

Phone:

512-471-1700

Fax:

512-232-6252

Website:

https://chasp.lbj.utexas.edu/

Center for Health and Social Policymain_logo
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Flickr
  • About CHASP
  • Faculty Fellows
  • Events of Interest
  • CHASP Event Materials
  • Contact Us
Subscribe to our newsletter
  • UT Austin Home
  • Emergency Information
  • Site Policies
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Web Privacy Policy
  • Adobe Reader

© The University of Texas at Austin 2021