Texas Tech University

Woosang Hwang, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Human Development and Family Sciences

Email: woosang.hwang@ttu.edu

Phone: (806) 834-1794

Office: 303D

Currently accepting graduate students for Fall 2024

Google Scholar

Woosang Hwang, Ph.D.

Research Focus:

My research focuses on the role of intergenerational and family relationships on individual and familial health and well-being across life course, generations, and cultures. I am incorporating technology (e.g., digital communication and mobile applications) and counseling interventions into current research to promote the health and well-being of diverse families. The ongoing research projects include (1) assessing older parents' cognitive impairment using a mobile application and examining its impact on family dynamics and family well-being, (2) developing a mobile counseling intervention to reduce dementia family caregivers' stress, and (3) examining the effect of mobile dementia prevention program on rural older parents' cognitive functioning, psychological well-being, and family relationships.

Areas of Expertise:

  • Technology and family
  • Intergenerational and digital solidarity
  • Family health and well-being
  • Life course transitions in adulthood (e.g., employment, marriage, childbirth, parenting, and caregiving)
  • Family policy: low fertility and population aging

Representative Grants

Texas Tech University Health and Wellness Research Seed Grant (Funded: $10,000, 4/1/24 - 3/31/25). Title: Developing a mobile-based acceptance and commitment therapy program for dementia family caregivers. Role: Principle Investigator 

NCFR Olson Grant (Funded: $10,000, 12/1/23 – 11/30/24). Title: Stability and change of intergenerational solidarity with digital communication during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea: Associations with family functioning. Role: Principal Investigator.

Academy of Korean Studies Grant (Funded: $21,000, 2/1/22 – 1/31/23). Title: Intergenerational solidarity with digital communication among Korean adult children and older parents: Association with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Role: Principal Investigator.

The Retirement Research Foundation Grant (Funded: $176,000, 1/1/21 – 6/30/23). Title: Developing an instrument to assess intergenerational digital communication by older adults: Expanding the solidarity model. Role: Co-Investigator (Principal Investigator: Dr. Merril Silverstein).

Representative Publications

*Denotes a graduate student co-author

Hwang, W., Hadi, N.*, Brown, M. T., & Silverstein, M. (2024). Intergenerational and digital solidarity: Associations with depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Marriage and Family. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12968

Hwang, W. (2024).Transition patterns of intergenerational solidarity and digital communication during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea: Association with older parents' cognative decline. Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-024-10284-2

Hwang, W., Hadi, N.*, Zhang, W.*, Brown, M. T., & Silverstein, M. (2024). Does Intergenerational Solidarity with Adult Children Reduce Middle-Aged Parents' Risk of Mortality in Later Life? Applied Research in Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-024-10343-8

Hwang, W., Min, J., Brown, M. T., & Silverstein, M. (2023). Intergenerational solidarity and digital communication during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea: Implications for dyadic well-being. Family Process. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12928

Hwang, W., Fu, X.*, Brown, M. T., & Silverstein, M. (2023). Intergenerational solidarity with digital communication among older parents and their psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family Process. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12910

Hwang, W., Kim, J.*, Brown, M, T., & Silverstein, M. (2023). Do religious transitions from early to established adulthood predict filial elder-care norms? Journal of Marriage and Family, 85(1), 173-192. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12833

Hwang, W., Fu, X.*, Brown, M, T., & Silverstein, M. (2022). Intergenerational solidarity with grandparents in emerging adulthood: Associations with providing support to older parents in established adulthood. Journal of Family Nursing. 28(4), 408-422. https://doi.org/10.1177/10748407221122873

Hwang, W., Kim, J.*, Brown, M, T., & Silverstein, M. (2022). Are filial elder-care norms related to intergenerational solidarity with older parents? A typological-developmental approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(4), 585-596. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000920

Hwang, W., Jung, E., Fu, X.*, Zhang, Y., Ko, K., Lee, S., Lee, Y., Lee, S., You, H., & Kang, Y. (2022). Typologies of helicopter parenting and American and Chinese young-adults' game and social media addictive behaviors. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 31, 1030-1044. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02213-w

Hwang, W., & Jung, E. (2022). Helicopter parenting versus autonomy supportive parenting? A latent class analysis of parenting among college students and their psychological and relational well-being. Emerging Adulthood, 10(3), 731-743. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968211000498

Hwang, W., Yoon, J.*, Brown, M, T., & Silverstein, M. (2021). A multidimensional typology of religiosity in three generation families. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000431

Hwang, W. (2021). Dual-income couples' gender role attitudes, paid leave use, and second-birth intentions. Families in Society, 102(2), 212-224. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389420923480

Hwang, W., Jung, E., Shaw, A., Mestad, R., & Lane, S. (2021). Paid leave and maternal depressive symptoms after childbirth: The moderating role of perceived fairness of the division of household labor. Families in Society, 102(2), 225-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389420913124