DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY

Research Interests

Edith Chen’s research seeks to understand why poverty is associated with poor physical health outcomes in children, with a focus on the psychological and biological mechanisms that explain these relationships. She is also interested in questions of resilience—that is, why some children who come from adversity manage to thrive and maintain good profiles of health.

Selected Publications

Chen, E., G. H. Brody, & G. E. Miller. 2022.  What are the health consequences of upward mobility?  Annual Review of Psychology, 73, 599-628.

Chiang, J. J., P. H. Lam, E. Chen, & G. E. Miller. 2022. Psychological stress during childhood and adolescence and its association with inflammation across the lifespan: A critical review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 148, 27–66.

Chen. E., Brody. G. H. Yu, T., Hoffer, L. C., Russak-Pribble, A., & Miller, G. E. 2021.  Disproportionate school punishment and significant life outcomes: A prospective analysis of Black youth.  Psychological Science, 32, 1375-1390. 

Chen, E., Lam, P. H., Finegood, E. D., Turiano, N. A., Mroczek, D. K., & Miller, G. E. 2021.  The balance of giving versus receiving social support and all-cause mortality in a US national sample.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, e2024770118

Miller, G. E., Chen, E., Yu, T., & Brody, G. H. (2020). Youth who achieve upward socioeconomic mobility display lower psychological distress but higher metabolic syndrome rates as adults: Prospective evidence from Add Health and MIDUS. Journal of the American Heart Association, 9, e015698.

Levine, C. S., Markus, H. R., Austin, M. K., Chen, E., & Miller, G. E. (2019). Students of color show health advantages when they attend schools that emphasize the value of diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116, 6013-6018.

Gaydosh, L., K. Schorpp, E. Chen, G. Miller, and K. Harris. 2018. College completion predicts lower depression but higher metabolic syndrome among disadvantaged minorities in young adulthood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115(1): 109–14.