Virginia W Chang
Biographic Data
| ID | 259139 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Virginia W Chang |
| GIVEN NAMES | Virginia W |
| FAMILY NAME | Chang |
| SIGNATURE | CHANG V W |
| AFFILIATIONS | New York University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4995-6989 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 245 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Measurement invariance of the perceived discrimination scale across race/ethnicity and sex: Findings from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study
Background: Perceived racial discrimination during childhood and adolescence is a critical social determinant of health disparities. However, few scales measure perceived racial discrimination in these age groups, and even fewer are validated with robust psychometric properties or demonstrate measurement invariance across racial and ethnic or sex groups. Objective: This study examines the psychometric properties of the Perceived Discrimination (P…
Number of children and risk of dementia: A cohort study
BACKGROUND: Findings on the link between the number of children and dementia risk are inconsistent, mostly studied in females, suggesting pregnancy-related changes may be a key factor in this association. METHODS: The Adult Changes in Thought Study is a cohort of adults aged ≥65 years from Kaiser Permanente Washington. The primary exposure was the number of children (0, 1, 2, 3 or ≥4), and the outcome was an incident dementia diagnosis. Cox propo…
Neighborhood Social Environment and Dementia: The Mediating Role of Social Isolation
Neighborhood deprivation and disorder may increase middle to older adults' risks of dementia. The disorder may adversely affect cognitive health through increasing loneliness. Our results suggest a clear need for dementia prevention targeting upstream neighborhood contexts, including the improvement of neighborhood conditions to foster social integration among residents
Time Path of Weight Status Before and After Incident Dementia
Objectives: Identifying whether obesity is a risk factor for dementia is complicated by the possibility of weight change as dementia evolves. This article investigates an extended time path of body mass index (BMI) before and after incident dementia in a nationally representative sample. Methods: Using the Health and Retirement Study (2000-2016), we examine (1) the longitudinal relationship between BMI and incident dementia and (2) heterogeneity …
Association between racial residential segregation and walkability in 745 U.S. cities
Despite higher chronic disease prevalence, minoritized populations live in highly walkable neighborhoods in US cities more frequently than non-minoritized populations. We investigated whether city-level racial residential segregation (RRS) was associated with city-level walkability, stratified by population density, possibly explaining this counterintuitive association. RRS for Black-White and Latino-White segregation in large US cities was calcu…
Cumulative exposure to extreme heat and trajectories of cognitive decline among older adults in the USA
BACKGROUND: The projected increase in extreme heat days is a growing public health concern. While exposure to extreme heat has been shown to negatively affect mortality and physical health, very little is known about its long-term consequences for late-life cognitive function. We examined whether extreme heat exposure is associated with cognitive decline among older adults and whether this association differs by race/ethnicity and neighbourhood s…
Patient-Provider Communication Quality, 2002–2016: A Population-based Study of Trends and Racial Differences
BACKGROUND: Effective patient-provider communication (PPC) can improve clinical outcomes and therapeutic alliance. While PPC may have improved over time due to the implementation of various policies for patient-centered care, its nationwide trend remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine trends in PPC quality among US adults and whether trends vary with race-ethnicity. RESEARCH DESIGN: A repeated cross-sectional study…
Sociodemographic and behavioral factors associated with Covid-19 stigmatizing attitudes in the U.S
Behavioral Correlates of Covid-19 Worry: Stigma, Knowledge, and News Source
Non-adherence to COVID-19 guidelines may be attributable to low levels of worry. This study assessed whether endorsing COVID-19-stigmatizing restrictions, COVID-19 knowledge, and preferred news source were associated with being 'very worried' versus 'not at all' or 'somewhat' worried about contracting COVID-19. Survey data were collected in July-August 2020 from N = 547 New York State (NYS) and N = 504 national Amazon MTurk workers. Respondents w…
Early Life Exposure to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Old-Age Mortality by Cause of Death
Objectives. We sought to analyze how early exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic is associated with old-age mortality by cause of death. Methods. We analyzed the National Health Interview Survey (n = 81 571; follow-up 1989–2006; 43 808 deaths) and used year and quarter of birth to assess timing of pandemic exposure. We used Cox proportional and Fine-Gray competing hazard models for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, respectively. Results. …
Gender equality, development, and cross-national sex gaps in life expectancy
Female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy in almost every country throughout the world. Nevertheless, cross-national variation in the sex gap suggests that social factors, such as gender equality, may directly affect or mediate an underlying biological component. In this article, we examine the association between gender equality and the sex gap in mortality. Previous research has not addressed this question from an international perspe…
Secular Declines in the Association Between Obesity and Mortality in the United States
Recent research suggests that rising obesity will restrain future gains in US life expectancy and that obesity is an important contributor to the current shortfall in us longevity compared to other high-income countries. Estimates of the contribution of obesity to current and future national-level mortality patterns are sensitive to estimates of the magnitude of the association between obesity and mortality at the individual level. We assessed se…
Race/ethnic differences in adult mortality: The role of perceived stress and health behaviors
Mortality attributable to obesity among middle-aged adults in the United States
Obesity is considered a major cause of premature mortality and a potential threat to the longstanding secular decline in mortality in the United States. We measure relative and attributable risks associated with obesity among middle-aged adults using data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2004). Although class II/III obesity (BMI _ 35.0 kg/m2) increases mortality by 40% in females and 62% in males compared with normal BMI (BMI = 18.5-24.…
Fundamental Cause Theory, Technological Innovation, and Health Disparities: The Case of Cholesterol in the Era of Statins
Although fundamental cause theory has been highly influential in shaping the research literature on health disparities, there have been few empirical demonstrations of the theory, particularly in dynamic perspective. In this study, we examine how income disparities in cholesterol levels have changed with the emergence of statins, an expensive and potent new drug technology. Using nationally representative data from 1976 to 2004, we find that inco…
Weight Status and Restaurant Availability
Being Poor and Coping With Stress: Health Behaviors and the Risk of Death
Objectives. Individuals may cope with perceived stress through unhealthy but often pleasurable behaviors. We examined whether smoking, alcohol use, and physical inactivity moderate the relationship between perceived stress and the risk of death in the US population as a whole and across socioeconomic strata. Methods. Data were derived from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey’s Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Supplement, which involv…
Racial residential segregation and weight status among US adults
Income Disparities in Body Mass Index and Obesity in the United States, 1971-2002
BACKGROUND: Although obesity is frequently associated with poverty, recent increases in obesity may not occur disproportionately among the poor. Furthermore, the relationship between income and weight status may be changing with time. METHODS: We use nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1971-2002) to examine (1) income differentials in body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided…
Income inequality and weight status in US metropolitan areas
Medical modelling of obesity: A transition from action to experience in a 20th century American medical textbook
Obesity is now the focus of considerable attention in the medical profession, and many have noted that obesity has been progressively medicalised. The subjection of phenomena to medical explanation, however, has been associated with both the potential to relieve and also to exacerbate the attribution of individual responsibility. In order to understand the ways in which a particular phenomenon, obesity, can be variously conceptualised at differen…
Racial residential segregation and weight status among US adults
Fundamental Cause Theory, Technological Innovation, and Health Disparities: The Case of Cholesterol in the Era of Statins
Although fundamental cause theory has been highly influential in shaping the research literature on health disparities, there have been few empirical demonstrations of the theory, particularly in dynamic perspective. In this study, we examine how income disparities in cholesterol levels have changed with the emergence of statins, an expensive and potent new drug technology. Using nationally representative data from 1976 to 2004, we find that inco…
Income inequality and weight status in US metropolitan areas
Being Poor and Coping With Stress: Health Behaviors and the Risk of Death
Objectives. Individuals may cope with perceived stress through unhealthy but often pleasurable behaviors. We examined whether smoking, alcohol use, and physical inactivity moderate the relationship between perceived stress and the risk of death in the US population as a whole and across socioeconomic strata. Methods. Data were derived from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey’s Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Supplement, which involv…
Medical modelling of obesity: A transition from action to experience in a 20th century American medical textbook
Obesity is now the focus of considerable attention in the medical profession, and many have noted that obesity has been progressively medicalised. The subjection of phenomena to medical explanation, however, has been associated with both the potential to relieve and also to exacerbate the attribution of individual responsibility. In order to understand the ways in which a particular phenomenon, obesity, can be variously conceptualised at differen…
Mortality attributable to obesity among middle-aged adults in the United States
Obesity is considered a major cause of premature mortality and a potential threat to the longstanding secular decline in mortality in the United States. We measure relative and attributable risks associated with obesity among middle-aged adults using data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2004). Although class II/III obesity (BMI _ 35.0 kg/m2) increases mortality by 40% in females and 62% in males compared with normal BMI (BMI = 18.5-24.…
Early Life Exposure to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Old-Age Mortality by Cause of Death
Objectives. We sought to analyze how early exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic is associated with old-age mortality by cause of death. Methods. We analyzed the National Health Interview Survey (n = 81 571; follow-up 1989–2006; 43 808 deaths) and used year and quarter of birth to assess timing of pandemic exposure. We used Cox proportional and Fine-Gray competing hazard models for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, respectively. Results. …
Race/ethnic differences in adult mortality: The role of perceived stress and health behaviors
Secular Declines in the Association Between Obesity and Mortality in the United States
Recent research suggests that rising obesity will restrain future gains in US life expectancy and that obesity is an important contributor to the current shortfall in us longevity compared to other high-income countries. Estimates of the contribution of obesity to current and future national-level mortality patterns are sensitive to estimates of the magnitude of the association between obesity and mortality at the individual level. We assessed se…
Gender equality, development, and cross-national sex gaps in life expectancy
Female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy in almost every country throughout the world. Nevertheless, cross-national variation in the sex gap suggests that social factors, such as gender equality, may directly affect or mediate an underlying biological component. In this article, we examine the association between gender equality and the sex gap in mortality. Previous research has not addressed this question from an international perspe…
Association between racial residential segregation and walkability in 745 U.S. cities
Despite higher chronic disease prevalence, minoritized populations live in highly walkable neighborhoods in US cities more frequently than non-minoritized populations. We investigated whether city-level racial residential segregation (RRS) was associated with city-level walkability, stratified by population density, possibly explaining this counterintuitive association. RRS for Black-White and Latino-White segregation in large US cities was calcu…
Medical modelling of obesity: A transition from action to experience in a 20th century American medical textbook
Obesity is now the focus of considerable attention in the medical profession, and many have noted that obesity has been progressively medicalised. The subjection of phenomena to medical explanation, however, has been associated with both the potential to relieve and also to exacerbate the attribution of individual responsibility. In order to understand the ways in which a particular phenomenon, obesity, can be variously conceptualised at differen…
Income Disparities in Body Mass Index and Obesity in the United States, 1971-2002
BACKGROUND: Although obesity is frequently associated with poverty, recent increases in obesity may not occur disproportionately among the poor. Furthermore, the relationship between income and weight status may be changing with time. METHODS: We use nationally representative data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1971-2002) to examine (1) income differentials in body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided…
Income inequality and weight status in US metropolitan areas
Racial residential segregation and weight status among US adults
Weight Status and Restaurant Availability
Being Poor and Coping With Stress: Health Behaviors and the Risk of Death
Objectives. Individuals may cope with perceived stress through unhealthy but often pleasurable behaviors. We examined whether smoking, alcohol use, and physical inactivity moderate the relationship between perceived stress and the risk of death in the US population as a whole and across socioeconomic strata. Methods. Data were derived from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey’s Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Supplement, which involv…
Mortality attributable to obesity among middle-aged adults in the United States
Obesity is considered a major cause of premature mortality and a potential threat to the longstanding secular decline in mortality in the United States. We measure relative and attributable risks associated with obesity among middle-aged adults using data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992–2004). Although class II/III obesity (BMI _ 35.0 kg/m2) increases mortality by 40% in females and 62% in males compared with normal BMI (BMI = 18.5-24.…
Fundamental Cause Theory, Technological Innovation, and Health Disparities: The Case of Cholesterol in the Era of Statins
Although fundamental cause theory has been highly influential in shaping the research literature on health disparities, there have been few empirical demonstrations of the theory, particularly in dynamic perspective. In this study, we examine how income disparities in cholesterol levels have changed with the emergence of statins, an expensive and potent new drug technology. Using nationally representative data from 1976 to 2004, we find that inco…
Gender equality, development, and cross-national sex gaps in life expectancy
Female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy in almost every country throughout the world. Nevertheless, cross-national variation in the sex gap suggests that social factors, such as gender equality, may directly affect or mediate an underlying biological component. In this article, we examine the association between gender equality and the sex gap in mortality. Previous research has not addressed this question from an international perspe…
Secular Declines in the Association Between Obesity and Mortality in the United States
Recent research suggests that rising obesity will restrain future gains in US life expectancy and that obesity is an important contributor to the current shortfall in us longevity compared to other high-income countries. Estimates of the contribution of obesity to current and future national-level mortality patterns are sensitive to estimates of the magnitude of the association between obesity and mortality at the individual level. We assessed se…
Race/ethnic differences in adult mortality: The role of perceived stress and health behaviors
Early Life Exposure to the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Old-Age Mortality by Cause of Death
Objectives. We sought to analyze how early exposure to the 1918 influenza pandemic is associated with old-age mortality by cause of death. Methods. We analyzed the National Health Interview Survey (n = 81 571; follow-up 1989–2006; 43 808 deaths) and used year and quarter of birth to assess timing of pandemic exposure. We used Cox proportional and Fine-Gray competing hazard models for all-cause and cause-specific mortality, respectively. Results. …
Sociodemographic and behavioral factors associated with Covid-19 stigmatizing attitudes in the U.S
Behavioral Correlates of Covid-19 Worry: Stigma, Knowledge, and News Source
Non-adherence to COVID-19 guidelines may be attributable to low levels of worry. This study assessed whether endorsing COVID-19-stigmatizing restrictions, COVID-19 knowledge, and preferred news source were associated with being 'very worried' versus 'not at all' or 'somewhat' worried about contracting COVID-19. Survey data were collected in July-August 2020 from N = 547 New York State (NYS) and N = 504 national Amazon MTurk workers. Respondents w…
Patient-Provider Communication Quality, 2002–2016: A Population-based Study of Trends and Racial Differences
BACKGROUND: Effective patient-provider communication (PPC) can improve clinical outcomes and therapeutic alliance. While PPC may have improved over time due to the implementation of various policies for patient-centered care, its nationwide trend remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine trends in PPC quality among US adults and whether trends vary with race-ethnicity. RESEARCH DESIGN: A repeated cross-sectional study…
Time Path of Weight Status Before and After Incident Dementia
Objectives: Identifying whether obesity is a risk factor for dementia is complicated by the possibility of weight change as dementia evolves. This article investigates an extended time path of body mass index (BMI) before and after incident dementia in a nationally representative sample. Methods: Using the Health and Retirement Study (2000-2016), we examine (1) the longitudinal relationship between BMI and incident dementia and (2) heterogeneity …
Association between racial residential segregation and walkability in 745 U.S. cities
Despite higher chronic disease prevalence, minoritized populations live in highly walkable neighborhoods in US cities more frequently than non-minoritized populations. We investigated whether city-level racial residential segregation (RRS) was associated with city-level walkability, stratified by population density, possibly explaining this counterintuitive association. RRS for Black-White and Latino-White segregation in large US cities was calcu…
Cumulative exposure to extreme heat and trajectories of cognitive decline among older adults in the USA
BACKGROUND: The projected increase in extreme heat days is a growing public health concern. While exposure to extreme heat has been shown to negatively affect mortality and physical health, very little is known about its long-term consequences for late-life cognitive function. We examined whether extreme heat exposure is associated with cognitive decline among older adults and whether this association differs by race/ethnicity and neighbourhood s…
Neighborhood Social Environment and Dementia: The Mediating Role of Social Isolation
Neighborhood deprivation and disorder may increase middle to older adults' risks of dementia. The disorder may adversely affect cognitive health through increasing loneliness. Our results suggest a clear need for dementia prevention targeting upstream neighborhood contexts, including the improvement of neighborhood conditions to foster social integration among residents
Measurement invariance of the perceived discrimination scale across race/ethnicity and sex: Findings from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study
Background: Perceived racial discrimination during childhood and adolescence is a critical social determinant of health disparities. However, few scales measure perceived racial discrimination in these age groups, and even fewer are validated with robust psychometric properties or demonstrate measurement invariance across racial and ethnic or sex groups. Objective: This study examines the psychometric properties of the Perceived Discrimination (P…
Number of children and risk of dementia: A cohort study
BACKGROUND: Findings on the link between the number of children and dementia risk are inconsistent, mostly studied in females, suggesting pregnancy-related changes may be a key factor in this association. METHODS: The Adult Changes in Thought Study is a cohort of adults aged ≥65 years from Kaiser Permanente Washington. The primary exposure was the number of children (0, 1, 2, 3 or ≥4), and the outcome was an incident dementia diagnosis. Cox propo…
Medicine (18 works) · Demography (15 works) · Population (13 works) · Environmental health (11 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (11 works) · Demography (9 works) · Gerontology (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Socioeconomic status (9 works) · Internal Medicine (7 works)