Research Interests: 1) Adolescent problem behaviors ( which include: problematic Internet use, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, suicide) 2) Cross-cultural study of parentingand academic achievement 3) Giftedness study
Guided by the Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological perspectives of human development, my research primarily focus on examining the complex interplay between the individual characteristics and the ecological-environment that shape adolescent psychological and behavioral health outcomes. In my first line of research, I examined how adverse socio-ecological life (family, peer and school) experiences interact with individual characteristics (genetic predisposition, temperaments and personality) that impact the propensity of adolescent addictive Internet use behavior.
In a related line of research, I am interested in the cultural mediation on parenting and children’s outcomes. I gathered data from US, China, Korea and Turkey to investigate how culture and societal value shaped the parenting style and practices, and how parenting impact on adolescents' psychosocial adjustment (e.g. self-esteem) and academic achievement.
Giftedness study is the third line of my research. I explore how various forms of enrichment and acceleration better inform the talent development of precocious /advanced learners. Currently, I am using a mixed-method approach to examine the educational experiences of a selected sample of early college entrants who later became eminent US research universities faculty members, try to find out what kind of factors shape their trajectories into the academic arena. Currently I am working on two papers based on data from this study.
If you are interested in my work, please contact me at: [email protected]