Xiaoran Sun
She/Her
Assistant Professor, Family Social Science
Xiaoran Sun
She/Her
Assistant Professor, Family Social Science
As a developmental and family psychologist, I conduct research on the interplay between family systems processes and well-being across adolescence and young adulthood, situated in the larger socio-ecological context--including the cultural context and digital context. With my data science background, I am also interested in applying innovative methods and data to family and developmental research.
Areas of Interest
- Technology and families
- Adolescent mental health & well-being
- Young adulthood
- Educational achievement
- Quantitative methods
- Data science
Currently, I study how adolescents and parents use smartphones, and how their digital behaviors influence their well-being and relationships. For this research, I use high-intensity, passive sensing data collected from participants' smartphones (every 5 seconds over up to 6 months) to objectively observe and examine their digital behaviors across multiple time-scales. This project is titled the Family Screenome Project, which is being conducted in collaboration with the Stanford Human Screenome Project.
Further, I am also leading the research on applying machine learning to the analysis of large-scale, national longitudinal datasets to build predictive models based on adolescent experiences in predicting their developmental outcomes, including educational and career achievements and well-being. See a research article published on this topic.
I strongly believe in team science and interdisciplinary collaborations. Beyond my appointment at Family Social Science, I am also a core faculty member at the Learning Informatics Lab in the College of Education and Human Development, and a faculty affiliate at the Data Science Iniative in the College of Science and Engineering and at the Minnesota Population Center.
Teaching and mentoring undergraduate and graduate students are extremely important to me. I hope every student can walk out of my classroom by using the knowledge learned to be a better or happier partner, parent, caregiver, sibling, and/or friend. I see building agency and self-efficacy in students an important part of my teaching, especially for research methods classes. I believe it is important to create a supportive and inclusive classroom environment for students from diverse backgrounds to learn knowledge and skills.
Education
Ph.D., Human Development and Family Studies, the Pennsylvania State University
M.S., Human Development and Family Studies, the Pennsylvania State University
B.S., Psychology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Honors and Awards
- 2022 – 2024 Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship, University of Minnsota
- 2021 – 2022 Microsoft Azure Computing Award, Stanford Data Science
- 2020 – 2021 Scholarship, Stanford Data Science Scholars Program
- 2017 – 2018 Traineeship, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training – Big Data Social Science (BDSS-IGERT) Training Program, National Science Foundation (Grant DGE-1144860) 2015 – 2016 University Graduate Fellowship, The Pennsylvania State University
- 2014 Li & Fung Scholarship, University of Hong Kong
- 2013 Outstanding Undergraduate Scholarship (First-class), Zhejiang University
- 2012 National Academic Scholarship, Ministry of Education of P. R. China
Selected Publications
Dworkin, J., Sun, X., LeBouef, S., & Keyzers, A. (2023). Associations among parent technology use, locus of control, and child problem behaviors. Family Relations, 72(2), 443-457.
Sun, X., Haydel, K. F., Matheson, D., Desai, M., & Robinson, T. N. (2023). Are mobile phone ownership and age of acquisition associated with child adjustment? A 5-year prospective study among low-income Latinx children. Child development, 94(1), 303-314. (Media mentions: Stanford Medicine News, CTV News, Inc. Magazine, Futurity, CNN Indonesia, The Good Men Project, Gigazine [in Janpanese], Before It’s News, reason)
Sun, X., Ram, N., Reeves, B., Cho, M.-J., Fitzgerald, A., & Robinson, T. N. (2023). Connectedness and independence of young adults and parents in the digital world: Observing smartphone interactions at multiple timescales using Screenomics. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 40(4), 1126–1150. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221104268
Padilla, J., Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2022). Longitudinal links between adolescent siblings’ gender-typed characteristics and sibling relationship quality: A dyadic approach. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02919-0
Sun, X.,* Updegraff, K. A.,* McHale, S. M., Hochgraf, A. K., Gallagher, A. M., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2021). Implications of COVID-19 school closures for sibling dynamics among Latinx children in the U.S.: A prospective, daily diary study. Developmental Psychology, 57, 1708-1718.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2021). Implications of Mexican-origin youth’s work experiences for relationships with fathers. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27, 796-807.
Skinner, O. D., Sun, X., & McHale, S. M. (2021). Links between marital and parent–child relationship in African American families: A dyadic approach. Journal of Family Psychology, 35, 1086-1096.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2020). Career adaptivity mediates longitudinal links between parentadolescent relationships and young adult occupational attainment. Developmental Psychology, 56, 2309-2321.
Sun, X., Ram, N., & McHale, S. M. (2020). Adolescent family experiences predict young adult educational attainment: A data-based cross-study synthesis with machine learning. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, 2770-2785.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2020). Perceived underemployment and couple relationships among African American parents: A dyadic approach. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26, 82-92.
Skinner, O. D., Sun, X., & McHale, S. M. (2020). Longitudinal links between expressivity and African American parent-adolescent relationships: A dyadic approach. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, 442-454.
Jenkins, A. I. C., Fredman, S. J., Le, Y., Sun, X., Brick, T. R., Skinner, O. D., & McHale, S. M. (2020). Prospective associations between depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction in Black couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 34, 12-23.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2019). Sibling experiences in middle childhood predict sibling differences in college graduation. Child Development, 90, 25-34. (Media mentions: NICHD, ScienceDaily, Penn State News, The University Network, MedicalResearch, ZhiShiFenZi )
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2019). Sibling dynamics in adolescence predict young adult orientations to couple relationships: A dyadic approach. Journal of Adolescence, 77, 129-138.
Lawson, K. M., Sun, X., & McHale, S. M. (2019). Family-friendly for her, longer hours for him: Actor-partner model linking work-family environment to work-family interference. Journal of Family Psychology, 33, 444-452.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., Crouter, A. C., & Jones, D. E. (2017). Longitudinal links between work experiences and marital satisfaction in African American dual-earner couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 31 (Special Issue: Advances in Methods and Measurement in Family Psychology), 1029-1039.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2017). Maternal and paternal resources across childhood and adolescence as predictors of young adult achievement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 100, 111-123.
Selected Talks:
Sun, X. (2023, April). Machine Learning for Human Development and Family Research. Talk for the Minnesota Population Center.
Sun, X. (2022, November). Machine Learning for Human Development and Family Research: An Overview and an Example. Talk for the Machine Learning Seminar Series, Data Science Initiative, College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota.
Sun, X. (2022, February). Introduction to Machine Learning for Human Development and Family Research. Talk delivered at NICHD SBSBeat (Social and Behavioral Sciences Branch Education and Training) Seminar.
Love, B. & Sun, X. (2021, July). Big Data & Data Mining Approaches for Psychology Research. Invited talk for the UCL (University College London)-PKU (Peking University) Summer School in Experimental Design in Psychology.
Sun, X. (2020, November). Introduction to Machine Learning for Family Research: Basic Concepts, Common Algorithms, and Application Examples. Workshop delivered at the National Council on Family Relations, virtual conference. (137 registered attendees)
Conference Symposia Chaired & Discussed:
Sun, X. (2023, April). Understanding the Digital Media Context for Adolescent Development: Data From Individual and Dyadic Surveys, Social Media, and Smartphones. Symposium chaired at the Annual Meeting of Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA.
Sun, X. (2022, November). Uncovering Hidden Perspectives: Using Machine Learning to Understand Fathering, Fatherhood, and Child Care Quality. Symposium discussed at the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.
Sun, X. (2022, November). Youth Sibling Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Symposium discussed at the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.
Sun, X. (2020, November). Family Dynamics in the Digital World: Qualitative and Quantitative Analyses of Data From Interviews, Social Media, and Smartphones. Symposium chaired at the National Council on Family Relations, virtual conference.
Sun, X. (2019, November). How Families Help Youth to Flourish: The Role of Family Dynamics in Adolescent and Young Adult Positive Well-Being. Symposium chaired at the National Council on Family Relations, Fort Worth, TX.
Sun, X. (2019, March). Leveraging Machine Learning Methods for Research on Child Development in the Big Data Era. Symposium chaired at the Biennial Meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Sun, X. (2018, June). Sociocultural Contexts of the Work-Family Interface: A Call to Identify Resiliency Factors. Symposium chaired at the Biennial Meeting of Work and Family Researchers Network, Washington, D.C.
Sun, X. (2018, April). The Role of Family in Adolescent and Young Adult Romantic and Sexual Relationships: A Call for Systems Research. Symposium chaired at the Biennial Meeting of Society for Research on Adolescence, Minneapolis, MN
Selected Conference Presentations:
Sun, X., Nielsen, K., Ram, N., Reeves, B., & Robinson, T. N. (2023, April). Adolescent social media use and weight concerns: A longitudinal Screenomics study. Paper presented at Annual Conference of Society for Research on Adolescence, San Diego, CA.
Del Toro, J., Anderson, R. E., Sun, X., & Lee, R. (2023, March) Adolescents’ resilience to ethnic/racial discrimination: A within-family design reveals the protective role of parents’ ethnic/racial identities. Paper presented at Biennial Meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Salt Lake City, UT.
Sun, X., Updegraff, K. A., Cahill, K., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2022, November). Identifying key contextual factors in Latinx parents’ depressive symptoms: A machine learning approach. Paper to be presented at the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN.
Sun, X. & Wang, Y. (2021, November). Typology of research on families and technology: A systematic review. Paper presented at the TCRM conference at the National Council on Family Relations, virtual conference.
Sun, X., LeBouef, S., & Dworkin, J. (2021, November). It’s how you talk about it: Linguistic correlates of family dynamics from young adults’ interviews. Poster presented at the National Council on Family Relations, virtual conference
Sun, X., Haydel, K. F., Matheson, D., Desai, M., & Robinson, T. N. (2021, April). Prospective study of mobile phone acquisition and ownership and well-being among Latinx children. Poster presented at the 2021 SRCD Virtual Biennial Meeting.
Sun, X., Updegraff, K. A., McHale, S. M., Hochgraf, A. K., Gallagher, A. M., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2021, April). Implications of COVID-19 school closures for sibling dynamics among Latinx children: A daily diary study. Paper presented at the 2021 SRCD Virtual Biennial Meeting.
Sun, X., Reeves, B., Ram, N., Cho, M. J., Fitzgerald, A., & Robinson, T. N. (2020, November). Pulling closer or pushing away? Ambivalence in the dynamics between young adults and parents in the digital context. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations, virtual conference.
Sun, X., Robinson, T. N., Ram, N., Reeves, B., Cho, M. J., Chiatti, A., Lee, J., Roehrick, K., Yang, X., & Fitzgerald, A. (2020, July). Parent-young adult communication in the digital world: A Screenomics paradigm. Paper presented at 6th International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC2S2), virtual conference.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2019, November). Career adaptivity mediates longitudinal links between parent-adolescent relationships and young adult occupational attainment. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations, Fort Worth, TX.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2019, November). Implications of Mexican-origin youth’s work experiences for relationships with fathers. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations, Fort Worth, TX.
Sun, X., & Ram, N. (2019, March). Family experiences in adolescence predict young adult educational attainment: A machine learning approach. Paper presented at Biennial Meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MD.
Sun, X., Chi, G., Yin, J., & McHale, S. M. (2018, October). Sibling interactions and shared interests on Twitter: Analyses of a selected sibling sample based on archived Twitter data. Paper presented at SRCD Special Topics: Conference on the Use of Secondary and Open Source Data in Developmental Science, Phoenix, AZ.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2018, June). Perceived underemployment among African American spouses: Implications for couple relationships. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of Work and Family Researchers Network, Washington, D.C.
Lawson, K. M., Sun, X., & McHale, S. M. (2018, June). The associations between wives’ and husbands’ work-family environment and work-family spillover: Actor-Partner Interdependence Models. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of Work and Family Researchers Network, Washington, D.C.
Sun, X., & McHale, S. M. (2018, April). Sibling dynamics in adolescence predict young adult orientations to couple relationships: A dyadic approach. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting of Society for Research on Adolescence, Minneapolis, MN
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2018, April). Time spent on homework among Mexican American adolescents: Contextual correlates and implications for achievement. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of Society for Research on Adolescence, Minneapolis, MN
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., Crouter, A. C., & Jones, D. E. (2017, November). Longitudinal links between work experiences and marital satisfaction among African American dual-earner couples. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations. Orlando, FL.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2017, November). Early parental resources predict young adult achievement. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations. Orlando, FL.
Padilla, J. & Sun, X. (2017, November). Links between siblings’ gender-typed characteristics and sibling relationship qualities. Paper presented at the National Council on Family Relations. Orlando, FL.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., & Umaña-Taylor, A. J. (2017, May). Sleep duration predicts time spent on homework among Mexican American adolescents: A daily diary study. Paper presented at the Pennsylvania State University Mini-Conference on Multivariate/Longitudinal Methods. University Park, PA.
Sun, X., McHale, S. M., & Updegraff, K. A. (2017, April). Sibling experiences in middle childhood: Implications for sibling differences in college graduation. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting of Society for Research in Child Development, Austin, TX.
Mayfield, K., Sun, X., & McHale, S. M. (2016, October). Correlates of fathers’ and mothers’ coparenting in African American families. Poster presented at the special topics meeting, Babies, Boys, and Men of Color, Society for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.
Computational social science; Data science for family and developmental research; Intensive longitudinal smartphone data to study digital behaviors among teenagers and parents and their mental health
- AI/Machine Learning/Data Mining
- HCI
- Image/video/motion analysis
- Time Series/Spatio-Temporal Data Analysis
- Wearable sensors/Mobile Health
- Digital Health/Health Informatics/EHR
- Mental Health/Behaviorial Science
- Social media/social networks