Na Zhang

Assistant Professor

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I will consider accepting graduate students for matriculation in Fall 2024 who are interested in studying mindfulness training for caregivers from diverse family contexts.

Curriculum Vitae

Lab website

As a family scientist and prevention researcher, I conduct research and mentor students in three specialization areas: Child and Adolescent Development; Couples, Parents, and Families; Health, Wellbeing, and Prevention. I direct the FRAME (Family Resilience And Mindfulness Empowerment) lab.

Active Research Funding

Principal Investigator, K01MH122502

“A digital mindfulness-informed parenting intervention for high-risk divorced families”

National Institutes of Health/NIH, National Institute of Mental Health/NIMH

Duration: 5/1/2022 – 4/30/2027

Educational Background:

NIDA T32 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Prevention Science, REACH Institute, Arizona State University, USA
Ph.D. in Family Social Science (Prevention Science Minor), University of Minnesota, USA
M.Ed. in Psychology (Clinical Science Track), Tsinghua University, China
B.S. in Psychology, Capital Normal University, China

Editorial Boards:

Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Journal of Family Psychology

Selected publications:

Zhang, N., Sandler, I., Thieleman, K., O’Hara, K., & Wolchik, S. (2023). Self-compassion for caregivers of children in bereaved families: A theoretical model and intervention example. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 26, 430-444. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-023-00431-w

Zhang, N., Russell, B., Park, C. & Fendrich, M. (2022). Effects of mindful emotion regulation on parents’ loneliness and social support: A longitudinal study during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221098419

Zhang, N., Sandler, I., Tein, J., & Wolchik, S. (2021). Reducing suicide risk in parentally bereaved youth through promoting effective parenting: Testing a developmental cascade model. Development and Psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001474

Zhang, N., Hoch, J., Gewirtz, A. H., Barnes, A. & Snyder, J. (2021). Vagal suppression buffers against the negative effects of psychological inflexibility on parenting in combat deployed fathers. Parenting Science and Practice, 21, 55-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2020.1804250

Zhang, N., Hoch, J., & Gewirtz, A. H. (2020). The physiological regulation of emotion during social interactions: Vagal flexibility moderates the effects of a military parenting intervention on father involvement in a randomized trial. Prevention Science, 21, 691-701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-020-01122-6

Zhang, N., Lee, S., Zhang, J., Piehler, T. F., & Gewirtz, A. H. (2020). Growth trajectories of parental emotion socialization and child adjustment following a military parenting intervention: A randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 56, 652-663. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000837

Zhang, N., Zhang, J., & Gewirtz, A. H. (2019). Do less mindful mothers show better parenting via improvements in trait mindfulness following a military parent training program? Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 909. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00909

Zhang, N., Piehler, T. F., Gewirtz, A. H., Zamir, O., & Snyder, J. J. (2019). Trait mindfulness and anger in the family: A dyadic analysis of male service members and their female partners. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12384

Zhang, N., Zhang, J., Gewirtz, A. H., & Piehler, T. F. (2018). Improving parental emotion socialization in military families: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 1046-1056. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000461

Zhang, N., Rudi, J., Zamir, O., & Gewirtz, A. (2018). Parent engagement in online mindfulness exercises within a parent training program for postdeployed military families. Mindfulness, 9, 725-736. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0810-2