Ph.D., Human Development and Family Sciences, The Ohio State University
M.A.S., Applied Statistics, The Ohio State University
Ph.D., Human Development and Family Sciences, The Ohio State University
B.S., Psychology, Beijing Normal University

My research uses longitudinal and observational methods to understand 1) what behaviors and characteristics of fathers and mothers, together with family dynamics and broader contexts, may collectively cultivate adaptive emotional skills and protect against biological vulnerabilities, and 2) what factors collectively and interactively shape fathers’ and mother’s parenting behaviors and their adjustment at the transition to parenthood.

I am the director of the Child Health, Emotions, and Attachment Research Team (Child HEART). Our mission is to study children’s physical and emotional development. We also study children’s relationships with their parents. We focus on the ways parent behaviors and family dynamics foster helpful emotional skills and protect against biological vulnerabilities in young children.

Child development
Parenting
Parent-child relationship
Quantitative methods