Mengya Xia Assistant Professor

My research interest is situated at the intersection of interplay between individual and context, methodology, and prevention/intervention. I am passionate about applying innovative methods to investigate how the transactional dynamic processes between individuals and their developmental contexts foster individual strength and competence, relationship health, ​social-emotional well-being, and positive development in general. In addition, I am enthusiastic about applying those knowledge and advanced methods to inform prevention/intervention design and implementation to promote individual well-being in real life.

Substantively, I am especially interested in adolescent development in the complex family system dynamics (i.e. interaction processes among more than two family members that are captured at multiple time scales). I am also interested in looking beyond the family system to get a more comprehensive understanding of how adolescents develop in multiple systems dynamics by accounting broader ecological contexts (e.g., school, culture) and other interpersonal settings (e.g., friends, romantic relationships) in research.

Methodologically, I am particularly interested in 1) mixture modeling (e.g. LCA, LPA, LTA) from person-centered approach that acknowledges individual differences, 2) multilevel modeling (MLM) that accounts for factors from different levels of contexts, 3) time-varying effect modeling (TVEM) that enables the estimation of dynamic associations across time, and 4) structural equation modeling (SEM) and dynamic system modeling that capture transactional process and system dynamics in complex data structure.

Research Interests

• Family systems processes and adolescent well-being
• Contextual and individual factors that promote individual competence and social-emotional development
• Mixture modeling (e.g., LPA/LCA), multilevel modeling, dynamical systems models, and other methods for intensive longitudinal data design
• Family-centered preventive intervention on individuals positive development

Keywords:

• F.e.e.l.ing Project
• Love Project
• Authenticity And Well-being Project
• Social Connection And Well-being Project

Keywords: family system processes and dynamics; contextual and individual factors of adolescent well-being; individual competence and social-emotional development; mixture modeling (e.g., LCA/LPA); SEM and multilevel modeling; advanced methods for intensive longitudinal data design; informing strength-based intervention/prevention

Skills and Expertise

• Adolescent Development
• Youth Development
• Family Studies
• Psychology of Adolescence
• Child Development
• Longitudinal Studies
• Parent-Child Relations
• Parenting
• Adolescence
• Young Adults