Associate Professor · Director, CARE Lab
Dr. Oh's research program investigates the development of social and emotional functioning from early childhood through adolescence. She examines how individual characteristics, social interactions, close relationships, and socio-cultural contexts shape developmental pathways — with particular attention to the mechanisms through which these influences operate.
A central aim of her work is understanding pathways toward adaptive functioning (social competence, self-regulation, positive relationship quality) and maladaptive functioning (social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, aggression, dysregulation) during major normative transitions: the birth of a child or sibling, entry into kindergarten, and the transitions from elementary to middle school, middle to high school, and into adolescence.
Dr. Wonjung Oh · Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, College of Health & Human Sciences, Texas Tech University
CARE Lab — Child, Adolescent, Resilience, and Ecology Lab · Dr. Wonjung Oh · Texas Tech University
We study social and emotional development from early childhood through adolescence — asking not only how, but why individual characteristics, close relationships, and socio-cultural contexts become sources of risk or resilience across life's major transitions.
The lab integrates biosocial characteristics of children, parents, and parent–child dyads to identify adaptive and maladaptive developmental pathways — and to inform well-timed, targeted interventions that interrupt dysfunctional cascades and promote positive adjustment over time.
We chart developmental change in social behavior and regulatory functioning from early childhood through adolescence, tracing pathways toward both adjustment and difficulties such as withdrawal, anxiety, depression, and aggression.
Children develop inside a web of close relationships. We study parenting by mothers and fathers, sibling relationships, and peer relationships — including how distinct relationship profiles predict socio-emotional functioning.
From perinatal and postpartum transitions to the birth of a sibling, school readiness, and school transitions, we identify what makes normative change a source of risk — or of resilience — for children and families.
Through cross-cultural collaborations spanning ten countries, we examine race, ethnicity, and cultural context in social-emotional development, testing where mechanisms diverge and where they hold across societies.
The lab applies longitudinal, multi-level, and innovative quantitative approaches — trajectory modeling, multiple-group factor analysis alignment, dynamic dyadic methods — alongside direct observational methods, so the analysis matches the complexity of real developmental change.
Journal of Affective Disorders
Development and Psychopathology, 35(3), 1404–1420
International Journal of Behavioral Development, 47(2), 190–198
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 58, 220–230
Child Development, 92(6), 1154–1170
Open Access Publication Initiative Award, Office of the Vice President for Research, Texas Tech University
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 82(3), 106–117
Journal of Affective Disorders, 200, 133–141
Journal of Family Psychology, 29(1), 119–129
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36(4), 553–566
* denotes student collaborator. For the complete record, see Google Scholar.
Director · Associate Professor
Social-emotional development; risk and resilience across family and school transitions; quantitative methods.
wonjung.oh@ttu.eduDoctoral Student
Infant mental health; social-emotional development in early childhood; culturally competent support for caregivers.
jes.fyall@ttu.eduDoctoral Student
Social-emotional development in infancy and early childhood; parent emotion socialization.
jennifer.k.harris@ttu.eduResearch Assistant
Psychology major; aspiring early childhood school psychologist specializing in developmental assessment.
Research Assistant
Psychology major; aspiring clinical psychologist working with children and adolescents.
Research Assistant
Psychology & nuclear engineering; aiming for a doctorate in clinical neuroscience.
Research Assistant
College of Education; studying child behavior for a future in middle school teaching.
Research Assistant
Psychology senior; pursuing graduate training in child clinical psychology.
Research Assistant
Psychology major, Spanish & chemistry minors; volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club.
Research Assistant
B.A. Psychology & B.S. HDFS dual degree.
Research Assistant
HDFS major; aspiring play therapist.
Alumna · B.A. Psychology
Pursuing graduate study in industrial/organizational psychology.
"I have amazing mentors. Kenneth H. Rubin was an exceptional and dedicated graduate mentor at the University of Maryland. Brenda Volling and Richard Gonzalez were amazing mentors during my postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan. Gregory Hancock was an instrumental mentor during my graduate training in Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation. The collaborators listed here continue to help me grow as a scholar." — Dr. Oh
Cathryn Booth-LaForce · Julie Bowker · Xinyin Chen · Robert Coplan · Ebony Dashiell-Aje · Pamela Davis-Kean · Carolyn J. Dayton · Richard Gonzalez · Sybil Hart · Brett Laursen · Kristina McDonald · Maria Muzik · Linda Rose-Krasnor · Kenneth H. Rubin · Prachi Shah · Brenda Volling · Tianyi Yu, and colleagues worldwide
Dr. Oh is currently accepting graduate students through the HDFS doctoral program at Texas Tech University. Prospective students interested in social-emotional development, family transitions, or quantitative methods are encouraged to reach out.
With colleagues at the University of Michigan, the lab examined post-traumatic change and resilience after childhood maltreatment and their impacts on maternal mental health across the postpartum period.
New findings on how children's attachment security to mother and father changes after a sibling's birth, identifying risk and resilience within the family system.
A cross-cultural measurement study spanning 10 countries, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development using multiple-group factor analysis alignment.
Oh et al. (2021), published in Child Development, received the Open Access Publication Initiative Award from the Office of the Vice President for Research at Texas Tech University.
The lab welcomes curious, rigorous people at every stage — from undergraduates gaining their first research experience to doctoral students building a program of research.
Join through the Human Development & Family Sciences doctoral program. Ideal fits are interested in social-emotional development, family and school transitions, or advanced quantitative methods.
Now accepting students for Fall 2026 →
Gain hands-on experience with observational coding, data collection with children and families, and the day-to-day craft of developmental science.
Applications open year-round →
The lab collaborates across institutions and countries — from cross-cultural measurement studies to longitudinal family research. New partnerships are always welcome.
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