Lab News

Congratulations to Dr. Cixin Wang for receiving the 2023 Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) Distinguished Contributions Award (Scholarship)!

The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) Distinguished Contributions Award (Scholarship) recognizes AAPA members who have made career contributions to the advancement of psychological issues relevant to Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans, including contributions to the development of conceptual psychological schemes or theories; applications of research and theories; the integration of knowledge to provide greater understanding of Asian Americans.

Dr. Wang's research has made a substantial contribution to our understanding of racism and how to talk to youth about racism, as well as culturally adapting mental health interventions for Asian Americans. Dr. Wang has published 96 peer reviewed journal articles and 14 book chapters related to bullying, discrimination, and youth mental health and received national grants (e.g., National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation) to support anti-racism work. She is also devoted to mentoring graduate students and building partnerships with local school districts and Asian American community organizations. Dr. Wang brings her thoughtful and incisive research to help teach and heal communities impacted by various forms of racism, trauma, and marginalization.

Congratulations to our students' upcoming presentations at the NASP convention!

Mini-Skills Presentation: Experiential Capacity Building: Facilitating and Participating in Intergroup Dialogues

Presenters: Diksha Bali, Mazneen Havewala

Paper Presentation: Post-Pandemic Attitudes of University Music Students and Faculty

Presenters: Jessica Momanyi

Paper Presentation: AMENA Experiences of Discrimination, Identity, and Mental Health Amid Crisis

Presenters: Romy Stancofski, Sarah Keshavarz, Zayd Hijazi, Cixin Wang

Paper Presentation: Youth Mental Health First Aid Training for Diverse Parents

Presenters: Cixin Wang, Ami Patel

Poster: Educators' Reported Interest and Use of Equity-Focused Positive Behavior Supports

Presenter: John Seipp

Interested in receiving YMHFA training for FREE? Dr. Cixin Wang and her lab are recruiting participants for a research study with parents and youth!

Here is the link to the sign-up:

https://umdsurvey.umd.edu/jfe/form/SV_7QXn2HPKkHoBEnI?mkt_tok=NzczLU1KR…

Dr. Wang is invited to give a parenting workshop on how to support youth EQ and well-being at The 2024 Teen Wellness Summit on April 27th from 12pm to 3pm EST at Tuscarora High School (5312 Ballenger Creek Pike, Frederick, MD 21703). Register here to attend!

Dr. Cixin Wang is invited by CAPA- MC THRIVE CLUB to offer 6 FREE parenting workshops for Asian American parents. Please scan the flyer to register.

Congratulations to Janisa and Mazneen for their successful presentations at the APA Convention in August 2023! See their presentations here.

Additionally, a huge congratulations to Janisa for winning the APA Division 43 student poster award!

Dr. Cixin Wang received an Individual Project Grant from the UMD Grand Challenges Grants Program for a
project named "An Innovative Intervention to Help Asian American Families Cope with Racism and Mental Health Difficulties". Incredible initiative and much-needed work! Well-deserved, Dr. Wang :)

Dr. Cixin Wang (PI, CHSE) was also awarded funding from Community Health Initiative, Inc. (CHI) for a one-year project, Promoting Social and Emotional Learning among Chinese American Youth. Dr. Wang will provide parenting workshops for community members and social-emotional learning workshops for youth while identifying local and national mental health resources for the organization. Congratulations, Dr. Wang!!!

Dr. Cixin Wang received the AAPA Distinguished Contributions to Practice Award on September 30th, 2022! Congratulations!!!

The Distinguished Contributions Award recognizes AAPA members who have made career contributions to the advancement of psychological issues relevant to AAPI Americans in three major areas - scholarship, practice, and leadership.
Contribute to practice includes: innovations and outstanding applications of the knowledge base in Asian American psychology, as well as the development of programs, procedures, or technical skills in mental health, intergroup relations, and Asian American welfare

A big congratulations to Dr. Wang for receiving the Division 16 (School Psychology) Antiracism Award in the Committed Professional category for 2022! We are so grateful for all her hard work and advocacy on anti-racism in our program and research lab!

Mazneen received the SPARC dissertation grant - the title of her study is "Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Parent and Child Mental Health in India: A Mixed-methods Study"

Mazneen also received the Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship for her project on examining the effects of YMHFA training among Asian Americans.

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Xinyi and her team, Mazneen and Amber! They were awarded the Do Good Accelerator Summer Fellowship to develop a board game to improve children's multicultural competency skills.

Congratulations to Diksha Bali and Ami Patel on receiving The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) USA Doctoral Student Grant!

Each year, the grant provides a one-time award of $5,000 to four to five outstanding full-time doctoral students who demonstrate significant potential as researchers in their fields of study and who are interested in evaluating the outcomes of MHFA trainings in the U.S.

Diksha's project is titled: Investigating YMHFA's Effectiveness in Supporting Low Income and Economically Marginalized (LIEM) Communities in Maryland

Ami's project is titled: Cultural Adaptation and Effectiveness of YMHFA for South Asian and Southeast Asian American Parents and Teens

Dr. Wang recently presented to Asian American parents about ways to support youth when coping with anti-Asian racism. Check out the Zoom recording here! You will need to enter Passcode: 3#L%s9eT to view the recording.

Dr. Cixin Wang was interviewed by a student from Chinese American Community Health Services (CACHS) and their youth mental health chapter about mental health among Asian American youth. Check out this informative video here!

Dr. Cixin Wang was appointed as an Expert Research Advisor by National Council for Mental Wellbeing to Expand Mental Health Research in the United States! You can read more about this great accomplishment here.

The University of Maryland, along with Dr. Cixin Wang and Dr. Rashawn Ray, has partnered with AT&T to develop the Terrapin Upstander Program, an anti-bullying effort aimed at analyzing the causes of bullying and implementing tools and resources to help prevent it, both online and off in alignment with National Bullying Prevention Month. Take a look here to see what it's all about! Big thanks to Her Campus @ UMD for highlighting this, as well!

Congratulations to Diksha Bali and Mazneen Havewala for winning the APA Division 48 Small Grant!

This small grant program is for research, education, and community projects in peace psychology. The title of their project is "Peace and Healthy Relationships in the Family: Applied Workshops and Evaluations in Context of the Indian COVID-19 Crisis". Diksha and Mazneen will provide parenting workshops to promote peace and healthy relationships within the family unit in India.

Congratulations to Mazneen Havewala for winning the Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Doctoral Students Research Grant!

This is for her project titled "Examining the Effectiveness of YMHFA Among Asian Americans: A Randomized-Controlled Trial". The research aims to understand the effects of Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training among Asian American parents who have adolescent children between the ages of 11 and 20. Check her out on the MHFA website!

Drs. Cixin Wang and Charissa Cheah receive Russell Sage Foundation Grant!

Their reserach examines how the experience of anti-Asian sentiment and discrimination informs social identity development and civic engagement among Asian American parents and their adolescent children in times of COVID-19.

Drs. Cixin Wang and Rashawn Ray Receive BBI Seed Grant to Develop Cyberbullying Interventions

Drs. Cixin Wang (Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education) and Rashawn Ray (Sociology) received a BBI seed grant for their project: The Impact of Race and Gender on Cyberbullying and Interventions among Middle School and High School Students. Despite the rise and detrimental effects of cyberbullying, there is little research that addresses how the race and gender of victims impact the likelihood of bystanders to intervene. Their research directly responds to these concerns with the aim of identifying the cognitive, risk, mental health, and protective factors that increase the likelihood of peers to intervene in cyberbullying. Intervening is a stressful encounter. Accordingly, rarely is the physiology of bystanders assessed. Results from this study will inform their future work to speak to this important gap in the literature. In addition to developing an educational plan that will be implemented by Prince George’s County Public Schools, they plan to use results from this study to apply for external grants to develop a virtual reality program that examines the physiological responses of bystanders. Read more about the BBI grant program here.

Drs. Cixin Wang and Charissa Cheah were interviewed by MCPS TV on rally building and how to create safe spaces for Asian-American students

Bullying Prevention and Mental Health Promotion Lab