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Research Unit

The Research Unit produces a variety of research briefs, publishes articles in professional journals, and presents study findings at conferences and to the University campus community. This includes the design, implementation, and analysis of the biannual University New Student Census and the Withdrawal Survey. The Research Unit also maintains the University of Maryland Resource Directory (pdf).

Areas of Research

  • Student Development & Retention
  • Clinical Service Delivery
  • College Students’ Basic Needs (Food & Housing Security), Academic Success, and Well-being
  • Multiculturalism, Inclusiveness, & Action Research

Research Unit staff

Learn more about the Research Unit staff.

Learn More About Our Research

For more information about the Research Unit and projects that have been completed or are in progress, please contact Dr. Yu-Wei Wang. 

Selected Publications and Presentations

  • Abebe, I., Wang, Y.-W., O’Connor, S., Cruz, T. E., Keum, B. T., & Sifat, M. (2023). Satisfaction with online/in-person social interactions and psychological well-being: The mediating role of social connectedness. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04870-0
  • Keum, B. T., Wang, Y.-W., Callaway, J., Abebe, I., Cruz, T., & O’Connor, S. (2023). Benefits and harms of social media use: A latent profile analysis of emerging adults. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03473-5
  • Wang, Y.-W. (2023, February). DEIJ (IDEAS) panel: Leveraging diversity-related data to enhance our work with students [Workshop]. Maryland Student Affairs Conference, College Park, MD, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Cruz, T. E., Abebe, I., Moturu, B. P., & Wachowski, C. (2023, August). The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students: A mixed-methods study [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Li, A. W., Abebe, I., & Cruz, T. E. (2023, August). COVID-19 impact, coping, resilience, posttraumatic growth, & well-being: A moderated mediation model [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Wachowski, C, Cruz, T. E., & Abebe, I. (2023, November). Student perceptions of campus climate [Conference session]. TerrapinSTRONG Symposium, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.
  • Chickerella, R., Tekeste, M., Paralkar, U., Yee, S., Wang, Y.-W. (2022, February). The synergistic effect of family distress and substance use on mental health outcomes among sexual minority BIPOC college students [Poster presentation]. Big Ten Counseling Centers Conference (virtual)
  • Drinane, J. M., Roberts. T., Winderman, K., Freeman, V. F., & Wang, Y.-W. (2022). The myth of the safe space: Sexual orientation disparities in therapist effectiveness. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 69(3), 268-275. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000584
  • Hogge, I., & Wang, Y.-W. (2022). Revising the Male Rape Myths Scale. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 23(4), 422-433. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000405
  • Li, X., Wang, Y.-W., & Kim, Y. H. (2022). The moderation of parental support on the relationship between race-related career barriers and academic achievement. Journal of Career Development, 49(2), 363-377. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0894845320937353
  • Li, X., Kim, Y. H., Keum, B. T. H., Wang, Y.-W., & Bishop, K. (2022). A broken pipeline: Effects of gender and racial/ethnic barriers on college students’ educational aspiration–pursuit gap. Journal of Career Development, 49(4), 753-768. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0894845321994196
  • Moturu, B. P., Cruz, T., E., Wang, Y.-W., O’Connor, S., Abebe, I., & Yang, N. (2022, August). Student concerns regarding campus climate and inclusion over the past five years [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W. (2022, April). Impacts of food insecurity on college student well-being & academic success. Presented during the University Honors Program Student Board Service Week, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W. (2022, May 11). Harnessing lessons learned throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Fall ’21 student data [Panel discussions]. Innovations in Teaching & Learning Conference, College Park, MD.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Abebe, I., Cruz, T. E., Sifat, M., Abdelwahab, S., & Li, T. (2022, August). Posttraumatic growth, well-being, resilience, and ways of coping during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Abebe, I., Cruz, T. E., Yang, N., & Moturu, B. P. (2022, February). Unpacking the perceived positive impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic for students and professional staff [C. E. workshop]. Maryland Student Affairs Conference (virtual).
  • Wang, Y.-W., Cruz, T. E., Abebe, I., Arévalo Avalos, M. R., Sifat, M., Abdelwahab, S., & Li, T. (2022, August). College students’ coping, resilience, well-being, and help-seeking attitudes during the pandemic [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
  • Kim, Y. H., Wang, Y.-W., & Li, X. (2021). Examination of the Identity Style Inventory with racial/ethnic minority college students: Revision of factor structure and psychometrics. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 54(3), 173-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2020.1827438
  • Leifer, Q., Pease, M., Wang, Y.-W., & Cruz, T. (2021). Transgender student experiences: Research findings & recommendations. University of Maryland Counseling Center Research Unit.
  • Neville, H. A., & Wang, Y.-W. (2021). An improbable journey: The career and influence of Puncky P. Heppner. The Counseling Psychologist, 49(4), 619-642. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0011000020959447
  • Wang, Y.-W. (2021, August). Taking actions to combat food insecurity on college campuses [Roundtable discussions]. Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues Annual Conference (virtual).
  • Wang, Y.-W., Cruz, T.E., Sifat, M., Abdelwahab, S., & Abebe, I. (2021, April). Individual factors and students’ experiences of COVID-19: Implications for Student affairs professionals [C.E. workshop]. Maryland Student Affairs Conference (virtual).
  • Zounlome, N. O. O., Arévalo Avalos, M. R., McNeil, V.A., Vernay, C. N., & Wang., Y.-W. (2021, August). Racial stress, racial identity, & psychosocial outcomes among Black university students [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting (virtual).
  • David, J. L., Brady, J., Keum, B. T., Kline, K., & Wang, Y.-W. (2020, February). Unwanted sexual experiences among university students: Relations to student distress, service utilization, and counseling dropout [Poster presentation]. Big Ten Counseling Centers Conference, Evanston, IL.
  • Gale, M., Franco, M., Reese, E., Hutman, H., & Wang, Y.-W. (2020). Sociocultural factors and referral outcome: An exploratory investigation. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 34(3), 198-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/87568225.2019.1592729
  • Keum, B. T., Wang, Y.-W., Callaway, J., Cruz, T. E., O’Connor, S., & Abebe, I. (2020, August). Benefits and drawbacks associated with social media use: A latent profile analysis of emerging adults. [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting (virtual).
  • Wang, Y.-W. (2020, February). Taking action to combat food insecurity on college campuses: The role of counseling centers [Poster presentation]. Big Ten Counseling Centers Conference, Evanston, IL, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Keum, B. T., & Cruz, T. E. (2020, August). Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy-Brief: Psychometric properties and related multicultural constructs [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting (virtual).
  • Wang, Y.-W., O’Connor, S., Cruz, T. E., Abebe, I., & Keum, B. T. (2020, August). How psychological outcomes of social media use vary according to satisfaction with online interactions [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting (virtual).
  • Wang, Y.-W., Tjaden, A., Meko, B., Cruz, T. E., Abebe (2020, February). Turning research into action: Combating food insecurity at the University of Maryland [C. E. workshop]. Maryland Student Affairs Conference, College Park, MD, United States. 
  • Heppner, P. P., Heppner, M. J., Wang, Y.-W., & Lee, D. (2019). Creating a positive life: The role of problem-solving appraisal. In M. W. Gallagher & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Positive psychological assessment: A handbook of models and measures (2nd ed., pp. 111-124). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000138-008
  • Keum, B. T., Wang, Y.-W., Cruz, T. E., & Bishop, K. (2019, August). Factors Influencing the gap between career expectations and behaviors: Racial and gender differences [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.
  • O’Connor, S., Wang, Y.-W., Li, X., Cruz, T. E., & Bush, L. (2019, August). Associations between social media use, types of stress, and outcomes for college-aged youth [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.
  • O’Connor, S., Wang, Y.-W., Li, X., Cruz, T. E., & Bush, L. (2019, August). Variations in outcomes of social media use for students interacting more in-person or more online [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.
  • Polihronakis, C. J., Chadwick, C., Li, X., Welch, J., Wang, Y.-W. (2019, February). The role of client-therapist racial/ethnic match in short-term therapy treatment outcomes [Poster presentation]. Big Ten Counseling Centers Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W. (2019, August). (Discussant). In T. Bartholomew, & B. T. Keum (Chairs), Therapy and center effects and distress among international students [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., & Asarch, A. (2019, February). Social media, stress, and student well-being: Implications for prevention, intervention, and branding [Poster presentation]. Big Ten Counseling Centers Conference, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Bush, L., Cruz, T. E., O’Connor, S., Keum, B. T., & *Benner, M. (2019, August). Impact of food insecurity on college student well-being & academic success: A mixed methods research. In Y.-W. Wang (Chair), A social justice and human rights issue: Food insecurity and implications for psychology & policies [Symposium]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Bush, L., Tjaden, A., Keum, B. T., O’Connor, S., Nwokeleme, P., Tadmor, D., & Singelstad, W. (2019, February). Impacts of food insecurity on college student well-being & academic success: Collaborative solutions to student concerns [C. E. workshop] Maryland Student Affairs Conference, College Park, MD, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., Cruz, T. E., & Bush, L. (2019). UMD food access & student well-being study. University of Maryland Counseling Center Research Unit. https://studentaffairs.umd.edu/food-access-student-well-being-study
  • Wang, Y.-W., & Kang, J. (2019, January). Facilitating shared understanding across borders and identities [Roundtable discussions]. National Multicultural Conference & Summit, Denver, CO, United States.
  • Wang, Y.-W., & Keum, B. T. (2019, August). Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy: Short form and relations with racism-related experiences/attitudes [Poster presentation]. American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, United States.
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