FASS Staff Profile

DR BUSSARAWAN (PUK) TEERAWICHITCHAINAN
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND CO-DIRECTOR
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY

Appointment:
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
Office:
AS1, 04-21
Email:
puk@nus.edu.sg
Tel:
+65-6516-3824
Fax:
Homepage:
http://profile.nus.edu.sg/fass/socbt/
Tabs

Brief Introduction

Bussarawan (Puk) Teerawichitchainan holds joint appointments as Associate Professor and Graduate Studies Chair in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Co-Director of the Centre for Family and Population Research. Prior to joining NUS in 2019, she was an Associate Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University where she served as Associate Dean (Research) during 2016-17. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington. She was a past fellowship recipient of Fulbright, the Social Science Research Council, and the Population Council.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of family demography, social gerontology, population health, and social stratification. Her current research examines the roles of family, policy, and social structure in explaining the life course and well-being of older adults in the Asia Pacific region, particularly Southeast Asia. This includes an ongoing study funded by the National Institute on Aging-National Institutes of Health (NIA-NIH) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) on the long-term impacts of war and trauma exposure on the health and well-being of older Vietnamese war survivors and another study funded by the Ministry of Education's Tier 2 grant on childless aging in Singapore and Thailand. She is Deputy Editor of Demography and serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, Asian Population Studies and BMC Geriatrics.


bpt cv (2021 05).pdf |

Teaching Areas

Modules taught at the National University of Singapore 

  • SC2211 Medical Sociology 
  • SC5218/5218R Population Aging 
  • SC5770/6770 Graduate Research Seminar
  • CFPR Training Program in Mixed Methods Research

Modules taught at Singapore Management University

  • Gender and Family
  • Population and Society
  • Social Stratification and Inequality
  • Capstone Seminar: Population aging and communities in Singapore 
  • Research methods workshop on mixed methods research

Graduate Supervision

I am happy to supervise master's and Ph.D. students who are interested in doing research on the life course, family, intergenerational relationships, health, and population aging. I particularly welcome collaborations with my ongoing research projects addressing (1) the impacts of war exposure on health and well-being in the life course; (2) aging with limited family ties. 

 

Ph.D. Dissertations

Dissertations advised at the National University of Singapore:

  • Xinyi Chen, Sociology (2020-Present), Productive aging and health in China (committee member)
  • Joanna Yeo, Public Health (2020-Present), Aging well in Singapore: Understanding the perception and needs of older Singaporeans (committee member)
  • Aryung Kim, Sociology (2021-Present), Cumulative disadvantage and precarious career pathways of young working poor in Korea (committee member)
  • Wang Yanwen, Sociology (2022-Present), Marriage premiums in China (committee member)

Master's Theses

These advised at the National University of Singapore:

  • Timothy Low Qing Ying, Sociology (2022-Present), Racial health inequality amongst middle-aged and older adults in Malaysia (main advisor)

Undergraduate Theses

Honors theses advised at the National University of Singapore:

  • Valerie Kwa Xing Ying, Sociology (2019-20), Mental health literacy amongst NUS undergraduates: A psychosocial understanding of factors affecting knowledge
  • Ashly Yap Ching Ling, Sociology (2019-20), Mother - an unwitting gatekeeper? Exploring the transmission of gendered attitudes within mother-daughter relationships
  • Judy Lee Jie Fang, Sociology (2021-22), (Social) Class of 2020/21: Differences in learning experience of NUS students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Seniors theses advised at Singapore Management University:

  • Benita Aw-Yeong, Sociology (2010-11), Messages on marriage and family in Singapore's English language mainstream print media: A content analysis
  • Rayner Tan, Sociology (2015-16), Correlates of HIV/AIDS discrimination in men who have sex with men: The case of Singapore

 


Current Research

  1. Health and aging post conflict: War’s enduring effects among survivors in Vietnam (2017-2022), funded for US$2,475,790 (direct cost) by the National Institue on Aging - National Institutes of Health, Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Kim Korinek)

  2. Population aging, intergenerational support, and the well-being of older persons in Southeast Asia: Insights from comparative and country-specific analyses (2019-2023) funded by NUS Start-up grant, Principal Investigator

  3. Childless aging in Singapore and Thailand: A comparative mixed methods study (2020-2023), funded for S$676,572 by the Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 2, Principal Investigator

  4. The long-term effects of war on biological aging: The case of Vietnam (2021-2024), funded for C$1,200,000 by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Co-Investigator (PI: Zachary Zimmer)


Research Interests

Social Demography, Sociology of Family, the Life Course and Aging, Population Health, Social Stratification, Southeast Asia


Publications

ARTICLES IN JOURNALS

  • (*denotes students, research assistants, post-doctoral fellows)

    Pothisiri, W., Teerawichitchianan, B., & Kaewbuadee, N.* (Forthcoming). Remarriage in Thailand: A study of emerging trends, correlates, and implications for women's well-being. Journal of Family Issues. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X231155659

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Zimmer, Z., Low, T.*, & Tran, T. (2023). Respiratory health among older adults in Vietnam: Does earlier-life military role and war exposure matter? Journal of Aging and Health, 35 (3-4), 168-181. DOI: 10.1177/08982643221118445

    Ho, C., Teerawichitchainan, B. [corresponding author], Tan, J., & Tan, E*. (2022). Risk attitudes in late adulthood: Do parenthood status and family size matter? Research on Aging.

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Low, T*. (2021). The Situation and well-being of custodial grandparents in Myanmar: Impacts of cross-border and internal migration. Social Science & Medicine, 277(2021), 113914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113914

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Pothisiri, W. (2021). Expansion of Thailand’s social pension policy and its implications for family support for older persons. International Journal of Social Welfare. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijsw.12481

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2021) Parental migration and care for left-behind children in Myanmar’s Dry Zone. Journal of Social Issues. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12477

    Kovnick, M.*, Young, Y.*, Tran N.*, Teerawichitchainan, B., Tran T., Korinek, K. (2021). Early life war exposure and mental health among older adults in northern and central Vietnam. Journal of Health and Social Behavior.   https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465211039239

    Zimmer, Z., Korinek, K., Young, Y.*, Teerawichitchainan, B., & Tran, T. (2021) Early life war exposure and later-life frailty among older adults in Vietnam: Does war hasten aging? Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbab190

    Korinek, K., Young, Y.*, Teerawichitchainan, B., Nguyen, C.T.H., Kovnick, M.*, & Zimmer, Z. (2020). Is war hard on the heart? Gender, wartime stress and late life cardiovascular conditions in a population of Vietnamese older adults. Social Science & Medicine, 265, 113380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113380

    Teerawichitchainan, B. (2020). Older persons in Thailand: An update from a recent survey. Asian Population Studies, 16(3), 243-247. https://DOI: 10.1080/17441730.2020.1794311

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Prachuabmoh, V., & Knodel, J. (2019). Productive aging: Comparative analysis between Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Social Science & Medicine, 221, 161-171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.09.053

    Korinek, K., Teerawichitchainan, B., Zimmer, Z., Brindle, E., Nguyen, TKC., Nguyen, HM., & Tran, KT. (2019). Design and measurement in a study of war exposure, health, and aging: Protocol for the vietnam health and aging study. BMC Public Health, 19, 1351. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7680-6

    Knodel, J., Teerawichitchainan, B., & Pothisiri, W. (2018). Caring for Thai older persons with long-term care needs. Journal of Aging and Health, 30(10), 1516-1535. DOI: 10.1177/0898264318798205

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2018). Long-term care needs in the context of poverty and population aging: The case of older persons in Myanmar. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 33(2), 143-162. DOI: 10.1007/s10823-017-9336-2

    Knodel, J. & Teerawichitchainan, B. [corresponding author, equal authorship]. (2017). Aging in Myanmar. The Gerontologist, 54(4), 599-605. DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnw211

    Korinek, K., Loebach, P.*, & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2017). Physical and mental health consequences of war-related stressors in older adulthood: An analysis of posttraumatic stress disorder and arthritis in northern Vietnamese war survivors. Journal of Gerontology, Series B: Social Sciences, 72(6), 1090-1102. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbv157 

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Pothisiri, W., & Giang, L. (2015). How do living arrangements and intergenerational support matter for psychological health of elderly parents? Evidence from Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. Social Science & Medicine, 136-137, 106-116. DOI:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.019

    Yamada, K. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2015). Living arrangements and psychological wellbeing of the elderly after the economic transition in Vietnam. Journal of Gerontology, Series B: Social Sciences, 70(6), 957-968. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbv059

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2015). Economic status and old-age health in poverty-stricken Myanmar. Journal of Aging and Health, 27(8), 1462-1484. DOI: 10.1177/0898264315584577

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Knodel, J., & Pothisiri, W. (2015). What does living alone really mean for older persons? A comparative study of Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Demographic Research, 32(48), 1329-1360. DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2015.32.48

    Knodel, J. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2015). Population ageing and the need for research on ageing: Correcting a misconception. Population Horizons, 12(2), S.4-S.6. DOI 10.1515./pophzn-2015-0014 (a publication of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing)

    Korinek, K. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2014). Military service, exposure to trauma and health in older adulthood: An analysis of northern Vietnamese survivors of the Vietnam War. American Journal of Public Health, 104(8), 1478-1487. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301925​

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Korinek, K. (2012). The long-term impact of war on health in northern Vietnam: Some glimpses from a recent survey. Social Science & Medicine, 74(12), 1995-2004. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.01.040

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2012). Tradition and change in marriage payments in Vietnam, 1960-2000. Asian Population Studies, 8(2), 151-172. DOI:  10.1080/17441730.2012.675677

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Amin, S. (2010). The role of abortion in the last stage of fertility decline in Vietnam. International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 36(2), 80-89. DOI: 10.1363/IPSRH.36.080.10

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Knodel, J., Vu, M.L., & Vu, T.H. (2010). Gender division of household labor in Vietnam: Cohort trends and regional variations. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 41(1), 57-85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41604338

    Teerawichitchainan, B. (2009). Trends in military service in northern Vietnam, 1950-1995: A socio-demographic approach. Journal of Vietnamese Studies, 4(3), 61-97. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/vs.2009.4.3.61 

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Phillips, J. (2008). Ethnic differentials in parental health seeking for childhood illness in Vietnam. Social Science & Medicine, 66(5), 1118-1130. DOI: 10.1016/J.SOCSCIMED.2007.10.020

    Teerawichitchainan, B. (2004). Modernization and divorce in Thailand: 1940s to 1970s. Journal of Population and Social Studies, 13(1), 15-41. http://www.popline.org/node/557258

    Hirschman, C. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2003). Cultural and socioeconomic influences on divorce during modernization: Southeast Asia, 1940s to 1960s. Population and Development Review, 29(2), 215-253. DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2003.00215.x

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

  • (*denotes students, research assistants, post-doctoral fellows)

    Teerawichitchainan, B. (2021). Family roles in caring for older persons with long-term care needs in China and Thailand. In M. Silverstein (Ed.), Aging Families in Chinese Society (pp. 26-52). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003015529-2

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2020) Family and old-age well-being in developing Southeast Asia: Gendered perspectives of Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. In S. Huang & K. Ruwanpura (Eds.), Handbook on gender in Asia (pp. 65-87). Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Low, T*. (2019). Causes of population aging. In D. Gu & M.E. Dupre (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia of gerontology and population aging. Switzerland: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_654-1

    Pothisiri, W. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2019). National survey of older persons in Thailand. In D. Gu & M.E. Dupre (Eds.), The Encyclopaedia of gerontology and population aging. Switzerland: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_974-1

    Knodel, J. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2018). Grandparenting in developing Southeast Asia: Comparative perspectives from Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. In V. Timonen (Ed.), Grandparenting practices around the world (pp.65-87). Bristol: Policy Press at the University of Bristol.

    Teerawichitchainan, B. (2014). Gender and health status among older adults in Vietnam. In T. Devasahayam. (Ed.), Gender and ageing: Southeast Asian perspectives (pp.122-149).  Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

    Teerawichitchainan, B. (2009). Household headship in the Red River Delta, Vietnam: The political construction of the family. In M. Barbieri & D. Belanger (Eds.), Reconfiguring families and gender in contemporary Vietnam (pp. 329-361). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

PUBLISHED REPORTS

  • (*denotes students, research assistants, post-doctoral fellows)

    He, W., Goodkind, D., Kowal, P., Almasarweh, I., Giang, T.L., Islam, M.M., Lee, S., Teerawichitchainan, B., & Tey, N.P. (2022). Asia Aging: Demographic, Economic, and Health Transition. US Census Bureau, International Population Reports, P95/22-1. Washington, DC. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2022/demo/p95-22.html

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Pothisiri, W., Knodel, J. & Prachuabmoh, V. (2019). Thailand’s Older Persons and Their Well-being: An Update Based on the 2017 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand. Chiangmai, Thailand: HelpAge International East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. http://ageingasia.org/thailand-older-persons-wellbeing-2019/

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2017). Impacts of migration on households in the Dry Zone, Myanmar. Chiangmai, Thailand: HelpAge International East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. http://ageingasia.org/migration-impact-dry-zone-myanmar-report/

    Knodel, J. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2017). Family support for older persons in Thailand: Challenges and opportunities. Thailand: United Nations Development Programme. (Also published as University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center Research Report No. 17-879. http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs/10804)

    Knodel, J., Teerawichitchainan, B., Prachuabmoh, V., & Pothisiri, W. (2015). The situation of Thailand’s older population: An update based on the 2014 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand. Chiangmai, Thailand: HelpAge International East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. http://ageingasia.org/situation-of-thailand-older-population-2015/

    Teerawichitchainan, B. & Knodel, J. (2015). Data mapping on ageing in low- and middle-income countries in Asia and the Pacific. Chiang Mai, Thailand: HelpAge International East Asia and Pacific Regional Office. http://ageingasia.org/data-mapping/

    Amin, S. & Teerawichitchainan, B. (2009). Ethnic minority fertility differentials in Vietnam and their proximate determinants. Poverty, Gender, and Youth Working Papers No. 18. Population Council, New York. http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/wp/pgy/018.pdf

    Teerawichitchainan, B., Hac, V.V., & Nguyen, T.P.L. (2007). Transitions to adulthood in Vietnam’s remote northern uplands: A focus on ethnic minority youth and their families. Hanoi and New York: Population Council. http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/Viet_YFStudy_FinalReport_Ch1.pdf

Other Information

My research profile on ORCID  GoogleScholar  ResearchGate  


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