
Wei-Ju Chen
Assistant Professor, Graduate Program Head
Department of Psychology
Dr. Wei-Ju Chen is an Assistant Professor of Psychology and the Program Head for the Psychology Master's Program. She has a great passion for interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on minority health disparities, stress and coping, emotion, genomics, autism spectrum disorders, and cancer prevention.
Education and Training
- Postdoc, Texas A&M University, 2017–2019
- Ph.D. in Psychology with Health Psychology Concentration (Minors: Quantitative Methods; Cognition and Perception), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2017
- M.A. in Psychology, San José State University, 2012
- B.S. (summa cum laude) in Psychology, San José State University, 2010
Certifications
- Community Health Worker Instructor, Certificate #505, TX, since 2017
- Community Health Worker, Certificate #9384, TX, since 2019
Recent Publications
- Chen, W., Nelson, A. M., Johnson, H. B., & Fleming, R. (in press). Effects of self-affirmation on emotion and cardiovascular responses. Stress and Health. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2986
- Chen, W., Zhao, S., Huang T., Kwok, O., & Chen, L. (2020). Autism spectrum disorders: Prenatal genetic testing and abortion decision-making among Taiwanese mothers of affected children. (Special Issue: Genomic Applications to Promote Public Health in the Context of Health Disparities). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17, 476. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020476
- Zhao, S., Chen, W., Dhar, S. U., Eble, T. N., Kwok, O., & Chen, L. (2019). Genetic testing experiences among parents of children with autism spectrum disorders in the United States. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(12), 4821-4833. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04200-z
- Talwar, D., Chen, W., Yeh, Y., Foster, M., Al-Shagrawi, S., & Chen, L. (2019). Characteristics and evaluation outcomes of genomics curricula for health professional students: A systematic literature review. Genetics in Medicine, 21(8), 1675-1682. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41436-018-0386-9
- Zhao, S., Chen, W., Dhar, S. U., Eble, T., Kwok, O., & Chen, L. (2019). Needs assessment in genetic testing education: A survey of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder in the United States. Autism Research, 12(8), 1162-1170. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2152
Research Interests
Psychophysiological Research on Well-being
My research in psychological and physiological well-being involves:
- studying the complex links among physiological arousal, emotion, and perceived emotional experience
- examining the effects of coping on physiological responses during and subsequent to induction of stress or emotion, as well as its long-term impacts
- assessing the connections between value affirmation and positive psychology
Health Disparities among Underserved and Marginalized Populations
I am interested in conducting innovative and timely research on minority health disparities, including:
- exploring new technologies and methods that can contribute to cancer prevention education and health disparities research
- further specifying predictors of physical and psychological health among different underserved or marginalized populations to develop culturally appropriate models for health disparities research
- assessing as well as disseminating education and interventions to address cancer disparities among underserved populations
Courses
- PSYC 4307 Health Psychology
- PSYC 3304 Experimental Psychology
- PSYC 6302 Research Methodology
- PSYC 6314 Advanced Statistics: Regression
- Accepting:
- Senior Honors Thesis Students
- Master’s Thesis Students
- Graduate Research Assistants
- Undergraduate Research Assistants
- Independent Study or Undergraduate Research Program Students
Last Updated: 11/06/2020