My research explores how changes to electoral boundaries affect democratic representation in the UK and US. I am particularly interested in whether people in ‘left behind’ places and areas experiencing population decline feel differently about changes to their constituencies and whether these changes affect voter turnout, political responsiveness and polarisation. By combining electoral data and public consultation responses, I aim to understand how redistricting shapes people’s relationship with democracy. Ultimately, I hope my research will help inform decisions about electoral boundaries and ensure that the experiences of different communities are better understood.
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Persistent educational underachievement and low aspiration amongst working-class white boys in England have been a long-neglected problem, but why they underachieve remains poorly understood. Using an intersectionality framework, coupled with comparing and fusing two Advanced Quantitative Methods: (1) intersectional multilevel analysis of individual heterogeneity and discriminatory accuracy (intersectional MAIHDA) and (2) latent class models and growth mixture models, I will study the complex interplay between individual, students’ attitudes and aspirations towards education, and their academic achievement, and the impact of the timing of changing attitudes and aspirations on student attainment and progress.
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Cognitive impairment is a key disabling symptom of psychotic disorders, predictive of worse functional and social outcomes. However, it is often overlooked compared to the positive features such as hallucinations. During my PhD I will use longitudinal data analysis methods to characterise developmental pathways to cognitive impairments in psychosis. I will focus on epigenetic markers, which capture how biological and environmental exposures — such as inflammation, stress, and ageing — influence gene expression, and investigate whether they are associated with cognitive outcomes in people with psychosis. I will utilise diverse population-based cohort studies from across the lifespan.
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Hart, Z., Großbach, A., Simpkin, A. J., & Walton, E. (2025). The association between epigenetic ageing from childhood to early adulthood and psychotic-like experiences in early adulthood. Psychological Medicine, 55, e182. doi:10.1017/S003329172510055X
Previous research suggest that long COVID is under-recorded in Electronic Health Records. I will work with Electronic Health Record data using the OpenSAFELY Trusted Research Environment to investigate how social, economic and demographic factors affect clinical coding of long COVID. By investigating how these factors may affect potential disparity in clinical coding of long COVID, I aim to identify groups of people in which long COVID may be disproportionately under-recorded. In doing this, I hope to improve the use of long COVID codes in these groups which would allow better access to support services for those living with this condition.
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In psychology, we tend to be interested in individual minds rather than distributions. Most researchers theorise at the person level yet analyse data at the group level, creating the group-to-person generalisability problem, where group-level effects often fail to represent individual behaviour. My research assesses the extent of this problem by investigating whether group-level effects published in top journals generalise to a population majority, replicating key studies. In the second part, I develop practical tools to help researchers of all statistical abilities recognise and address this problem. Ultimately, my work aims to promote more accurate and transparent research practices across the social sciences.
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I will conduct four studies applying advanced quantitative methods and cross-sectional and longitudinal study designs using a current ESRC-funded UK birth cohort from an interdisciplinary perspective, aiming to address the major societal challenge of co-occurring antisocial behaviour (AB) and substance use (SU) in young people, answering unsolved questions about the mechanisms driving the co-occurrence of these conditions from mid-adolescence to early adulthood. Findings will help inform the prevention and intervention programmes for AB or SU alone or in combination, with potential benefits for young people and their families, mental health researchers, education and legal practitioners and services, and policymakers.
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2024
Deng, J., Shou, Y., Wang, M.-C., Allen, J., Gao, Y. & Hawes, D. J. (2024). Core features of Callous-Unemotional Traits: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Youth in Four Countries. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 2681–2693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02357-8
He, J., Gao, Y., Deng, J. & Wang, M.-C. (2024). Resting Heart Rate Moderates the Relationship between Parental Emotion Socialization and Callous-Unemotional Traits in Children. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 2353–2363. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02338-x
Li, J., Deng, J., Xu, Y., Sun, J., Chen, J., D. Datu, J., Zhang, R., Qiu, S. (2024). Which well-being elements are fundamental for early childhood educators in the Chinese context? A network analysis. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 19, 103–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10233-5
2022
Zhang, X., Deng, J., Shou, Y., & Wang, M. C. (2022). Longitudinal network structure of child psychopathy across development in Chinese community children. Current Psychology. 42, 28119–28129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03799-0
Wang, M.-C., Deng, J., Shou, Y., & Sellbom, M. (2022). Cross-cultural examination of psychopathy network in Chinese and U.S. Prisoners. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment. 44, 620–635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-022-09960-0
Wang, M.-C., Zhang, X., Gong, J., Deng, J., Luo, J., Gao, Y., & Salekin, R. T. (2022). Variants of psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: A latent profile analysis. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 49, 530–549. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548211043149
2021
Liang, J., Shou, Y., Wang, M-C., Deng, J., & Luo, J. (2021). A reliability generalization meta-analysis of Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-9. Psychological Assessment. 33, 940–951. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001031
2020
Deng, J., Wang, M-C., Shou, Y., & Gao, Y. (2020). Core features of callous-unemotional traits: Network analysis of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in community and offender Samples. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 77, 1487–1498. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23090
Deng, J., Wang, M., Shou, Y., Lai, H., Zeng, H., & Gao, Y. (2020). Parenting behaviors and child psychopathy: A regression mixture analysis. Current Psychology. 41, 3585–3596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00810-4
Luo, J., Wang, M.-C., Gao, Y., Deng, J., & Qi, S.-S. (2020). Factor structure and construct validity of the Emotions as a Child Scale (EAC) in Chinese children. Psychological Assessment, 32, 85–97. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000762.
Luo, J., Wang, M. C., Zhang, X., Deng, J., Huang, D., & Zhou, Z. (2020). Psychometric Properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory Triarchic Scales and Its Short Version in Chinese Male Juvenile Offenders. Journal of Personality Assessment, 103, 300–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2020.1752700
Zhong, C., Wang, M-C., Shou, Y., Zhang, X., & Deng, J. (2020). Maternal parenting mediate the relationship between maternal psychopathic traits and 8 to 11-year-old child callous-unemotional traits: A longitudinal multiple mediation model. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, 3142–3152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01814-1
Publications
2019
Deng, J., Wang, M.-C., Zhang, X., Shou, Y., Gao, Y., & Luo, J. (2019). The Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits: A reliability generalization meta-analysis.Psychological Assessment, 31, 765–780. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000698
Wang, M.-C., Deng, Q., Shou, Y., Lai, H., Deng, J., Gao, Y., & Li, Z. (2019). Assessing Impulsivity in Chinese: Elaborating Validity of BIS Among Male Prisoners. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 46, 492–506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854818806033
Zhang, X., Wang, M-C., He, L., L, J., Deng, J. (2019). The development and psychometric evaluation of the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory-15. PLoS ONE, 14, e0221621. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0221621
Ren, F., Zhang, Q. P., Li, M., Luo, J., Deng, J., Zhang, X., & Wang, M. C. (2019). Factor structure and measurement invariance of youth psychopathic traits inventory-child version in Chinese children. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2550. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02550
Luo, J., Wang, X.,Wang, M-C, Wang, X., Gao, Y., Deng, J., Zhong, C., & Qi, S-S. (2019). Longitudinal measurement invariance of the Child Problematic Trait Inventory in older Chinese children. PLoS ONE, 14, e0219136. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219136
2018
Wang, M.-C., Colins, O. F., Deng, Q., Deng, J., Huang, Y., & Andershed, H. (2018). The Child Problematic Traits Inventory in China: A multiple informant-based validation study.Psychological Assessment, 30, 956–966. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pas0000545.
2017
Wang, M-C., Gao, Y., Deng, J., Lai, H., Deng, Q., & Armour, C. (2017). The factor structure and construct validity of the inventory of callous-unemotional traits in Chinese undergraduate students. PLoS ONE, 12, e0189003. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189003.
Wang, M-C., Colins, O. F., Deng, Q., Andershed, H, Deng, J., & Ye, H. (2017). Psychometric properties of the original and short version of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory among Chinese adolescents. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 39, 620–634. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-017-9619-5
My research investigates the associations between family financial hardship and offspring’s mental health and criminal behaviours across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood using the ALSPAC longitudinal datasets. The research aims to identify mediating factors of the associations and explore how shifting financial circumstances impacts mental health through counterfactual analysis. I use advanced quantitative methods, including Growth Curve Modelling and Structural Equation Modelling, to examine developmental trajectories and relationships over time. The findings will inform interventions and policies to address youth mental health, criminal behaviour, and social inequality.
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This research investigates factors influencing the academic success of refugee children. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study begins with a literature review exploring the impact of school climate on refugee student wellbeing. Quantitative analysis, employing PISA and UNRWA data, compares educational achievement factors among Palestinian refugees in UNRWA and non-UNRWA settings, focusing on family support and school belonging. Qualitative interviews with UNRWA educators provide additional insights into student achievement and wellbeing. The combined findings aim to enhance the educational experiences of refugee children
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I am exploring new ways to trace the development of the transport network to then investigate how changes in accessibility are linked to socioeconomic developments.
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I plan to use Cognitive Diagnostic Modelling with large-scale data sets such as TIMSS or KS2 SATs to better understand mathematics learning progress in England.
Most academic tests result in a single grade (e.g. a B in A-level history), but Cognitive Diagnostic Modelling aims to produce a profile detailing each of the subject skills that a test taker has mastered. This information can be used to find groups with similar mastery profiles and explore possible causes for these patterns of learning. By investigating mathematics learning, I hope to identify policy and practice routes to better maths learning outcomes.