Kaipeng Wang

Kaipeng Wang

Associate Professor

  • Faculty

What I do

I conduct research to examine social determinants of health and mental health disparities among older adults to inform the development, evaluation, and implementation of culturally sensitive interventions to improve their mental health outcomes. I teach research methods, program evaluation, statistical analysis, and macro practice and am committed to motivating more social workers to develop and implement evidence-based services to vulnerable populations.

Specialization(s)

aging and gerontology, disparities, race and ethnicity, research methods, quantitative research methods

Professional Biography

Associate Professor Kaipeng Wang focuses on examining psychosocial factors that influence older adults’ health and mental health outcomes. Using a social determinants of health framework, his research aims to understand how social determinants, such as discrimination, acculturation, and food insecurity, contribute to health and mental health disparities among ethnic minorities and immigrants, especially among older adults. To pursue his academic inquiries, Wang primarily utilizes advanced quantitative methods including but are not limited to multi-level modeling, longitudinal data analysis, structural equation modeling, and spatial statistics. His research has been shared through scientific journals, such as Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Journal of Aging and Health, Journal of Applied Gerontology, Psychosomatic Medicine, Journal of Affective Disorders, and Preventive Medicine. Furthermore, he is currently an Editorial Board Member for BMC Geriatrics and Journal of Psychosocial Oncology.

Degree(s)

  • MSW, Social Work, University of South Carolina
  • Ph.D., Social Work, Boston College

Professional Affiliations

  • Society for Social Work Research (SSWR)

Key Projects

  • Attitudes towards and Experience of Family Involvement in End-of-life Care among Older Asian Americans

Featured Publications

Wang, K., Liu, Y., Sun, F., Kong, D., Jiang, L., & Wu, B. (2021). Advance directive completion and its associated factors among older Chinese Americans. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 22(2), 344-348.
Wang, K., Zhang, A., Sun, F., & Hu, R. X. (2021). Self-rated health among older Chinese Americans: The roles of acculturation and family cohesion. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 40(4), 387-394.
An, Q., Wang, K., Sun, F., & Zhang, A. (2020). The effectiveness of modified, group-based CBT for dementia worry among Chinese elders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 274(1), 76-84.
Wang, K., & Bishop, N. J. (2019). Social support and monetary resources as protective factors against food insecurity among older Americans: Findings from a health and retirement study. Food Security, 11(4), 929-939.

Presentations

Wang, K., Zhang, A., & Sun, F. (2020). Missing data analysis and Multiple Imputation with Chained Equations in social work research. annual conference for the Society for Social Work Research. Washing, DC.
Wang, K., Ausbrooks, A. R., & Nason, E. E. (2019). Introduction to the free package--RQDA for qualitative research. annual conference for the Society of Social Work Research. San Francisco, CA.
Wang, K., & Tran, T. V. (2017). Analyzing and presenting additive and multiplicative interaction effects between categorical variables in social work research. annual conference for the Society of Social Work Research. New Orleans, LA.
Wang, K., & Tran, T. V. (2016). Introduction to propensity score analysis using R for social work research and program evaluation. annual conference for the Society of Social Work Research. Washington, DC.
Tran, T. V., & Wang, K. (2015). Introduction to the free statistical package - R for social work research and evaluation. annual conference for the Society of Social Work Research. New Orleans, LA.