Yang Qu
- Associate Professor, Human Development and Social Policy
- Associate Professor, Psychology
- Faculty Associate, Institute for Policy Research
Biography
Yang Qu is a developmental psychologist who takes an interdisciplinary approach that combines developmental psychology, cultural psychology, and neuroscience to examine how sociocultural contexts shape adolescent development. To address these questions, he draws on a range of methodological approaches, including longitudinal and experimental designs, as well as survey, observational, and neuroimaging methods, to study youth from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. His research spans several interrelated lines of inquiry. First, he investigates the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying cultural differences in adolescents’ academic, social, and emotional development. Second, he examines how parents influence adolescents’ beliefs, behavior, and brain, with a focus on the implications for learning and psychological adjustment. Most recently, Yang has begun exploring how technology (e.g., AI, AR/VR, wearable devices, and games) can be leveraged to enhance resilience and well-being.
Education
- Postdoc, Psychology, Stanford University, 2018
- PhD, Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
- MS, Statistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013
- MA, Psychology, New York University, 2010
- BS, Psychology, Fudan University, 2008
Selected Publications
Zhou, Z., Chen, Y.-Y., Yang, B., Qu, Y., & Lee, T. (2023). Family cohesion moderates the relation between parent-child neural connectivity pattern similarity and youth’s emotional adjustment. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(33), 5936-5943. (Paper was selected as “Featured Research” and highlighted in “This Week in The Journal”) [PDF]
Yang, B., Anderson, Z., Zhou, Z., Liu, S., Haase, C. M., & Qu, Y. (2023). The longitudinal role of family conflict and neural reward sensitivity in youth’s internalizing symptoms. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 18(1), 1-11. [PDF]
Zhou, Z., Shi, Z., Li, X., & Qu, Y. (2023). Parents’ self-development socialization goals and Chinese adolescents’ academic motivation: The mediating role of parents’ autonomy support. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 52(9), 1887-1901. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Zhou, Z., & Lee, T. (2023). Parent-child neural similarity: Measurements, antecedents, and consequences. Frontiers in Cognition, 2, 1113082. Special Issue on Rising Stars in Cognition. [PDF]
Shi, Z., Yang, B., Chen, B.-B., Chen, X.-C., & Qu, Y. (2023). What motivates Chinese mothers’ involvement in adolescents’ learning? Longitudinal investigation on the role of mothers’ expectations of adolescents’ family obligations and adolescents’ academic performance. Behavioral Sciences, 13, 632. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Chen, B.-B., Yang, B., & Zhu, Y. (2022). The role of empathy in Chinese adolescents’ preventive health behavior during COVID-19. Journal of Adolescent Health. [PDF]
Chen, B.-B., Qu, Y., Yang, B., & Chen, X.-C. (2022). Chinese mothers’ parental burnout and adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems: The mediating role of maternal hostility. Developmental Psychology. [PDF]
Yang, B., Chen, B.-B., Qu, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2022). The positive role of parental attachment and communication in Chinese adolescents’ health behavior and mental health during COVID-19. Journal of Adolescence, 94(8), 1081-1095. [PDF]
Zhou, Z., Qu, Y., & Li, X. (2022). Parental collectivism goals and Chinese adolescents’ prosocial behaviors: The mediating role of authoritative parenting. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51(4), 766-779. [PDF]