Yao Zheng

Dr. Yao Zheng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Alberta in the Developmental Science area. He was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at Simon Fraser University and University of Quebec at Montreal. He received is Ph.D. and M.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, as well as a M.A.S. in Applied Statistics, from the Pennsylvania State University. He received his B.S. in Psychology from Yuan Pei Honors College, Peking University. During graduate school, he also visited the Department of Developmental Psychology at Friedrich-Schiller University Jena and the Social, Genetic, & Developmental Psychiatry Center at King’s College London as a visiting graduate student.

Guided by a developmental psychopathology approach, Dr. Zheng’s research focuses on the development and prevention of child and adolescent behavioral and emotional problems with the ultimate goal of informing intervention to promote physical and mental well-being. Specifically, as a lifespan developmental researcher, he investigates the influences of family and peer processes that shape normal and atypical development at multiple levels of analysis (e.g., genetic, psychological, behavioral) and timescales (e.g., days, years) in various ecological contexts (e.g., family, culture). He is particularly interested in how children and adolescents from at-risk or ethnic/racial minority populations can prosper and show resilience despite adverse experiences.