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Xu Zong

University of Helsinki


Xu Zong

FURTHER INFORMATION

Countries China;
Topics Ageing in place; Artificial Intelligence; Financing LTC; Housing and care; Living alone; Living arrangements; Loneliness among older people; LTC insurance; Social connection; Social Protection; Unmet needs;
Methods Analysis of administrative data; Causal inference in Long-Term Care; Longitudinal data analysis;
Role Research;
Interest Groups Ageing and Place; Data Science; Economics of Long-Term Care; Long-Term Care in China; Long-Term Care Policy; Quasi-experimental methods;
Websitehttps://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/xu-zong/
ORC.IDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5586-3549
GOOGLE SCHOLARhttps://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fqtqm3wAAAAJ&hl=en
Blueskyhttps://bsky.app/profile/xuzong.bsky.social
LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/xu-zong-972544344/
Research interests

long-term care, health, aging, machine learning

Key publications

Zong, X. (2025). The Long Arm of Childhood: The Association Between Early-Life Indoor Air Pollution Exposure and Cognitive Performance in Later Life. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118662

Zong, X., Meng, X., Silventoinen, K., Nelimarkka, M., & Martikainen, P. (2025). Heterogeneous associations between early-life religious upbringing and late-life health: Evidence from a machine learning approach. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118210

Zong, X., Guan, M., Zhang, Y., & Dong, G. (2025). Railways to better minds: The influence of high-speed rail on cognitive health inequalities. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118624

Zong, X., Simmons, C., & Yang, L. (2025). Context matters: Longitudinal associations between childhood adversity and mental health outcomes of middle-aged and older adults in 26 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.119649

Zong, X., Li, Y., Liu, C., & Aguirre, E. (2025). Predicting children’s emotional and behavioral difficulties at age five using pregnancy and newborn risk factors: Evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.04.167

Zong, X., Gan, J., (2025) Unravelling the Association between Internet Use and Loneliness Among Chinese Older Adults During the Covid-19 Pandemic: The Role of Potentially Moderating and Mediating Factors. BMC Geriatrics.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-025-06325-6

Zong, X., Martikainen, P., Wang, Y., Liu, L., & Silventoinen, K. (2025). Machine learning to investigate life-course social determinants of loneliness among older adults in the US, England, Israel, and 27 European countries during the pandemic. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.07.25337355

Zong, X., & Wang, H. (2024). Do early-life circumstances predict late-life suicidal ideation? Evidence from SHARE data using machine learning. Frontiers in psychiatry, 15, Artikkeli 1426876. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1426876

Wang, H., Coyte, P. C., Shi, W., Zong, X., & Zhong, R. (2023). Social Governance and Sustainable Development in Elderly Services: Innovative Models, Strategies, and Stakeholder Perspectives. Sustainability (Switzerland), 15(21), Article 15414. https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115414