Charissa Cheah, Ph.D.

Education:

Ph.D., Human Development-Developmental Science
Specialization — University of Maryland, College Park

Areas of Study:

• Children and adolescents’ social, emotional, and health development
• Parenting; Racial-ethnic socialization
• Identity development
• The role of culture in development, Development in context

Courses Taught:

• Psychology and Culture (PSYC 230)
• Child Development and Culture (PSYC 330)
• Cultural Aspects of Human Development (Psyc 635)
• Parenting (Psyc 730)

Research Interests

Dr. Cheah uses mixed-method and innovative approaches to understand how individual characteristics, relationships, socialization agents, and contexts interact to influence child and adolescent social-emotional development and physical health. Her research focuses on families from underrepresented (ethnic/racial, religious minority), immigrant, and low-income backgrounds in the United States and across different countries.

Graduate Research and Training Opportunities

Yes: accepting new Ph.D. students for Fall 2027.

Graduate students are provided ample opportunities to contribute to research design on various projects, obtain experience with quantitative and qualitative methodologies, collaborate and lead on publications, network and participate in cross-cultural/international research projects.

Undergraduate Research and Training Opportunities

Yes: Undergraduate opportunities available

Undergraduate research assistants can obtain experiences in data collection (interviewing parents and children, questionnaire assessments, observations of behaviors), data entry and management, library research, involvement in conference presentations and publications, and conducting independent research projects.

Graduate Program Affiliation(s)

Applied Developmental Psychology

Selected Publications

(* the asterisks denote student authors mentored by Dr. Cheah)

• Discrimination among Asian American families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cheah, C. S. L., Kiang, L., Aguiling, W. A., Bumo, Z., & Wu, L.-W. (in press). In T. Yip (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of ethnic/racial discrimination and youth development. Cambridge University Press.
• Intergenerational effect of childhood food insecurity: Maternal food insecurity in childhood and child hair cortisol. Song, C., Cheah, C. S. L., & Doan, S. N. (2025). International Journal of Behavioral Development. Advance online publication
• Considering children’s characteristics in Chinese American mothers’ attributions, well-being, and parenting practices. Zhang, B.,* Cheah, C. S. L., & Ren, H. (2025). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 99.
• Competency matters: Chinese American parents’ racial socialization and adolescents’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aquino, A. K.*, Cheah, C. S. L., Zhang, B.*, Cho, H. S.*, & Sun, Y.* (2025). Asian American Journal of Psychology, 16(1), 61–70.
• Chinese American mothers’ authoritative parenting moderates the associations between maternal psychological control and child relational aggression. Sun, Y.*, Cheah, C. S. L., Hart, C. H., Yu, J., & Sun, S. (2025). International Journal of Behavioral Development. Advance online publication.
• From home to community: The role of parenting and religious identity in Muslim emerging adults’ civic engagement. Gürsoy, H.*, Cho, H. S.*, Cheah, C. S. L., & Balkaya-Ince, M., (2025). American Journal of Community Psychology. Advance online publication.
• Time-varying and gender differences in religious socialization and associations with Muslim American adolescents’ religious identity. Balkaya-Ince, M.*, Cheah, C. S. L., Gürsoy, H.*, & Amer, M. (2025). Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 17(2), 105–113. 
• Age-varying associations between COVID-19-related racial discrimination and Chinese American adolescents’ political civic engagement. Zong, X.*, Cheah, C. S. L., & Ren, H.* (2024). Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 53(2), 446–458.
• To maintain or conceal one’s cultural identity? Chinese American parents’ ethnic-racial socialization during COVID-19. Cho, H. S.*, Gürsoy, H.*, Cheah, C. S. L., Zong, X.*, & Ren, H.* (2024). Journal of Family Psychology. 38(1), 26–37.
• Cascading effects of Chinese American parents’ COVID-19 racial discrimination and racial socialization on adolescents’ adjustment. Ren, H.*, Cheah, C. S. L., Cho, H. S.*, & Aquino, A. K.* (2024). Child Development, 93(3), 862-878.
• Longitudinal pathways linking racial discrimination and Chinese American mothers’ parenting. Zong, X.*, Cheah, C. S. L., Ren, H.*, & Hart, C. H. (2023). Developmental Psychology, 59(11), 2119-2132.
• To be in harmony: Chinese American adolescents’ and parents’ bicultural integration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schmidt, C.*, Cho, H. S.*, & Cheah, C. S. L. (2023). Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 54(4), 475–489.
• Towards complementarity: Specificity and commonality in social-emotional development [Introduction to the Special Section “Specificity and commonality: Sociocultural generalizability in social-emotional development”]. Malti, T. & Cheah, C. S. L. (2021). Child Development, 92(6), 1085-1094.
• “Rendered invisible: Are Asian Americans a model or a marginalized minority? [Introduction to the Special Issue “Rendered invisible: Are Asian Americans a model or a marginalized Minority?”]. Yip, T., Cheah, C. S. L., Kiang, L., Hall, G., & Comas-Diaz, L. (2021). The American Psychologist, 76(4), 575–581.
• COVID-19 racism and mental health in Chinese American families. Cheah, C. S. L., Wang, C., Ren, H.*, Zong, X.*, Cho, H. S.*, & Xue, X.*, (2020). Pediatrics, Nov 146(5). 
• Validation of a virtual reality buffet environment to assess food selection processes among emerging adults. Cheah, C. S. L., Barman, S.*, Vu. K. T. T.*, Jung, S.*, Mandalapu, V., Masterson, T., Zuber, R., Boot, L., & Gong, J. (2020). Appetite, 153, 1. 

CV

Cheah CV – Updated August 2025

Cheah – Biosketch (UMBC)