Biography
Chenhao received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is currently a second-year graduate student in the Master of Science in Psychological Science (MSPS) program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He works under the supervision of Dr. Carla Hunter in the Cultural Heritage and Racial Identity Lab. After completing his master's degree, he plans to continue his research in a doctoral program.
Research Interests
- Mental health disparities among racial minorities
- Intersectionality
- Cultural psychology
Research Description
Chenhao is currently taking the lead on two research studies. The first study explores the mental health disparities among BIPOC college students using an intersectionality approach. His team is interested in learning a) how intersectionality is related to the subjective well-being of BIPOC college students and b) how intersectionality enhances our understanding of racial minority mental health disparities.
The second study investigates the effect of acculturation on the mental health of Chinese international students (CIS) in the United States. Chenhao's team is interested in learning a) how culture (e.g., acculturation) affects the mental health of CIS and their corresponded psychological treatments (e.g., help-seeking behaviors), b) how Chinese cultural values serve as protective or risk factors for the psychological health of CIS, and c) how culture-specific interpretations and psychometric assessments of CIS mental health concerns can be developed.
Chenhao is also collaborating on a research study that examines protective and risk factors of racial discrimination on the mental health of Asian/Asian American (A/AA) college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to understand a) how COVID-19 related racial discrimination affected the mental health of A/AA college students and b) which social factors (e.g., model minority myth) and cultural factors (e.g., loss of face) function as protective or risk factors for the mental health of A/AA college students during the COVID-19 pandemic.