Prof. Hongjian CAO

EDUCATION

• Ph.D. (Human Development and Family Studies), 2017, University of North Carolina (Greensboro), USA
• M.Sc. (Developmental and Educational Psychology), 2013, Beijing Normal University (Beijing), China
• B.Sc. (Special Child Education), 2010, Beijing Normal University (Beijing), China

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Professionally, I identify myself as a family psychologist and a developmental psychologist. Over the recent years, my research projects span a broad spectrum of intriguing topics, including: (a) the profound socio-emotional consequences of early adversity exposure, (b) parental emotion socialization and child socio-emotional adaptations, (c) youth social media use and mental health, (d) human development in the context of family life transitions, as well as (e) the experiences of stress, resilience, and well-being for marginalized minority groups (e.g., LGBTQ+).

ACADEMIC JOURNAL EDITORIAL SERVICES

Associate Editor for:

Family Process(2025 – Present) (The U.S. Family Process Institute [FPI])
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (2020 – Present) (The International Association for Relationship Research [IARR])
Family Relations (2026 – Present) (The U.S. National Council on Family Relations [NCFR])

Editorial Board Member for:

American Psychologist (2024 – Present), Psychological Bulletin (2025 – Present), Psychological Review (2026 – Present), Journal of Research on Adolescence (2022 – Present), Journal of Family Psychology (2024 – Present), Journal of Marriage and Family (2025 – Present), Psychology of Women Quarterly (2024 – Present), Journal of Family Theory & Review (2019 – Present), Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2024 – Present), Family Transitions (Formerly the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage) (2023 – Present), as well as Personal Relationships (2025 – present)

In addition, I also actively serve as Guest Editor/Ad-hoc Reviewer for:

Child Development, Developmental Psychology, Developmental Review, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Child Abuse & Neglect, Archives of Sexual Behavior, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Computers in Human Behavior, Social Science & Medicine, Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, NeuroImage, et al.

RECENT/REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS

* Senior Corresponding Author   # Equal Contribution   † Student/Mentee Author

Please Check Out My Full Publication Records @ Google Scholar

 

Cao, H., Song, K., Zheng, Y., Liang, Y., Yao, Y., & Zhou, N. (In Press). A daily diary study of reciprocal associations between young adults’ loneliness and problematic social media use through psychological distress symptoms: The buffering roles of mindfulness and self-compassion. Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002276

Zhou, N., †Qiao, J., †Chen, Y., Leerkes, M. E., & *Cao, H. (2026). Interparental conflict dynamics across the transition to parenthood and infants’ behavioral problems: The roles of maternal sensitivity and infant negative affect. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacag045

Wu, Q., Zhou, N., & *Cao, H. (2026). Childhood emotional maltreatment predicts subsequent psychological distress in emerging adulthood through increased worry: Resilience conferred by self-compassion. Child Abuse & Neglect. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107879

Cao, H., Eisenberg, N., Zhou, N., †Wang, S., & †Qiao, J. (2025). Parental responses to children’s positive emotions: An integrative, heuristic framework and literature review. Developmental Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2025.101233

†Wang, S., Zhou, N., *Cao, H., & Lin, X. (2025). Linking deprivation in early childhood with academic performance in middle adolescence through cognitive ability in middle childhood: Nuance by specific cognitive component and heterogeneity by child negative emotionality. Development and Psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579425100813

Cao, H., Zhou, N., †Wang, Y., & Liu, Y. (2025). Parental social comparison shaming hinders Chinese adolescents’ presence of life meaning through thwarting satisfaction of need for competence, especially for those endorsing reciprocal filial piety. Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.70000

†Gan, J., Zhou, N., †Wang, S., & *Cao, H. (2025). Experiences of maltreatment in early childhood foreshadow intimate partner violence in young adulthood: A cascading process model spanning 20 years of life. Family Process. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.70052

Cao, H., †Wang, S., Zhou, N., & †Zhang, M. (2025). Delineating Temporal dynamics for the linkage between anxiety symptoms and problematic media use among Chinese adolescents. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2025.101761

†Fang, S., Zhou, N., Tornello, S. L., Guo, L., & *Cao, H. (2025). Linking intra-dyad coparenting stressor and extra-dyad heterosexist discrimination stressor with Chinese sexual minority mothers’ couple relationship quality: The moderating role of internalized homophobia. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000809

Wu, Q., Zhou, N., *Cao, H. & †Wang, S. (2025). Implications of childhood psychological maltreatment and peer victimization for COVID-19 PTSD symptoms among adolescents: Mindfulness and self-compassion as explanatory mechanisms in trauma transmission. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0002004

Cao, H., Zhou, N., †Qiao, J., †Wang, L., Liang, Y., †Li, Y., †Wu, S., †Jiang, Z., & He, J. (2024). Gender minority stressors and psychological distress among Chinese transgender and gender diverse people: Variable-centered, person-centered, and psychological network approaches. Archives of Sexual Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-03003-3

Cao, H., †Wang, S., Zhou, N., & Liang, Y. (2024). From childhood real-life peer victimization to subsequent cyberbullying victimization during adolescence: A process model involving social anxiety symptoms, problematic smartphone use, and internet gaming disorder. Psychology of Violence. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000548

Cao, H., Zhou, N., & Leerkes, E. M. (2023). Primiparous mothers’ parenting self-efficacy in managing toddler distress: Childhood non-supportive emotion socialization, adult attachment style, and toddler temperament as antecedents. Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001233

Cao, H., Leerkes, E. M., & Zhou, N. (2023). Origins and development of maternal self-efficacy in emotion-related parenting during the transition to parenthood: Toward an integrative process framework beyond Bandura’s model. Psychological Review. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000382

Zhou, N., Liang, Y., *Cao, H., † Song, K., † Chen, Y., † Hao, R., & Zhang, J. (2022). Chinese adolescents’ problematic cellphone use: Exploring the implications of configuration profiles of cellphone-specific parenting behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107408

Cao, H., Fine, M., & Zhou, N. (2022). The divorce process and child adaptation trajectory typology (DPCATT) model: The shaping role of predivorce and postdivorce interparental conflict. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-022-00379-3

 

RESEARCH LABORATORY

Multiple Ms (i.e., Motherhood, Marriage, Maltreatment, Media & Minority) (M&Ms) Lab 人類發展與家庭研究實驗室

Some of the ongoing research projects in my lab include:
1) Early Adversity Exposure and Subsequent Development over the Life Course from a Developmental Cascades Perspective
2) Media Use, Media-Related Parenting, and Mental Health among Young Children, Adolescents, and Emerging Adults
3) Experiences of stress and Personal/Relational/Familial Well-Being among Sexual and Gender Minority (LGBTQ+) People
4) Parental Emotion Socialization (especially Parents’ Reactions to Children’s Positive Emotions) and Child Development

RESEARCH INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

I am always willing and happy to mentor students in various capacities, including thesis advisor, committee member/examiner, as well as internship supervisor. Please refer to the posting below for more information and feel free to contact me if interested.