To elucidate the relationships among mothers' ACEs and PCEs, maternal sensitivity, and immune regulation in infants (6 months) and toddlers (12-36 months) of mothers who are living with opioid dependence, a high-risk group that often encounters a host of adversities.

To test the feasibility of using sweat patches to measure inflammatory biomarkers; validate the sweat patch method with blood samples; and to examine the associations between early life experiences, social and environmental adversities, loneliness, and inflammatory profiles in youth.

To explore whether a trauma-informed, evidence-based parenting program (Chicago Parent Program; CPP) offered universally in public schools in high-poverty urban communities can engage and support parents who have experienced multiple ACEs.

Yu, Z., Gross, D., Wyatt, K., Cunningham, E., Hoppe, E., Chen, W., Plesko, C., Bower, K., Bettencourt, A. (2025). Implementing a Trauma-Informed Parenting Program in Urban Schools Serving High Poverty Communities. Psychology in the Schools. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.23466

Plesko, C., Yu, Z., Tobin, K., Gross, D. (2023). Understanding the role of parents’ social connectedness in children’s behavioral wellbeing in low-income communities: A mixed-methods study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000695

Plesko, C., Yu, Z., Tobin, K., & Gross, D. (2021). Social connectedness among parents raising children in low-income communities: An integrative review. Research in Nursing & Health, 44(6), 957–969. https://doi.org/10.1002/nur.22189

To examine the prevalence of adverse and positive childhood experiences among a national sample of Chinese young adults and explore how early life experiences shape mental health outcomes in young adulthood.

Yu, Z., Alalamath, T., Johnson, S., Xiong, Y., & Wang, L. (2025). Network analysis of adverse and positive childhood experiences in a national sample of university students. Social Science & Medicine, 117792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117792

Woodward, K.P., Yu, Z., Chen, W., Chen, T., Jackson, D.B., Powell, T.W., Wang, L. (2023) Childhood Bereavement, Adverse and Positive Childhood Experiences, and Flourishing among Chinese Young Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023, 20, 4631. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054631

Yu, Z., Wang, L., Chen, W., Zhang, J., Bettencourt, A. (2022). Positive childhood experiences associate with adult flourishing amidst adversity: A cross-sectional survey study with a national sample of young adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health,19, 14956. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192214956

Wang, L., Yu, Z. (corresponding author), Chen, W., Zhang, J., Bettencourt, A. (2022). Higher exposure to childhood adversity associates with lower adult flourishing. BMC Public Health 22, 612 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13063-6

Chen W., Yu Z., Wang L., Gross D. (2022). Examining Childhood Adversities in Chinese Young Adults Using the Simplified Chinese Version of the Adverse Childhood Experiences-International Questionnaire (SC-ACE-IQ). Adversity and Resilience Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-022-00076-8

Yu, Z., Wang, L., Chen, W., Perrin, N., & Gross, D. (2021). Childhood adversity and mental health among Chinese young adults: The protective role of resilience. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(12), 4793–4804. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.15070ion goes here

This pilot study aims to generate feasibility and preliminary efficacy data on a parenting intervention, Attachment Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), among Chinese mothers experiencing postpartum distress

To explore Hmong women’s perinatal and parenting experiences in the United States.

Xiong, S., Yu, Z., & Lor, M. (2025). Experiences of Hmong Women in the Perinatal Period. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2025.03.001

To explore how Chinese immigrant mothers experience and respond to postpartum depression.

Yu, Z., Kowalkowski, J., Roll, A. E., & Lor, M. (2021). Engaging underrepresented communities in health research: Lessons learned. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 43(10), 915–923. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945920987999

Yu Z, & Bowers, B. (2020). "Everything Is greyscaled": Immigrant women's experiences of postpartum distress. Qualitative Health Research, 30(9), 1445–1461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732320914868

Yu Z, Jin, Y., & Lor, M. (2020). Evaluating culturally tailored strategies for implementing cognitive interviewing on Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale among Chinese immigrant women. Journal of Transcultural Nursing: Official journal of the Transcultural Nursing Society, 32(5), 591–599. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659620950437

Yu Z, Bowers, B., & Yeoh, B. (2020). A scoping review of the health of East and Southeast Asian female marriage migrants. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 22(1), 182–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-019-00901-w

Yu Z, Lauver, D. R., Wang, L., & Li, H. (2019). Developing and pretesting a survey about immigrant women's experiences with postpartum depression screening. Journal of obstetric, gynecologic, and neonatal nursing: JOGNN, 48(2), 216–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2019.01.008

This pilot study aims to explore the feasibility of a game-based conversation intervention and its efficacy in strengthening intergenerational connections and promoting emotional well-being among Chinese American families.

To synthesize existing literature from 2003 onward on parenting and mental health outcomes among AA youth

Yu, T., Yuen, C., Yu, Z. (2025), Asian American Parenting and Youth Mental Health Outcomes: A Literature Review. Mental Health Science, 3: e101. https://doi.org/10.1002/mhs2.101

To explore how 1st, 1.5, and 2nd generations of Asian Americans experience racialized and intergenerational trauma and how exposure to trauma affects parent-child relationships.