College of Education and Human Development

Institute of Child Development

Ka I Ip

  • Pronouns: he, him, his

  • Assistant Professor

Ka I Ip

Areas of interest

Adolescents and youth; Alcohol and brain development; Cognitive development; Culture, cross-culture; Developmental neuroscience; Early childhood; Executive function; Infant and early childhood mental health; Resilience; Social and emotional development; Stress and maltreatment; Vulnerable populations

Degrees

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Postdoctoral Fellow. Yale University
PhD University of Michigan
MA University of Michigan
BA University of Michigan 
AA El Camino College

Biography

My research focuses on three key areas: (a) the development of emotion regulation in both typical and at-risk populations, (b) the role of cultural contexts in shaping emotion regulation, and (c) how early adversity, structural racism, and social determinants across multiple ecological levels 'get under the skin and skull' to confer risk or resilience for developmental psychopathology and its disparities. My research program has significant implications for: (a) understanding the developmental and etiological pathways of developmental psychopathology, (b) illuminating cultural variations in the development of emotion regulation, and (c) informing social policy to reduce health disparities and advance health equity among children and adolescents from racial-ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds.

I am currently the director of the D.A.N.C.E. (Developmental Affective Neuroscience, Culture, and Environment) Lab. In my lab, we utilize a range of methods, including longitudinal design, big data, cross-cultural and behavioral experiments, ambulatory assessment (e.g., daily dairy and ecological momentary assessment), neuroendocrine assays (e.g., cortisol), and neuroimaging techniques (e.g., fNIRS, EEG/ERP, and MRI). Our lab is dedicated to studying diverse populations, including children from the majority world as well as racial-ethnic minoritized and immigrant families. As a first-generation college graduate, immigrant, and queer faculty of color, my career goal is to leverage the knowledge generated through my research to promote cultural diversity and inclusion, inform social policies aimed at reducing inequalities, advance health equity, and optimize the 'sensitive window' for preventive interventions.

Advising Availability

Please note that for the 2025 admissions cycle, Dr. Ip is looking to take on new Ph.D. students as their primary advisor. Please reach out to Dr. Ip via email if you are interested in learning more.
Please review Dr. Ip's advising statement here. 

Publications

Ip, K. I, Song J., Wen, W., Yan, J., Shen, Y., Kamata A., & Kim, S. (2024). Unique and interactive roles of economic stress and discrimination on heterogenous development among Chinese American adolescents: An 8-year longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology.

Ip, K. I†, Heng, J†, Shi, J., Li, W, & Olson, S. (2024). Parents’ ethnotheories of the nature and causes of children’s misbehaviors: A comparison of mothers across 2 cultures. International Journal of Behavioral Development.
 
Cai, T., Yang, N, Zhou, Z, Ip, K. I, Adam, E., Haase, C., & Qu, Y. (2024) Longitudinal association between neighborhood safety and adolescent adjustment: The moderating role of affective neural sensitivity.  Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

Ip, K. I, Wen, W., Sim, L., Chen, S., & Kim S., (2024). Associations of household and neighborhood contexts and hair cortisol among Mexican-origin adolescents from low-income immigrant families. Developmental Psychobiology.

Toro, J., Atkin, A., Golden, A., Ip, K. I & Wang, M. (2024) School cultural socialization protects African American, Asian American and Latinx Adolescents against the mental health impacts of ethnic-racial discrimination: Two ecological momentary assessments.  Journal of Educational Psychology.
 
Ip, K., I, Lin, J., Shaw, S. & Lee S., (in press). Emotion regulation profiles predict individuals’ mental health outcomes during a global pandemic context. Journal of Emotion and Psychopathology.

Parchem, B., Gower, A. L., Eisenberg M., Lawrence, S., Real, A., Suresh, M., Ip, K. I, Rider G., (2024) Beyond smoking: The role of stigma in asthma rates among a diverse sample of youth. Health Psychology.
 
Cardenas-Iniguez, C, Schachner, J., Ip, K. I, Schertz, K., Robledo, M. G., Abad S. & Herting M. (2024) Building towards an adolescent neural urbanome: expanding on environmental measures using Linked External Data (LED) in the ABCD Study. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

Kim, S., Yan, J., Song., Lopez B., Arredondo, M., & Ip, K. I. (2024). Daily and ethnic discrimination experiences and cognitive control across Mexican-origin bilingual language brokers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 

Ip, K. I, Yu, K., & Gendron, M. (2023) Emotion granularity, regulation, and their implications in health: Broadening the scope from a cultural and developmental perspective. Emotion Review. 

Sim L., Ip, K. I, Ascigil, E., Edelstein, R., & Lee, F., (2024). Cross-cultural differences in supportive responses to positive event disclosure. Journal of Positive Psychology. 

Ip, K. I, Miller A., Felt, B., Wang, L., Olson, S., & Tardif T. (2023). Emotion regulation as a complex system: A multi-contextual and multi-level approach to understanding emotion expression and cortisol reactivity among Chinese and US preschoolers. Developmental Science. 

Sim L., Ip, K. I, Ascigil, E., Edelstein, R., & Lee, F., (2023). Cross-cultural differences in supportive responses to positive event disclosure. Journal of Positive Psychology.

Wen, W., Ip, K. I, Lee. S., Lopez. B., Kamata. A., Lui. P., & Kim, S. Y. (2023). Acculturation and daily smoking behavior among Mexican American youth: The moderating role of executive function. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.

Lee., S., Bernstein, B., Ip, K. I, & Olson S. L. (2022). Developmental Cascade Models linking Contextual Risks, Parenting, and Internalizing Symptoms: A 17-year Longitudinal Study from Early Childhood to Emerging Adulthood. Development and Psychopathology.

Schroder, H+., Ip, K. I+, Hruschak, J., Liu, Y., Hall, M., Horbatch, F., Mannella, K, Muzik, M, Rosenblum, K., Moser, J., & Fitzgerald, KD. (2022). Targeting cognitive control to reduce anxiety in very young children: A proof-of-concept study. Depression and Anxiety.

(+ denotes co-first author with equal contribution)

Ip, K. I, Sisk, L., Horien, C., Conley, M., Rapuano, K., Rosenberg M., Greene, A., Scheinost, D., Constable, R. T., Casey, B. J., Baskin-Sommers, A., & Gee, D. G. (2022). Associations among household and neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantages, resting-state frontoamygdala connectivity and internalizing symptoms in youth. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience.

** Selected as the Office of Health Equity Research Award for Yale Research Excellent Finalist

Lawler, J. M., Hruschak, J., Ip, K. I, Muzik, M., Fitzgerald, K. & Rosenblum, K. (2022). Self-regulation and psychopathology in young children. Child Psychiatry & Human Development.

Demidenko, M. I., Kelly, D. P., Hardi, F. A., Ip, K. I., Lee, S., Becker, H., Hong, S., Thijssen, S., Luciana, M., & Keating, D. P. (2022). Mediating effect of pubertal stages on the family environment and neurodevelopment: An open-data replication and multiverse analysis of an ABCD Study®. Neuroimage: Reports, 2(4), 100133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynirp.2022.100133

Ip, K. I, Felt, B., Wang, L., Karasawa., M., Hirabayashi, M., Kazama, M., Olson, S., Miller A., & Tardif T. (2021). Are preschoolers’ neurobiological stress system responsive to culturally relevant contexts? Psychological Science, 32(7):998-1010. doi: 10.1177/0956797621994233.

Ip, K. I, Miller A., Karasawa., M., Hirabayashi, H., Wang, L., Olson, S., Kazama, M., Kessler, D., & Tardif T. (2021). Emotion expression and regulation in three cultures: U.S., Chinese and Japanese preschoolers’ reactions to disappointment. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 201, 104972. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2020.104972.

Ip, K. I, McCrohan M*, Muzik, M., Fitzgerald KD, Morelen, D & Rosenblum, K (2021). Maternal emotion regulation difficulties and the intergenerational transmission of risk. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 30, 2367–2378. doi: 10.1007/s10826-021-02019-w.

Kim, S. Y., Song, J., Chen, S., Wen, W., Zhang, M., Yan, J., Lopez, B. G., Arredondo, M., & Ip, K. I (2021). Culturally relevant stressors as moderators of intergenerational transmission of mother-adolescent executive function in Mexican Immigrant Families. Cognitive Research Principles and Implications.

Song, J., Ip, K. I, Yan, J., Lui, P. P, Kamata, A., & Kim, S. Y. (2021). Pathways from Early Experiences of Ethnic Discrimination to Underage Alcohol Use. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. doi: 10.1037/pha0000504.

Demidenko, M., Ip, K. I, Kelly, D., Constante, K., Goetschius L., & Keating D (2021). Ecological stress, amygdala reactivity, and internalizing problems in preadolescence: Is parenting a buffer? Cortex, 140, 128-144. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.02.032

Horbatch, F., Hruschak, J., Hall, M., Mannella, K., Synger, A., Ip, K. I, Liu, Y., Sadlier, R., Gillett, C., Moser, J., Muzik, M., Rosenblum, K. & Fitzgerald K. (2021). Conducting EEG research in clinically anxious preschoolers. Developmental Psychobiology, 63, e22183.  doi. 10.1002/dev.22183.

Lawler, J. M., Hruschak, J., Aho, K., Lui, Y., Ip, K. I, Lajines-O’Neil, R., Rosenblum, K., Muzik, M., & Fitzgerald, K. (2020). The error related negativity as a neuromarker of risk or resilience in young children. Brain and Behavior, 11(3), e02008. doi: 10.1002/brb3.2008

Yi, S., Chang, E.C., Chang, O., D., Sweard, N. J., McAvoy, L. B., Krause, E. R., Schaffer, M. R., Novak, C. J., Ip, K. I, & Hirsch, J. K. (2020). Coping as a predictor of suicide risk and protection in college students: Does being optimistic still matter? Crises: The Journal of Crises Intervention and Suicide Prevention. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000662.

Ip, K. I, Jester, J., Sameroff, A., & Olson, S. (2019). Linking Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) constructs to developmental psychopathology: The role of self-regulation and emotion knowledge in the development of internalizing and externalizing growth trajectories from ages 3 to 10. Development and Psychopathology, 31(4), 1557-1574. doi:10.1017/S0954579418001323. 

Ip, K. I, Liu Y, Moser J, Mannella K, Hruschak J, Bilek E, Muzik M, Rosenblum K, Fitzgerald K. (2019). Moderation of the relationship between the error-related negativity and anxiety by age and gender in young children: A preliminary investigation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 39, 100702. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100702.

Ip, K. I, Jester, J., Puttler, L., & Zucker, R. (2019). Alcoholic family marital heterogeneity aggregates different child behavior problems both pre- and postseparation. Development and Psychopathology, 31(2), 771-788. doi:10.1017/S0954579418000561.

Olson, S. L., Lansford, J. E., Evans, E. M., Blumstein, K. P. & Ip, K. I (2019). Parents’ ethnotheories of maladaptive behavior in young children. Child Development Perspectives, 13: 153-158. doi:10.1111/cdep.12330. 

Ip, K. I, Marks, R., Hsu L. S., Desai, N., Kuan J.K., Tardif, T., & Kovelman, I (2019). Morphological Processing in Chinese Engages Left Temporal Regions. Brain and Language, 199, 104696. doi: 10.1016/j.bandl.2019.104696.

Olson, S. L., Ip, K. I, Gonzalez, R., Beyers-Carlson, E. E. A., & Volling, B. L. (2019). Development of externalizing symptoms across the toddler period: The critical role of older siblings. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(2), 165. doi: 10.1037/fam0000581. 

Lee, S, Chang, H, Ip, K. I, Olson, SL. (2019). Early socialization of hostile attribution bias: The roles of parental attributions, parental discipline, and child attributes. Social Development, 28: 549– 563. doi: 10.1111/sode.12349.

Vlisides, P., Li, D., Zierau, M., Lapointe, A., Ip, K. I, McKinney, A., Mashour, G., (2019). Dynamic Cortical Connectivity during General Anesthesia in Surgical Patients. Anesthesiology, 130(6):885-897. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002677.

Zierau, M., Li, D., LaPointe, A., Ip, K. I, Mckinney, A., Puglia, M., & Vlisides, P. (2019). Cortical oscillations and connectivity during postoperative recovery. Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology, 33(1), 87-91. doi:10.1097/ANA.0000000000000636.

Li, D., Puglia, M., Lapointe, A., Ip, K. I, Zierau, M., McKinney, A., & Vlisides P. (2019). Age-related changes in cortical connectivity during surgical anesthesia. Frontier in Aging Neuroscience, 11, 371. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2019.00371.

Gach E J.*, Ip, K. I, Sameroff, A. J. & Olson S. L. (2018). Early cumulative risk predicts externalizing behavior at age 10: The mediating role of adverse parenting. Journal of Family Psychology, 32(1), 92- 102. doi:10.1037/fam0000360.

McGinnis EW, McGinnis RS, Hruschak J, Bilek E, Ip, K. I, Morlen D, et al. (2018) Wearable sensors detect childhood internalizing disorders during mood induction task. PLoS ONE, 13(4): e0195598. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0195598.

Nigg, J. T., Jester, J. M., Stavro, G. M., Ip, K. I, Puttler, L.I., & Zucker, R.A. (2017). Specificity of executive functioning and processing speed problems in common psychopathology. Neuropsychology, 31(4), 448 - 466. doi:10.1037/neu0000343.

Ip, K. I, Hsu, L. S. J., Arredondo, M. M., Tardif, T., & Kovelman, I. (2017). Brain bases of morphological processing for learning to read in Chinese-English bilingual children. Developmental Science, 20(5). doi: 10.1111/desc.12449. 

Hsu, L. S., Ip, K. I, Tardif, T., & Kovelman, I. (2016). Simultaneous acquisition of English and Chinese impacts children’s reliance on vocabulary and phonological awareness for reading in English. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 1-17. doi: 10.1080/13670050.2016.1246515.

Ugolini, M., Wagley, N., Ip, K. I, Arredondo, M., Hsu, L. S., & Kovelman, I. (2016). In young readers, the left hemisphere supports the link between temporal processing and phonological awareness. Speech, Language and Hearing, 19(1), 17 – 26. doi: 10.1080/2050571X.2015.1101894.

Arredondo, M. M., Ip, K. I, Shih Ju Hsu, L., Tardif, T., & Kovelman, I. (2015). Brain bases of morphological processing in young children. Human Brain Mapping, 36(8), 2890-2900. doi: 10.1002/hbm.22815