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The Role of the Daughter-In-Law in the Chinese Family
Zhen Cong to receive award from the American Society on Aging for her paper exposing the importance of the daughter-in-law in the Chinese family
The American Society on Aging announced last week that USC Davis School Ph.D. candidate Zhen Cong will receive the 2008 Graduate Student Research Award.
The honor, which includes a $500 cash prize, is presented annually to a graduate student for the best paper relevant to aging and applicable to practice in the field.
Cong’s article, Intergenerational Support and Depression among Elders in Rural China: Do Daughters-In-Law Matter? alleges that daughters-in-law have been the invisible backbone of support for the Chinese family for years.
“This group has been previously ignored by the scholarly community. They are like a reserve army of the support system for older people in China,” said Cong’s advisor, Merril Silverstein, professor of gerontology and sociology. “We think that in the future they won’t be as willing to contribute.”
A flattered Cong, who delivered twin boys earlier this month, humbly credited her mentor for advancing her work.
“Dr. Silverstein maintains rigorous academic standards, without his help and guidance it would have been impossible,” she said.
With over 6,000 members nationwide, the American Society on Aging is the nation’s largest organization of aging professionals.
“According to the judges, this excellent paper covers a great deal of territory and identified areas of interest for further investigation,” said an ASA representative in an official statement.
Cong will present her findings at the 2008 Aging in America Conference on Saturday, March 29, 2008 in Washington D.C
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