Social Contexts and Policy for Optimal Aging; Integrative Health Care in Later Life
Education
PhD State University of New York at Stony Brook Sociology 1985
Research Interests
Parent-adult child relations; family caregiving; sibling relationships in adulthood; interpersonal relations and well-being; mixed methods
Teaching Interests
Sociology of the Family; Aging and the Family; Mixed-Methods
Grants
Within-Family Differences-Bereavement." Funded by the National Institute on Aging (1R56AG062767-01), J. Jill Suitor, PI; Megan Gilligan, Co-I ($755,623) 2019-2021
Parent-Child Relations: Within Family Differences II." Funded by the National Institute on Aging (2RO1 AG18869-01), J. Jill Suitor, PI; Karl Pillemer, Co-PI ($1,752,283) 2007-2014
Selected Publications
Kincaid, Reilly, J. Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan, and Destiny Ogle. In press. ""Because He's My Baby": The Role of Birth Order in How Mothers Explain Favoritism Toward Adult Children." Sociological Perspectives.
Suitor, J. Jill, Megan Gilligan, Robert T. Frase, Destiny Ogle, and Ranran He. 2025. "Maternal Differential Treatment and Adult Children's Well-Being When Mothers Have Cognitive Impairment." Journal of Marriage and Family. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.13069
Gilligan, Megan, J. Jill Suitor, Yifei Hou, Reilly Kincaid, Destiny Ogle and Eunbea Kim. 2025. "Adult Sibling Tension and Psychological Well-Being in the Context of Older Mothers' Health Limitations: Variation by Gender and Race." Journal of Social and Personal Relations. DOI: 10.1177/02654075241309378
He, Ranran, J. Jill Suitor, and Megan Gilligan. 2024 "Digital Contact as Strain or Support: How Does Type of Contact Shape the Association between Mother-Child Interactions and Adult Children's Depressive Symptoms in Later-life Families?" The Gerontologist 64: gnae 158.
Frase, Robert T., J. Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan, Catherine Stepniak, Destiny Ogle, and Karen L. Fingerman. 2024. "Worrying Across the Generations: The Impact of Adult Grandchildren's Problems on Grandparents' Well-Being." Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 79: gbae 154.
Hou, Yifei, J. Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan, Destiny Ogle, and Catherine Stepniak. 2024. "Differential Costs of Raising Grandchildren on Older Mother-Adult Child Relations in Black and White Families." Research on Aging 47: 21-32.
Suitor, J. Jill, Megan Gilligan, Destiny Ogle, Robert Frase, Catherine Stepniak, Yifei Hou, and Shawn Bauldry. 2024. "How Gender Shapes Sibling Tension in Adulthood Following Parental Death." Journal of Marriage and Family 86: 677-697.
Neupert, Shevaun, Eileen Graham, Destiny Ogle, Sumbleen Ali, Daisy Zavala, Reilly Kincaid, MacKenzie Hughes, Rita Hu, Toni Antonucci, J. Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan, Kristine Ajrouch, Stacey Scott. 2024. "A Coordinated Data Analysis of Four Studies Exploring Age Differences in Social Interactions and Loneliness During a Global Pandemic." Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences gbae086.
Hou, Yifei, and J. Jill Suitor. 2023. "Childhood Parental Differential Treatment and Chinese Adults' Psychological Well-Being: The Moderating Effect of Gender." Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 78:2102-2110.
Hou, Yifei, J. Jill Suitor, and Megan Gilligan. 2023. "Intergenerational Transmission of Relationship Quality in Later-Life Families." Journal of Marriage and Family. 85: 539-5
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