Faculty Profile

Linda Chatters

Linda M. Chatters, PhD

  • Professor, Health Behavior and Health Equity
  • Paula Allen-Meares Collegiate Professor of Social Work

As a developmental psychologist and gerontologist, Professor Chatters' program of research focuses on the health and well-being of Black populations across the life course and within diverse social contexts (e.g., family systems, religious communities, peer networks). As primary institutions, family and religious communities provide psychosocial and material resources that support physical and mental health and social well-being.

  • PhD, University of Michigan, 1984
  • BA, University of California, Berkeley 1975

Impact of social discrimination on mental health and well-being

Demographic and social correlates of health and social behaviors within diverse Black populations (i.e., African American and Black Caribbean).

Sociodemographic correlates of social support systems organized within families, religious organizations, and peer groups.

The role of family and religious involvement and networks in coping with stressful life circumstances and events (e.g., racial discrimination) and as protective factors for mental and physical health outcomes among Black populations.

Chatters, L. M., Taylor, R. J., and Schulz, A. J. (2022). The return of race science and why it matters for family science. Journal of Family Theory and Review. DOI: 10.1111/jftr.12472

Chatters, L. M., Taylor, H. O., and Taylor, R. J. (2021). Racism and the life course: Social and health equity for Black American older adults. Public Policy and Aging Report, 31(4), 113-118.

Brooks, J. R., Taylor, R. J., and Chatters, L. M. (2022). The impact of traumatic events on mental health among older African American and Black Caribbean adults. Journal of aging and health, 34(3), 390-400.

Taylor, R., Chatters, L., Cross, C. J., and Mouzon, D. (2022). Fictive kin networks among African Americans, black Caribbeans, and non-Latino Whites. Journal of Family Issues, 43(1), 20-46.

Sylvers, D., Taylor, R. J., Barnes, L., Ifatunji, M. A., and Chatters, L. M. (2022). Racial and Ethnic Differences in Major and Everyday Discrimination Among Older Adults: African Americans, Black Caribbeans, and Non-Latino Whites. Journal of Aging and Health, 34(3), 460-471.

Taylor, R. J., Chatters, L. M., and Cross, C. J. (2021). Taking diversity seriously: Within-group heterogeneity in African American extended family support networks. Journal of Marriage and Family, 83(5), 1349-1372.

View full list of publications at Google Scholar

Email: chatters@umich.edu 
Address: 2867 SPH I
1415 Washington Heights
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

For media inquiries: sph.media@umich.edu 

Areas of Expertise: Aging,  Health Equity,  Racism