Sarah Jen
Biographic Data
| ID | 88326 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah Jen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah |
| FAMILY NAME | Jen |
| SIGNATURE | JEN S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Kansas |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8584-7443 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 28 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Embracing Queer Temporality in Academic Social Work
Current sociopolitical conditions of American higher education introduce profound demands on the time, energy, and attention of all educators. Scholars in fields with ethical commitments to justice, equity, and diversity, including social work and gender and sexuality studies, are especially affected, with those at the intersection of these fields multiplicatively impacted. This commentary draws upon queer temporality literature to reimagine how …
The Poetic Life Narratives of Midlife and Older Bisexual Adults
Empirical discourses surrounding bisexuality often focus on challenges and disparities. This analysis identifies counternarratives of coping and survival among 21 midlife and older bisexual individuals. Findings are presented in three found poems followed by interpretations within participants’ life experiences. Each poem depicts an “act” of life, separating narratives into three stages of meaning-making. Act I: The Struggle captures early-to mid…
Bisexual Individuals Envisioning Aging Futures
This study explores the future outlooks of 21 bisexual adults (aged 51–71) in the U.S. Guided by the recent calls to queer aging futures, semi-structured life-review interviews were analyzed inductively. Four future outlooks emerged, forming two contrasting but not mutually exclusive pairs: Exploratory and Settling-Down, and Affirmation and Fraught. Exploratory outlooks were marked by anticipation of fluidity in sexuality, gender, and social conn…
Navigating Interdependence
The one-child policy has shaped the life trajectories of millions of only children in China. As this cohort ages into mid-life, providing end-of-life care to their aging parents is becoming a critical social issue. Their lived experiences and sociopolitical context likely lead to distinctive end-of-life caregiving experiences; however, to date no existing literature has investigated this phenomenon. This study uses a convenience sample of 15 adul…
Unpacking the Roles of Psychological Distress and Social Well-Being in Minority Stress
While many sexual- and gender-minority adults experience significant rates of everyday discrimination, less is known about how it shapes life satisfaction and the psychosocial mechanisms involved. Using three waves of nationwide data on 612 sexual- and gender-minority adults in the United States from the Generations study, we analyzed the relationships between everyday discrimination, psychological distress, social well-being, and life satisfacti…
An Interwoven Narrative
This article reflects the interweaving of multiple sources of knowledge – narratives of student mothers, personal reflections of our own as mothers in academia, and recent literature – while using the thread of feminist theories and critique to bind the pieces together. We aim to reflect the impact of the pandemic on mothers who are also university students, faculty, and administrators, focusing on those most vulnerable, while discussing their ge…
“I Don’t Know What World I Live in Anymore”
As an ongoing collective trauma event, the COVID-19 pandemic has produced varied experiences and narratives among diverse populations, which have implications for meaning-making and healing post-pandemic. This study examined narratives from six social work students to better understand how individuals make meaning out of the pandemic experience. Holistic content analysis was utilized to identify a core pattern, comprised of a single in-vivo quote…
“Conscious compassion”
Arts-based research methods have an important place in social work scholarship. Arts-based research methods, such as poetic inquiry, highlight lived experiences through creativity, emotion, and embodiment. This paper shares findings from a qualitative study that investigated social workers’ experiences with compassion in their professional practice through poetic inquiry. Findings are disseminated in a found poem that was collaboratively co-creat…
Stress and Resilience among Sexual and Gender Diverse Caregivers
Little is known about caregiving outcomes of sexual and gender diverse, including LGBT, caregivers. Informed by the Health Equity Promotion Model (HEPM) and Pearlin’s Stress Process Model, we utilized data from Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (NHAS), to examine perceived stress among a sample of 754 sexual and gender diverse caregivers using regressions on background and caregiving characteristics and risk and…
Context-dependent sexual changes during women’s midlife transitions
For women, midlife represents an important stage of transition, including shifts in physiological, social, and sexual experiences. Prior research demonstrates that women's sexuality is more dynamic and context-dependent than men's. Most research focused on women's sexuality in mid- to later-life emphasizes physiological changes, while largely ignoring changes stemming from social, psychological, and relational contexts. The present study examined…
“What Do You Think Needs to be Done to Address Self-Harm?”
In recent years, suicide and nonsuicidal self-injury researchers and practitioners have identified the need to amplify the lived experiences of individuals who experience and engage in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in research and clinical practice (hereinafter referred to as “self-harm” to honor the words used by the youth who participated in this study). In the present study, we sought the wisdom and perspectives of youth who engage in …
Courage to cobble something new”
Critical gerontologists have called for more diverse and inclusive visions of a good old age, and especially for imaginings that do not depend on health, wealth and heterosexuality. They have suggested that LGBTQ people, alongside other marginalized groups, may have particular contributions to make to the project of reimagining ageing. In this paper, we bring together this work with Jose Muñoz's concept of 'cruising utopia' to examine possibiliti…
A qualitative exploration of caregivers’ experiences with the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up (ABC) parenting program
In the face of childhood adversity, services and interventions can improve a child's life trajectory by promoting healthy development, enhancing protective factors, and building resilience through stable and supportive relationships. One such service, a specific and highly researched home visiting intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up (ABC), is often provided to families through home visiting service programs. This qualitative descr…
Discursive decisions
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) examines the relationship between language and power in society. By linking micro, mezzo, and macro environments, examining the impact of language on marginalized communities, and providing a lens for critical reflection, CDA aligns with the frameworks and values of social work as a profession. Yet this method has been underutilized in social work research. This paper provides an orientation for social work schol…
Historical and generational forces in the Iridescent Life Course of bisexual women, men, and gender diverse older adults
Purpose: Little is known about the life course of bisexual older adults. This study examines life events and experiences of bisexuals by generation: Pride Generation, born 1950-1964; Silenced Generation, born 1935-1949; and Invisible Generation, born 1934 or earlier, as well as by gender among women, men, and gender diverse older adults. Methods: = 216) using 2014 survey data. The Iridescent Life Course frames this study for comparing generationa…
Representations of older adults in Covid-related newspaper articles
“Thanks for hearing me out”
As social work educators and students, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our teaching and learning in challenging ways. We embarked on a qualitative research study to better understand the ways in which the pandemic was affecting the social work students in our program. Three faculty mentors worked collaboratively with five social work students across BSW, MSW, and PhD programs to interview 66 BSW and MSW students about their experiences, challenges…
“Nobody’s Failing at Going Through a Global Pandemic”
Social work educators prepare students to respond to crises across system levels. A global pandemic or large-scale disasters, however, present challenges educators are ill prepared for. This study explored the experiences of BSW and MSW students during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a trauma-informed pedagogy framework, a team of faculty and students conducted in-depth interviews with social work students at a Midwestern school of social work. Thema…
Capturing queer and trans lives and identities
Discursive Constructions During Covid-19
At the Society for Social Work and Research 2021 Annual Conference, the authors of this commentary presented at or attended a roundtable discussion to critically examine discourses around age, race, and gender that had emerged or been impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the richness of their discussion and diverse areas of interest, they coauthored this commentary to argue for the utility and relevance of critical discourse analysi…
Hardwired” Biology and “Light Bulb” Moments
Little is known about the ways in which older bisexual individuals make meaning out of their sexual identity. This study examined narratives of older bisexual women from a life course perspective to better understand their life experiences and how their bisexual identities developed within historical and discursive contexts. In-depth interviews with bisexual-identified older women (age 60+) were analyzed using a 6-step Foucauldian discourse analy…
Ageism in Covid-Related Newspaper Coverage
This study provides insight for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners exploring societal perceptions of older adults and how these perceptions are disseminated and maintained by the media
It feels like home”
Community climate toward sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth is associated with higher rates of victimization and poorer health and wellbeing‐related outcomes such as depression and suicidal ideation. However, this field of research has underemphasized the experiences of transgender youth, particularly within the Midwestern context which is marked by vast rurality and characterized as sociopolitically conservative. Using qualitative and commun…
How Intimate Partner Violence and Intersectional Identities Converge to Influence Women’s Sexual Health across Environmental Contexts
In this qualitative study, authors examine women's sexual risk and protective factors based on their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and positioning within society relative to power. This analysis examines sexual risk and protective factors across intersectional identities-including gender, race, socioeconomic conditions, and age-among women survivors of IPV. The sample (N = 28) included women of diverse ages (range = 22-60 years) …
Iridescent Life Course
Background: LGBTQ* (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) older adults are demographically diverse and growing populations. In an earlier 25-year review of the literature on sexual orientation and aging, we identified four waves of research that addressed dispelling negative stereotypes, psychosocial adjustment to aging, identity development, and social and community-based support in the lives of LGBTQ older adults. Objectives: The current re…
Representations of older adults in Covid-related newspaper articles
Ageism in Covid-Related Newspaper Coverage
This study provides insight for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners exploring societal perceptions of older adults and how these perceptions are disseminated and maintained by the media
It feels like home”
Community climate toward sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth is associated with higher rates of victimization and poorer health and wellbeing‐related outcomes such as depression and suicidal ideation. However, this field of research has underemphasized the experiences of transgender youth, particularly within the Midwestern context which is marked by vast rurality and characterized as sociopolitically conservative. Using qualitative and commun…
Courage to cobble something new”
Critical gerontologists have called for more diverse and inclusive visions of a good old age, and especially for imaginings that do not depend on health, wealth and heterosexuality. They have suggested that LGBTQ people, alongside other marginalized groups, may have particular contributions to make to the project of reimagining ageing. In this paper, we bring together this work with Jose Muñoz's concept of 'cruising utopia' to examine possibiliti…
Ambivalence in Labels, Freedom in Lives
Older bisexual women report a less positive sense of their sexual identity, less belonging in LGBTQ communities, and worse mental health outcomes compared to lesbian counterparts. These patterns are consistent with those identified among younger bisexual cohorts and appear to be connected to how bisexual identities are perceived and experienced; however, sexual identities take on unique meaning by gender and age and across historical contexts. To…
How Intimate Partner Violence and Intersectional Identities Converge to Influence Women’s Sexual Health across Environmental Contexts
In this qualitative study, authors examine women's sexual risk and protective factors based on their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and positioning within society relative to power. This analysis examines sexual risk and protective factors across intersectional identities-including gender, race, socioeconomic conditions, and age-among women survivors of IPV. The sample (N = 28) included women of diverse ages (range = 22-60 years) …
Hardwired” Biology and “Light Bulb” Moments
Little is known about the ways in which older bisexual individuals make meaning out of their sexual identity. This study examined narratives of older bisexual women from a life course perspective to better understand their life experiences and how their bisexual identities developed within historical and discursive contexts. In-depth interviews with bisexual-identified older women (age 60+) were analyzed using a 6-step Foucauldian discourse analy…
Older women and sexuality
Little research has explored the intersection of aging and sexuality. This qualitative study is informed by a life course approach and narrative gerontology methods. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 13 women age 55 and older to explore the effects of gender, aging, and living environment on past and current sexual experiences. Subthemes from each major theme are discussed, including: (a) messages about and perceived effects of gender…
Sexuality of midlife and older women
Sexual experiences of older adults remain underexplored. This review examined 21 articles focused on the sexuality of midlife and older women to identify theories used and understand how theory informs this literature. Reviewed articles described a dominant narrative of sexual decline in later life but positioned their own work as counternarratives. A majority applied social constructionist, critical, or interpretivist orientations, balancing mat…
Iridescent Life Course
Background: LGBTQ* (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) older adults are demographically diverse and growing populations. In an earlier 25-year review of the literature on sexual orientation and aging, we identified four waves of research that addressed dispelling negative stereotypes, psychosocial adjustment to aging, identity development, and social and community-based support in the lives of LGBTQ older adults. Objectives: The current re…
Ambivalence in Labels, Freedom in Lives
Older bisexual women report a less positive sense of their sexual identity, less belonging in LGBTQ communities, and worse mental health outcomes compared to lesbian counterparts. These patterns are consistent with those identified among younger bisexual cohorts and appear to be connected to how bisexual identities are perceived and experienced; however, sexual identities take on unique meaning by gender and age and across historical contexts. To…
It feels like home”
Community climate toward sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth is associated with higher rates of victimization and poorer health and wellbeing‐related outcomes such as depression and suicidal ideation. However, this field of research has underemphasized the experiences of transgender youth, particularly within the Midwestern context which is marked by vast rurality and characterized as sociopolitically conservative. Using qualitative and commun…
How Intimate Partner Violence and Intersectional Identities Converge to Influence Women’s Sexual Health across Environmental Contexts
In this qualitative study, authors examine women's sexual risk and protective factors based on their experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and positioning within society relative to power. This analysis examines sexual risk and protective factors across intersectional identities-including gender, race, socioeconomic conditions, and age-among women survivors of IPV. The sample (N = 28) included women of diverse ages (range = 22-60 years) …
“Thanks for hearing me out”
As social work educators and students, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our teaching and learning in challenging ways. We embarked on a qualitative research study to better understand the ways in which the pandemic was affecting the social work students in our program. Three faculty mentors worked collaboratively with five social work students across BSW, MSW, and PhD programs to interview 66 BSW and MSW students about their experiences, challenges…
“Nobody’s Failing at Going Through a Global Pandemic”
Social work educators prepare students to respond to crises across system levels. A global pandemic or large-scale disasters, however, present challenges educators are ill prepared for. This study explored the experiences of BSW and MSW students during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a trauma-informed pedagogy framework, a team of faculty and students conducted in-depth interviews with social work students at a Midwestern school of social work. Thema…
Capturing queer and trans lives and identities
Discursive Constructions During Covid-19
At the Society for Social Work and Research 2021 Annual Conference, the authors of this commentary presented at or attended a roundtable discussion to critically examine discourses around age, race, and gender that had emerged or been impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the richness of their discussion and diverse areas of interest, they coauthored this commentary to argue for the utility and relevance of critical discourse analysi…
Hardwired” Biology and “Light Bulb” Moments
Little is known about the ways in which older bisexual individuals make meaning out of their sexual identity. This study examined narratives of older bisexual women from a life course perspective to better understand their life experiences and how their bisexual identities developed within historical and discursive contexts. In-depth interviews with bisexual-identified older women (age 60+) were analyzed using a 6-step Foucauldian discourse analy…
Ageism in Covid-Related Newspaper Coverage
This study provides insight for policy makers, researchers, and practitioners exploring societal perceptions of older adults and how these perceptions are disseminated and maintained by the media
Discursive decisions
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) examines the relationship between language and power in society. By linking micro, mezzo, and macro environments, examining the impact of language on marginalized communities, and providing a lens for critical reflection, CDA aligns with the frameworks and values of social work as a profession. Yet this method has been underutilized in social work research. This paper provides an orientation for social work schol…
Historical and generational forces in the Iridescent Life Course of bisexual women, men, and gender diverse older adults
Purpose: Little is known about the life course of bisexual older adults. This study examines life events and experiences of bisexuals by generation: Pride Generation, born 1950-1964; Silenced Generation, born 1935-1949; and Invisible Generation, born 1934 or earlier, as well as by gender among women, men, and gender diverse older adults. Methods: = 216) using 2014 survey data. The Iridescent Life Course frames this study for comparing generationa…
Representations of older adults in Covid-related newspaper articles
“I Don’t Know What World I Live in Anymore”
As an ongoing collective trauma event, the COVID-19 pandemic has produced varied experiences and narratives among diverse populations, which have implications for meaning-making and healing post-pandemic. This study examined narratives from six social work students to better understand how individuals make meaning out of the pandemic experience. Holistic content analysis was utilized to identify a core pattern, comprised of a single in-vivo quote…
“Conscious compassion”
Arts-based research methods have an important place in social work scholarship. Arts-based research methods, such as poetic inquiry, highlight lived experiences through creativity, emotion, and embodiment. This paper shares findings from a qualitative study that investigated social workers’ experiences with compassion in their professional practice through poetic inquiry. Findings are disseminated in a found poem that was collaboratively co-creat…
Stress and Resilience among Sexual and Gender Diverse Caregivers
Little is known about caregiving outcomes of sexual and gender diverse, including LGBT, caregivers. Informed by the Health Equity Promotion Model (HEPM) and Pearlin’s Stress Process Model, we utilized data from Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (NHAS), to examine perceived stress among a sample of 754 sexual and gender diverse caregivers using regressions on background and caregiving characteristics and risk and…
Context-dependent sexual changes during women’s midlife transitions
For women, midlife represents an important stage of transition, including shifts in physiological, social, and sexual experiences. Prior research demonstrates that women's sexuality is more dynamic and context-dependent than men's. Most research focused on women's sexuality in mid- to later-life emphasizes physiological changes, while largely ignoring changes stemming from social, psychological, and relational contexts. The present study examined…
“What Do You Think Needs to be Done to Address Self-Harm?”
In recent years, suicide and nonsuicidal self-injury researchers and practitioners have identified the need to amplify the lived experiences of individuals who experience and engage in self-injurious thoughts and behaviors in research and clinical practice (hereinafter referred to as “self-harm” to honor the words used by the youth who participated in this study). In the present study, we sought the wisdom and perspectives of youth who engage in …
Courage to cobble something new”
Critical gerontologists have called for more diverse and inclusive visions of a good old age, and especially for imaginings that do not depend on health, wealth and heterosexuality. They have suggested that LGBTQ people, alongside other marginalized groups, may have particular contributions to make to the project of reimagining ageing. In this paper, we bring together this work with Jose Muñoz's concept of 'cruising utopia' to examine possibiliti…
A qualitative exploration of caregivers’ experiences with the Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up (ABC) parenting program
In the face of childhood adversity, services and interventions can improve a child's life trajectory by promoting healthy development, enhancing protective factors, and building resilience through stable and supportive relationships. One such service, a specific and highly researched home visiting intervention, Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch‐up (ABC), is often provided to families through home visiting service programs. This qualitative descr…
An Interwoven Narrative
This article reflects the interweaving of multiple sources of knowledge – narratives of student mothers, personal reflections of our own as mothers in academia, and recent literature – while using the thread of feminist theories and critique to bind the pieces together. We aim to reflect the impact of the pandemic on mothers who are also university students, faculty, and administrators, focusing on those most vulnerable, while discussing their ge…
Navigating Interdependence
The one-child policy has shaped the life trajectories of millions of only children in China. As this cohort ages into mid-life, providing end-of-life care to their aging parents is becoming a critical social issue. Their lived experiences and sociopolitical context likely lead to distinctive end-of-life caregiving experiences; however, to date no existing literature has investigated this phenomenon. This study uses a convenience sample of 15 adul…
Unpacking the Roles of Psychological Distress and Social Well-Being in Minority Stress
While many sexual- and gender-minority adults experience significant rates of everyday discrimination, less is known about how it shapes life satisfaction and the psychosocial mechanisms involved. Using three waves of nationwide data on 612 sexual- and gender-minority adults in the United States from the Generations study, we analyzed the relationships between everyday discrimination, psychological distress, social well-being, and life satisfacti…
Psychology (21 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Medicine (14 works) · Gender Studies (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Social Psychology (11 works) · Human sexuality (8 works) · Narrative (8 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (7 works) · Pandemic (7 works)