Chao Liu, PhD

Biography

Dr. Chao Liu grew up in a southern coastal city of China. In 2010, he came to the United States to pursue graduate degrees in psychology, with a hope to help children in need. In 2013, he obtained his master's degree in developmental psychology from the University of Maine. After realizing the important role of family in child development, he then decided to incorporate the influences of family on child well-being into his doctoral study. He completed his PhD degree in Human Development and Family Sciences at Oklahoma State University in August of 2018, and joined the faculty at Cedarville University soon after.

Education and Credentials

• PhD in Human Development and Family Sciences, Oklahoma State University

Scholarly Works

• Text mining and sentiment analysis: A new lens to explore the emotion dynamics of mother-child interactions. Social Development (2024)
• How Parents Play: Play Style as a Function of Gender of Parent, Gender of Child, and Play Context. Journal of Family Issues (2024)
• Parents and Peers as Protective Factors Among Adolescents Exposed to Neighborhood Risk (Michael M. Criss, Amy M. Smith, Amanda Sheffield Morris, et al.) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology (2017)
• Unveiling the Tapestry of Mother-Child Interactions Through Text Mining and Sentiment Analysis. International Journal of Behavioral Development (2024)
• The longitudinal relations between disciplinary practices and emotion regulation in early years. Personal Relationships (2021)

Interests

• As an outdoor enthusiast, I enjoy spending time with my wife hiking and camping. We are also avid backpackers and love to share the Gospel with people we meet on our journeys.

Expert Topics:

• Child development; Parenting; Quantitative Methodology

Why Cedarville?

Cedarville is a place marked by servanthood. At Cedarville, I found that everyone is filled with passions to help and to serve. I want to be a part of it.