About

Deborah Carr is an A&S Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Boston University and director of BU's Center for Innovation in Social Science. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1997 and has held faculty positions at the University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, and Rutgers University, where she was acting director of the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy & Aging Research. Her research focuses on aging and the life course, psychosocial factors influencing health over the life course, and end-of-life issues. Carr's work explores how family roles and relationships affect health and well-being, with an emphasis on stressors such as divorce, caregiving, functional impairment, and marital strain. She also investigates bereavement and end-of-life decision-making among older adults, examining how demographic, technological, and social/political changes impact the experiences of the dying and their families. Additionally, her research addresses the social, psychological, and interpersonal consequences of health-related stigma, particularly related to disability and obesity. Carr is the author of several books including Golden Years: Social Inequalities in Later Life, which received the 2020 Kalish Innovative Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America, and Aging in America, published in 2023. She co-edited the Handbook of Aging & the Social Sciences and Spousal Bereavement in Late Life. She has also co-authored introductory sociology textbooks and a methods textbook, demonstrating her commitment to teaching. Carr has served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences and will serve as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Health & Social Behavior. She has held leadership roles in the American Sociological Association and served on various national study sections and research projects. Her research has been funded by prominent organizations including the National Institutes of Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A strong advocate of public sociology, Carr frequently engages with the general public on topics related to aging, health, stress, and families. Her expertise has been featured in major media outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, and PBS, and she has published essays in outlets including CNN, The Conversation, and Psychology Today. She is a member of the Sociological Research Association, a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2024. She has received distinguished awards for her scholarship and mentoring from the American Sociological Association.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Medicine
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Social psychology
• Nursing
• Gerontology
• Psychiatry
• Law
• Gender studies
• Psychotherapist
• Developmental psychology
• Clinical psychology

Selected publications

• Black and White older adults’ end-of-life experiences: does hospice use mitigate racial disparities?

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2025-07-26 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  OBJECTIVES: Racial disparities in end-of-life care are well documented, but less is known about how these inequalities shape assessments of death quality. This study examines Black-White differences in two core dimensions of proxy-reported end-of-life experience: perceived death quality and perceived care concordance. We also assess whether hospice care moderates racial differences in death quality outcomes. METHODS: Data are from the Health and Retirement Study Core and Exit Interviews conducted between January 2018 and September 2023. Our analytic sample included 2,498 decedents (450 Black, 2,048 White). Multivariable ordinary least squares and logistic regression models are used to estimate the associations between race, hospice use, and our two end-of-life experience outcomes. RESULTS: Proxies for Black decedents reported higher perceived death quality than those for White decedents, despite evidence of greater structural disadvantage. However, perceived care concordance was significantly lower among Black decedents. Hospice care was associated with improved perceived death quality for Black decedents but not for Whites. When accounting for socioeconomic and death experience controls, hospice care did not moderate perceived care concordance. DISCUSSION: Our findings highlight the importance of considering expectations, context, and reference group comparisons when interpreting subjective end-of-life measures. Expanding equitable access to high-quality hospice care may help reduce persistent racial disparities, but interventions must also address how care is experienced, evaluated, and aligned with individual preferences.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Death and Dying, Cross‐National Perspectives

  The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society · 2025-10-31

  otherSenior author

  Abstract We provide a brief summary of the demography and epidemiology of death throughout the world in the early twenty‐first century. We then provide a brief overview of cross‐national variations in how death is perceived and how decedents are mourned. Finally, we conclude with an overview and cross‐national comparison of public policies and practices surrounding death, especially the use of palliative care at the end of life.

  PublisherDOI

• Social relationships and end-of-life quality among older adults in the United States: the impacts of marital, kinship, and network ties

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2025-07-25 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  OBJECTIVES: We examine marital status differences in recent decedents' end-of-life care and gender differences therein, and the role of other social ties (children, siblings, and network members) in influencing the quality of end-of-life care. METHOD: Data are from 12 waves (2011-2022) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. We use binomial and multinomial logistic regression to evaluate the effects of marital status and other social ties on ten distinct dimensions of care in the last month of life, reported by proxies of deceased study participants. Outcomes were overall quality of care; adequately treated breathing problems, pain, and sadness/anxiety; care coordination; decisions made with patient input; care concordant with patient wishes; informed about care; personal care needs met; and respectful treatment. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic, health, and proxy characteristics. RESULTS: Divorced decedents fared poorly on multiple outcomes; they were less likely than married or widowed persons to receive excellent care and have personal care needs met. Divorced and widowed decedents were less likely to receive respectful treatment relative to married decedents. We found no significant gender differences in these patterns. Persons with more siblings and network members had superior pain management. DISCUSSION: Our results offer modest support for marital control and compensatory frameworks; no particular social tie is uniformly protective at the end of life. Health care providers should help dying patients identify significant others who can best participate in end-of-life preparations and care. Hospital patient advocates also could aid those who lack close kin at the end of life.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Parent–Child Disconnectedness and Older European Adults’ Mental Health: Do Patterns Differ by Marital Status and Gender?

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2025-02-17 · 9 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  OBJECTIVES: Disconnectedness from one's adult child(ren) can undermine older adults' well-being. However, the psychological consequences of disconnectedness may differ across marital contexts and by gender. Drawing on stress and normative violation frameworks, we examine the association between parent-child disconnectedness and European older adults' depressive symptoms, and the extent to which these patterns differ by marital status (married, remarried, cohabiting, divorced, widowed, and never married) and gender. METHODS: We used pooled data from 8 waves (2004-2022) of the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, n = 216,469) and multivariable pooled ordinary least squares regression to evaluate whether marital status and gender moderate the association between disconnectedness and depressive symptoms. Analyses were adjusted for socioeconomic, health, survey year, and contextual covariates. RESULTS: Disconnectedness rates range from 1% among older adults in their first marriages to 13%-14% among divorced and remarried men and 17% among never-married men. Men have consistently higher rates of disconnectedness than women. Parent-child disconnectedness is associated with heightened depressive symptoms in many marital and gender categories. However, moderation analyses show the strongest associations in marital contexts in which disconnectedness is rare (first marriage, especially among women). Disconnectedness also is associated with heightened depressive symptoms among widowed and divorced persons, yet has negligible effects among remarried persons. DISCUSSION: We discuss the implications of disconnectedness for older adults' socioemotional and caregiving needs. We encourage interventions that focus on engaging older adults' supportive familial or nonfamilial ties rather than reestablishing potentially distressing ties with a disconnected child.

  PublisherDOI

• Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy Work, Retire, Repeat: The Uncertainty of Retirement in the New Economy, by GhilarducciTeresa.Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024. 264 pp. $25.00 cloth. ISBN: 9780226831466.

  Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · 2025-04-23

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Do Social Security benefits rules perpetuate marital status and gender inequalities?

  The Gerontologist · 2025-06-17 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Social Security benefits rules privilege married persons and penalize divorced, prematurely widowed, and lifelong single older adults. Program rules may be an engine driving cumulative (dis)advantage, because marriage is increasingly an institution of economically privileged persons. Women are more likely than men to be divorced or prematurely widowed, increasing their vulnerability to late-life economic insecurity. We examine Social Security and household income, and poverty rates of White older adults based on marital categories aligned with Social Security benefits rules: (re)married; divorced (after short vs long marriage), widowed (before vs after the age of 65 years), and never married. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Data are from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, which tracked White high school graduates from age 18 years (1957) to age 72 years (2011). Our analytic sample includes 5,269 persons (2,498 men and 2,711 women). We used ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic regression to estimate Social Security income, household income, and poverty status at age 72, adjusted for covariates. We tested two-way interaction terms to evaluate gender differences across marital categories. RESULTS: Fully adjusted models show that married older adults have higher Social Security and household income and lower poverty rates than all unmarried categories. Divorced women, regardless of marital duration, fare worst across all outcomes. Prematurely widowed persons are worse off than those widowed at older ages. Never-married men are less financially secure than other men. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Revisions to Social Security, including caregiver credits for years in which a worker had no/low earnings, could mitigate disparities in late-life economic security.

  PublisherDOI

• Childhood and Adulthood Social Relationships and Trajectories of Cognitive Function Among Older Chinese Adults

  Journal of Aging and Health · 2025-11-06

  articleSenior author

  Objectives This study investigates whether early-life and mid-life social relationships with family and friends shape the heterogeneity of later-life cognitive trajectories and whether household registration status moderates the associations. Methods The study uses data from 2011–2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study ( N = 12,564). Cognitive function is assessed with a Chinese version of Telephone Interview for Cognition Status . Childhood social relationships are assessed with relationship quality with mother and father, whether respondent had a good friend, and had group of friends spending time with. Adulthood social relationships are assessed with weekly contact with children and social interactions with friends. Group-based trajectory modeling and multinomial logistic regression models are employed. Results The study identifies four distinct cognitive trajectories. Results indicate respondents who had a better relationship with their mothers, who often had a group of friends during childhood, and who had social interactions with friends during adulthood are associated with more favorable cognitive trajectories. No moderation effects for Hukou status were found. Conclusions The findings underscore the enduring impacts of early-life social relationships and the impacts of adult social relationships in shaping later-life cognitive trajectory outcomes. Intervention programs aimed at establishing supportive social relationships may help slow later-life cognitive decline.

  PublisherDOI

• Childlessness and Mental Health Among U.S. Older Adults: Do Associations Differ by Marital Status and Gender?

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2025-05-18 · 5 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVES: An estimated 17% of U.S. adults ages 55+ are childless, a fraction that has increased across recent cohorts. Most studies find no or negligible mental health consequences of childlessness for older adults, yet studies typically compare broad categories of childless persons and parents, neglecting potentially important sources of heterogeneity. We evaluate associations between parental status (childless, biological children, stepchildren only, no living children) and 3 dimensions of mental health (depressive symptoms, and social and emotional loneliness) and how these patterns differ by marital status and gender. METHODS: Data are from the pooled 2016 and 2018 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 19,354). We estimated ordinary least squares regression models and tested 2- and 3-way interaction terms to evaluate the association between parental status and mental health, and the extent to which these associations are moderated by marital status and gender. Multivariable analyses are adjusted for sociodemographic, social integration, and health covariates. RESULTS: Parental status is not a significant predictor of depressive symptoms in fully adjusted models, and patterns do not differ by marital status and gender. However, men with step-children or biological children report significantly less emotional loneliness relative to childless men, and relative to their female counterparts. Women who have lost all children to death have significantly more emotional loneliness than both their male counterparts and childless women. DISCUSSION: Parental statuses have negligible effects on older adults' mental health; policies and practices to mitigate social isolation should enhance nonfamilial ties and community engagement.

  PublisherDOI

• Cognitive function and friendship network characteristics among older couples

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2025-09-06

  articleSenior author

  OBJECTIVES: This study explores the dyadic relationship between cognitive function and friendship characteristics among older married couples framed within the "linked lives" dimension of the life course perspective. The study also explores whether the dyadic consequences of cognitive function for friendship networks vary by gender. METHODS: The study uses the data from the 2014/2016 Health and Retirement Study (N = 2,944 dyads). Cognitive function is assessed with a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognition Status. Friendship characteristics are assessed with the number of close friends, contact frequency with friends, and perceived social support and social strain from friends. An actor partner independence model is adopted to test the proposed hypotheses. RESULTS: The results indicate that wives and husbands with better cognitive function have more contact frequency with friends. Wives also report more frequent contact with friends when their husbands have better cognitive function. However, the actor and partner associations between cognitive function and the number of close friends and perceived social support, and social strain from friends are not statistically significant. Gender differences for the association between cognitive function and friendship are not supported. DISCUSSION: The findings highlight the social consequences of cognitive health and emphasize the interdependence between the actor and the partner who are in a shared relationship. More studies are needed to uncover the complex associations between health conditions and friendship characteristics among married couples.

  PublisherDOI

• Population and Social Psychology: How Social Psychology Can Shed Light on Demographic Processes

  Handbooks of sociology and social research · 2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• STATISTICS CORE

  NIH · $88.5M · 2002–2018

• NIH Grant P01AG021079

  NIH · $22.8M · 2014

Frequent coauthors

• Erik Olín Wright

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  36 shared

• Jeffrey Prager

  University of California, Los Angeles

  36 shared

• Avery F. Gordon

  36 shared

• Mary Pattillo

  36 shared

• Ted Conover

  New York University

  36 shared

• Camille B. Wortman

  33 shared

• David Crotty

  Clarke (United States)

  32 shared

• Rachel Pruchno

  Rowan University

  31 shared

Education

• PhD, Sociology

  University of Wisconsin Madison

  1997

Awards & honors

• 2022 Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award
• 2023 Outstanding Mentorship Award from the ASA Aging & Life…
• Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2024