Na Zhang

Assistant Professor

I will consider accepting graduate students for matriculation in Fall 2025.

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:

  1. Zhang, N., Smith, I. C., & Ginsburg, G. (2024). Do self-processes and parenting mediate the effects of anxious parents’ psychopathology on youth depression and suicidality? Child Psychiatry & Human Development. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01657-z
  2. Fritzson, E. **, Bellizzi, K. M., Zhang, N., & Park, C. L. (in press). Effects of trait resilience and emotion regulation on perceived positive and negative life changes in cancer survivors: A longitudinal study. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
  3. Fritzson, E.**, Zhang, N., Wolchik, S. A., Sandler, I. N., Tein, J. Y., &Bellizzi, K. M. (2024). Developmental pathways of the Family Bereavement Program to promote growth 15 years after parental death. Journal of Family Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001189
  4. Duncan, L. G., Zhang, N., Santana, T., Cook, J. G., Gastro-Smyth, L., Hutchison, M., Mallareddy, D., Jurkiewicz, L., Huynh, T., & Bardacke, N. (2023). Enhancing prenatal group medical visits with mindfulness skills: A pragmatic trial with Latina and BIPOC pregnant women experiencing multiple forms of structural inequity. Mindfulness. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02227-z
  5. Zhang, N., Zhang, J., Gewirtz, A., & Deater-Deckard, K. (2023). Linking observing and nonreactivity mindfulness to parenting: Moderated direct and indirect effect via inhibitory control. Journal of Family Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001152
  6. Liu, G., Santana-Gonzalez, C., Zeffiro, T., Zhang, N., Enstrom, M., & Quevedo, K. (2023). Self-compassion neurobiology during self-appraisals in depressed and healthy adolescents. Journal of Affective Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.07.012
  7. 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
  8. Sandler, I., Tein, J., Zhang, N., & Wolchik, S. (2023). Developmental pathways of the Family Bereavement Program to prevent major depression 15 years later. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2023.02.012
  9. Ahrweiler, N.***, Santana-Gonzales, C., Zhang, N., Quandt, G., Ashtiani, N., Liu, G., Engstrom, M., Schultz, E., Liengswangwong, R., Teoh, J. Y., Kozachok, K., Quevedo, K. (2022). Neural Activity Associated with Symptoms Change in Depressed Adolescents Following Self-Processing Neurofeedback. Brain Science, 12(9), 1128. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12091128
  10. Sandler, I., Wolchik, S., Sandler, J., Tein, J., Gaffney, D., Zhang, N., & Porter, M. (2022). Feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of adding an evidence-based parent/caregiver program for bereaved families to usual community-based services. OMEGA – Journal of Death and Dying. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228221132910
  11. Causadias, J. M., Alcalá, L., Morris, K. S., Yaylaci, F. T., & Zhang, N. (2022). Future directions on BIPOC youth mental health: The importance of cultural rituals in the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 51(4), 577-592. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2022.2084744
  12. 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, 39(11), 3415-3435. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221098419
  13. Alvis, L., Zhang, N., Sandler, I., & Kaplow, J. (2022). Developmental manifestations of grief in children and adolescents: caregivers as key grief facilitators. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 16, 447-457. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-021-00435-0
  14. Zhang, N., Sandler, I., Tein, J., Wolchik, S. & Donohue, E. (2022). Caregivers’ self-compassion and bereaved children’s adjustment: Testing caregivers’ mental health and parenting as mediators. Mindfulness, 13, 462-473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-021-01807-1
  15. 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, 35(1), 433-446. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421001474
  16. Sandler, I., Tein, J., Zhang, N., Wolchik, S., & Thieleman, K. (2021). Grief as a predictor of long-term suicidality above and beyond PTSD symptoms and other risk factors in parentally bereaved children and adolescents. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 34(6), 1159-1170. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22759
  17. Zhang, J., Zhang, N., Piehler, T. F., Gewirtz, A. H. (2021). Emotion regulation difficulties in military fathers magnify their benefit from a parenting program. Prevention Science, 24, 237-248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01287-8
  18. 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

       

      Na Zhang
      Contact Information
      Emailnazhang@uconn.edu
      Phone2032518531
      Mailing Address1 University Pl, Rm 3.35C, Stamford CT 06901
      LinkFRAME Lab