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Junru Zhao, PhD

Junru Zhao, PhD

Assistant Professor of Research, Department of Pediatrics

Dr. Junru Zhao has recently joined the TSET Health Promotion Research Center and the Department of Pediatrics as an Assistant Professor of Research. She attained her Ph.D. in Lifespan Developmental Psychology from Brock University, after which she worked as a research data analyst on NIH-funded substance use-related projects at the University of Buffalo.

Dr. Zhao’s research interests and expertise span advanced statistical and quantitative methods within the frameworks of structural equation modeling (SEM), multilevel models (MLM), Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE), and time-varying effect modeling (TVEM); physiological/biological, socioemotional, and behavioral development of children and adolescents; and treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and mood disorders in adults. Currently, she is particularly interested in how both time-series analysis technique and machine-learning may be better applied in studying biobehavioral health processes. Her substantive area of research focuses on potentially malleable risks and protective factors of substance use (e.g., problem alcohol drinking) as well as prevention/intervention among diverse and underrepresented ethnic minority youth populations.  

Education:

Degree-Granting Institutions

  • Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, PHD, 2014, Lifespan Developmental Psychology
  • Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, MA, 2006, Lifespan Developmental Psychology
  • Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China, MA, 2001, Developmental & Educational Psychology
  • Baoding University (previously Baoding normal Academy), Baoding, China, Associate Degree of Science, 1995, Geography Education

Select Publications:

1. LaBarre, C., Linn, B. K., Bradizza, C. M., Zhao, J., Wilding, G. E., Knapp, K. S., & Stasiewicz, P. R. (in press). Predictors of NIAAA recovery among individuals in cognitive behavior alcohol treatment. Social Work Research Journal.

2. Knapp, K.S., Bradizza, C.M., Zhao, J., Linn, B.K., Wilding, G.E., LaBarre, C., & Stasiewicz, P.R. (2024). Emotion differentiation among individuals in a randomized clinical trial for alcohol use disorder: Within- and between-person associations with affect, craving, and alcohol use in daily life. Behavior Research and Therapy, 173, 104474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2024.104474

3. Linn, B. K., Zhao, J., Stasiewicz, P. R., Wilding, G. E., LaBarre, C., & Bradizza, C. M. (in press). Emotion variability is a mechanism of behavior change in alcohol use disorder treatment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

4. Zhao, J., Linn, B. K., Stasiewicz, P. R., Wilding, G. E., LaBarre, C., & Bradizza, C. M. (2023). Mechanisms of Behavior Change during Alcohol Treatment among Negative Affect Drinkers: A Time-Varying Effect Model Analysis Using 84 Consecutive Days of Ecological Momentary Assessment. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 38, 36-46.  https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/adb0000931 

5. Stasiewicz, P. R., Bradizza, C. M., Lucke, J. F., Zhao, J., Dermen, K. H., Linn, B., & LaBarre, C. (2023). Pretreatment change in drinking: A test of a tailored treatment approach.  Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 47, 549-565. https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15022

6. Eide, R. D., Ettekal, I., Zhao, J., Kelm, M. R., Nickerson, A. B., Ostrov, J., Schuetze, P., & Godleski, S. (2023). Prenatal substance exposure, early life adversity, and parenting: Associations with adolescent stress response. Developmental Psychobiology, 65, e22365.  https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22365

7. Linn, B. K., Zhao, J., Stasiewicz, P. R., LaBarre, C., Wilding, G. E., & Bradizza, C. M. (in press). Relationship of negative emotionality, NIAAA recovery, and 3- and 6-month drinking outcomes among adults in treatment for alcohol use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 242, 109695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109695

8. LaBarre, C., Stasiewicz, P. R., Linn, B. K., Zhao, J., Wilding, G., & Bradizza, C. M. (2022). The influence of COVID-19 on alcohol consumption among individuals in outpatient treatment: Emerging clinical practices. Best Practices in Mental Health, 18(1), 18-32.

9. Zhao, J., Ettekal, I., Nickerson, A. B., Schuetze, P., Shisler, S., Godleski, S., Ostrov, J., & Eiden, R. D. (2022). Child community violence exposure in an at-risk sample: Developmental trajectories, caregiving risks, and the role of child temperament.  Psychology of Violence, 12, 382-32.  https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000416

10. Linn, B. K., Zhao, J., Bradizza, C. M., Lucke, J. F., Ruszczyk, M. U., & Stasiewicz, P. R. (2021). Alexithymia disrupts emotion regulation processes and is associated with greater negative affect and alcohol problems. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 77, 2915-2928. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23279

11. Linn, B. K., & Stasiewicz, P. R., Zhao, J., Lucke, J. F., Ruszczyk, M. U., LaBarre, C., & & Bradizza, C. M. (2021). The shape of change: Using time varying effects modeling to examine when mechanisms of behavior change are active in cognitive behavioral treatment for alcohol use disorder. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 82, 629-637.  https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2021.82.629

12. Zhao, J., Linn, B. K., Bradizza, C. M., Lucke, J. F., Ruszczyk, M. U., & Stasiewicz, P. R. (2021). Heterogeneity in DSM-5 severity criteria: Phenotypes of alcohol use disorder in a sample seeking alcohol treatment. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 56, 660-668. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agaa138

13. Schuetze, P., Molnar, D., Eiden, R., Shisler, S., Zhao, J., Colder, C., & Huestis, M. (2020). The effect of prenatal adversity on externalizing behaviors at 24- months of age in a high-risk sample: Maternal sensitivity as a moderator.  Infant Mental Health Journal, 41, 530-542.  https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21863

14. Stasiewicz, P. R., Bradizza, C. M., Ruszczyk, M. U., Lucke, J. F., Zhao, J., Linn, B., & Dermen, K. H. (2019). The identification of pretreatment trajectories of alcohol use and their relationship to treatment outcome in men and women with alcohol use disorder. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 43, 2637-2648.  https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.14216. PMCID: PMC6904501

15. Schuetze, P.,  Zhao, J.,  Eiden, R. D.,  Shisler, S., & Huestis, M. A. (2019). Prenatal exposure to tobacco and marijuana and child autonomic regulation and reactivity: An analysis of indirect pathways via maternal psychopathology and parenting. Developmental Psychobiology, 61, 1022-1034.  https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.21844

16. Volk, A., Schiralli, K., Xia, X., Zhao, J., & Dane, A. (2018). Adolescent bullying and personality: A cross-cultural approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 125, 126-132.  https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.012

17. Eiden, R. D., Zhao, J., Casey, M., Shisler, S., Schuetze, P., & Colder, C. R. (2018). Pre- and postnatal tobacco and cannabis exposure and child behavior problems: Bidirectional associations, joint effects, and sex differences. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 185, 82-92.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2017.11.038