Yang Qu
Faculty Profile
Assistant Professor, Human Development and Social Policy
Assistant Professor (by courtesy), Department of 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. In this vein, he has two lines of research. First, Yang investigates the psychological and neural mechanisms underlying cultural differences in adolescents’ academic, social, and emotional development. Second, he examines how parents influence adolescents’ beliefs and brain, with attention to the implications for adolescents’ learning and psychological adjustment. In both these lines of inquiry, Yang studies children from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds using a variety of methodological approaches, including longitudinal and experimental designs along with survey, observational, and biological (e.g., neuroimaging with fMRI) assessments.
Research Interests
Psychological and neural mechanisms underlying cultural differences in adolescents’ academic, social, and emotional development; role of parents in adolescents’ beliefs and brain development, with implications for learning and psychological adjustment.
Lab Website
Education
| Year | Degree | Institution |
| 2018 | Postdoc, Psychology | Stanford University |
| 2016 | PhD, Psychology | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| 2013 | MS, Statistics | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| 2010 | MA, Psychology | New York University |
| 2008 | BS, Psychology | Fudan University |
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]
Qu, Y., Devakonda, V., Shi, Z., Yang, B., & Wang, Q. (2022). The role of classroom- and individual-level teen stereotypes in Chinese adolescents’ academic adjustment: A multilevel analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 933485. Special Issue on Adolescent Storm and Stress: A 21st Century Evaluation. [PDF]
van Bakel, H., Bastiaansen, C., Hall, R., Schwabe, I., Verspeek, E., … Qu, Y., … Roskam, I. (2022). Parental burnout across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 11(3), 141-152. [PDF]
Rogers, C. R., Qu, Y., Lee, T., Liu, S., & Kim, S. H. (2022). Editorial: Similarities and discrepancies across family members at multiple levels: Insights from behavior, psychophysiology, and neuroimaging. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 831048. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Li, X., Ni, B., He, X., Zhang, K., & Wu, G. (2021). Identifying the role of parent–child conflict and intimacy in Chinese adolescents’ psychological distress during school reopening in covid-19 pandemic. Developmental Psychology, 57(10), 1735–1747. [PDF]
Chen, P.-H. A., & Qu, Y. (2021). Taking a computational cultural neuroscience approach to study parent-child similarities in diverse cultural contexts. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15, 703999. [PDF]
Yang, B., Chen, B.-B., Qu, Y., & Zhu, Y. (2021). Impacts of parental burnout on Chinese youth’s mental health: The role of parents’ autonomy support and emotion regulation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(8), 1679-1692. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Jorgensen, N. A., & Telzer, E. H. (2021). A call for greater attention to culture in the study of brain and development. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(2), 275-293. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Rompilla, D. B., Wang, Q., & Ng, F. F. (2020). Youth’s negative stereotypes of teen emotionality: Reciprocal relations with emotional functioning in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(10), 2003-2019. [PDF]
Chen, B.-B., Qu, Y., & Chen, X.-C. (2020). Chinese parents’ comparisons of siblings and adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. Development and Psychopathology, 33(3), 914-921. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Pomerantz, E. M., Wang, Q., & Ng, F. F. (2020). Early adolescents’ stereotypes about teens in Hong Kong and Chongqing: Reciprocal pathways with problem behavior. Developmental Psychology, 56(6), 1092-1106. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Yang, B., & Telzer, E. H. (2020). The cost of academic focus: Daily school problems and biopsychological adjustment in Chinese American families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(8), 1631-1644. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Pomerantz, E. M., & Wu, G. (2020). Countering youth’s negative stereotypes of teens fosters constructive behavior. Child Development, 91(1), 197-213. [PDF]
Ng, J., Xiong, Y., Qu, Y., Cheung, C., Ng, F. F., Wang, M., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2019). Implications of Chinese and American mothers’ goals for children’s emotional distress. Developmental Psychology, 55(12), 2616-2629. [PDF]
Lee, T., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2019). Neural representation of parental monitoring and links to adolescent risk taking. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13, 1286. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Lin, L., & Telzer, E. H. (2019). Culture modulates the neural correlates underlying risky exploration. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 171. [PDF]
Lin, L., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2018). Intergroup social influence on emotion processing in the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115(42), 10630–10635. [PDF]
Tsai, J., & Qu, Y. (2018). The promise of neuroscience for understanding the cultural shaping of emotion and other feelings. Culture and Brain, 6, 99-101. [PDF]
Lin, L., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2018). Cultural influences on the neural correlates of intergroup perception. Culture and Brain, 6, 171-187. [PDF]
Tsai, J., Sims, T., Qu, Y., Thomas, E., Jiang, D., & Fung, H. (2018). Valuing excitement makes people look forward to old age less and dread it more. Psychology and Aging, 33(7), 975–992. [PDF]
Park, B., Qu, Y., Chim, L., Blevins, E., Knutson, B., & Tsai, J. (2018). Ventral striatal activity mediates cultural differences in affiliative judgments of smiles. Culture and Brain, 6, 102-117. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Pomerantz, E. M., McCormick, E. M., & Telzer, E. H. (2018). Youth’s conceptions of adolescence predict longitudinal changes in the prefrontal cortex activation and risk taking. Child Development, 89, 773-783. [PDF]
Lee, T., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2018). Dyadic neural similarity during stress in mother-child dyads. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 28, 121-133. [PDF]
Lee, T., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2017). Love flows downstream: mothers’ and children’s neural representation similarity in perceiving pain of self and family. Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 12, 1916-1927. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Galván, A., Fuligni, A. J., Lieberman, M. D., & Telzer, E. H. (2017). A biopsychosocial approach to examine Mexican-American adolescents’ academic achievement and substance use. The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 4(4), 84-97. [PDF]
McCormick, E. M., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2017). Activation in context: Differential conclusions drawn from cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of adolescents’ cognitive control-related neural activity. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 11, 141. [PDF]
Telzer, E. H., Qu, Y., & Lin, L. (2017). Neural processes underlying cultural differences in cognitive persistence. NeuroImage, 156, 224-231. [PDF]
Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2017). Cultural differences and similarities in beliefs, practices, and neural mechanisms of emotion regulation. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(1), 36-44. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Fuligni, A. J., Galván, A., Lieberman, M. D., & Telzer, E. H. (2016). Links between parental depression and longitudinal changes in youths’ neural sensitivity to rewards. Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 11(8), 1262-1271. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Pomerantz, E. M., Wang, M., Cheung, C., & Cimpian, A. (2016). Conceptions of adolescence: Implications for differences in engagement in school over early adolescence in the United States and China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45, 1512-1526. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Pomerantz, E. M., & Deng, C. (2016). Mothers’ goals for adolescents in the United States and China: Content and transmission. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 26(1), 126-141. [PDF]
McCormick, E. M., Qu, Y., & Telzer, E. H. (2016). Adolescent neurodevelopment of cognitive control and risk-taking in negative family contexts. NeuroImage, 124, 989-996. [PDF]
Cheung, C. S., Pomerantz, E. M., Qu, Y., & Wang, M. (2016). Controlling and autonomy-supportive parenting in the United States and China: Beyond children’s reports. Child Development, 87(6), 1992-2007. [PDF]
Zhang, X., Pomerantz, E. M., Setoh, P., Qu, Y., & Wang, M. (2016). The role of affect in the positive self: Two longitudinal investigations of young adolescents in the United States and China. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(1), 83-97. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Galván, A., Fuligni, A. J., Lieberman, M. D., & Telzer, E. H. (2015). Longitudinal changes in prefrontal cortex activation underlie declines in adolescent risk taking. Journal of Neuroscience, 35(32), 11308-11314. [PDF]
Qu, Y., Fuligni, A. J., Galván, A., & Telzer, E. H. (2015). Buffering effect of positive parent-child relationships on adolescent risk taking: A longitudinal neuroimaging investigation. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 15, 26-34. [PDF]
Telzer, E. H., Ichien, N. I., & Qu, Y. (2015). Mothers know best: Redirecting adolescent reward sensitivity to promote safe behavior during risk taking. Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 10, 1383-1391. [PDF]
Telzer, E. H., Ichien, N. I., & Qu, Y. (2015). The ties that bind: Group membership shapes the neural correlates of in-group favoritism. NeuroImage, 115, 42-51. [PDF]
Qu, Y., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2014). Divergent school trajectories in early adolescence in the United States and China: An examination of underlying mechanisms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 2095-2109. [PDF]
Telzer, E. H., Qu, Y., Goldenberg, D., Fuligni, A. J., Galván, A. & Lieberman, M. D. (2014). Adolescents’ emotional competence is associated with parents’ neural sensitivity to emotions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 558. [PDF]
Pomerantz, E. M., Ng, F. F., Cheung, C. S., & Qu, Y. (2014). How to raise happy children who succeed in school: Lessons from China and the United States. Child Development Perspectives, 8, 71-76. [PDF]