People
Tianying Cai
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Pronouns: she/her/hers
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Postdoctoral Scholar
Guided by the biopsychosocial framework and a strengths-based perspective, Tianying's research examines how environmental factors and neurophysiology jointly influence adolescent health and development.
2022 Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Human Development and Family Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2022 Master of Science, Statistics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
2017 Bachelor of Science, Psychology & Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Adolescents and youth; Developmental neuroscience; Families and parenting; Resilience; Social and emotional development
Guided by the biopsychosocial framework and a strengths-based perspective, Tianying's research examines how environmental factors and neurophysiology jointly influence adolescent health and development. She has two main line of research that focus on the micro (family interaction) and macro environments (neighborhood). The first line of research is to understand the neurophysiological dynamics of naturalistic parent-child interactions and its implications for development. The second line of research is to leverage national datasets (i.e., ABCD) to unpack neighborhood influences on adolescent neurocognitive and health disparities via developmental neuroscience.
Cai, T., Zhou, Z., Yang, B., Wang, F., Chen, B.-B., & Qu, Y. (in press). Antecedents and influences of Chinese parental communication about COVID-19 pandemic: The moderating role of parental burnout. Developmental Psychology. Special issue on “Family conversations in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Martinez, M., Cai, T., Yang, B., Zhou, Z., Shankman, S. A., Mittal, V. A., Haase, C. M., & Qu, Y. (2024). Depressive symptoms during the transition to adolescence: Left hippocampal volume as a marker of social context sensitivity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(37). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2321965121
Cai, T., Li, X., Chen, S., Wang, X., Liu, Y., Zhang, K., Wu, G., & Qu, Y. (2024). The impact of school reopening on Chinese adolescents’ mental health During COVID-19: Considering the role of academic stress and academic orientation. Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.05.011
Cai, T., Yang, B., Zhou, Z., Ip, K. I., Adam, E. K., Haase, C. M., & Qu, Y. (2024). Longitudinal associations between neighborhood safety and adolescent adjustment: The moderating role of affective neural sensitivity. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 67, 101380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101380
Yang, B., Zhou, Z., Chen, Y., Devakonda, V., Cai, T., Lee, T., & Qu, Y. (2024). Parental warmth buffers the negative impact of weaker fronto-striatal connectivity on early adolescents’ academic achievement. Journal of Research on Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12949
Tu, K. M., Li, X., Guntzviller, L. M., & Cai, T. (2024). Academic challenges during early adolescence: Mothers’ advice and youth responses to advice. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 92, 101648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2024.101648
Cai, T., & Tu, K. M. (2021). Linking academic worries and youth academic adjustment: The role of parental involvement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 76, 101325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev .2021.101325
Cai, T., & Tu, K. M. (2020). Linking parental monitoring and psychological control with internalizing symptoms in early adolescence: The moderating role of vagal tone. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 48(6), 809–821. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-020-00631-w
Tu, K. M., Cai, T., & Li, X. (2020). Adolescent coping with academic challenges: The role of parental socialization of coping. Journal of Adolescence, 81, 27–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.03.008
