Alexandra Main
Biographic Data
| ID | 757243 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alexandra Main |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alexandra |
| FAMILY NAME | Main |
| SIGNATURE | MAIN A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Merced |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2087-9054 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 64 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Self-construal and well-being in Latinx emerging adults
Emotion brokering in Latinx college students
Research on cultural brokering (i.e., interpreting cultural norms for others) indicates that some brokering practices (i.e., interpreting language) predict negative psychological adjustment. Recent research indicates that individuals also interpret emotions for others (i.e., emotion brokering). However, the associations between emotion brokering and psychological adjustment have yet to be reported. This investigation is the first to examine the a…
Predicting emotion regulation strategies from aspects of the social context in everyday life
Emotion regulation has traditionally been conceptualized as an intrapersonal phenomenon with a focus on individuals' personal experiences (e.g., feelings) and behaviors. However, a relational perspective on emotions underscores that emotion regulation occurs predominantly in the context of social interactions. Close relationships play an important role in emotion regulation in social interactions, particularly during emerging adulthood when indiv…
Navigating intercultural misunderstandings
The findings provide insight into a distinct form of cultural brokering. In addition, findings illustrate how cultural variation in emotion impacts daily social interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Parent empathy and adolescent disclosure in the context of type 1 diabetes management
Adolescent disclosure to parents is a key aspect of positive parent-adolescent relationships and youth adjustment. We leveraged a study of diverse families with an adolescent with type 1 diabetes to examine how observed parental empathy during parent-adolescent conflict discussions about diabetes management was associated with observed adolescent disclosure and adolescent self-reported disclosure to parents. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes and t…
Social environment and moment-to-moment variation in self-construal among Latinx emerging adults
Self-construal involves how one thinks of themselves in relations to others, including how much one thinks of themselves as separate from others (independent) or connected (interdependent). Researchers have typically assumed these self-perceptions are stable. However, given self-construal’s basis in the perceptions of others and the self, it is highly likely that self-construal can vary in different social environments. Thus, the goals of the pre…
Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families
Research suggests that parent–child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent–child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school‐age children ( N = 239; age = 7.5–11 yea…
Horizontal Collectivism Moderates the Relationship Between in-the-Moment Social Connections and Well-Being Among Latino/a College Students
Sleep problems and poorer well-being may be particularly salient for Latino/a college students as they tend to experience sociocultural adjustments during this transitory time. Social connections, a correlate of health, change moment-to-moment for college students and may be experienced differently for people who more strongly endorse horizontal collectivist cultural values. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine how in-the-mome…
Relational Goes Beyond Interpersonal
It is clear a relational approach to the study of empathy is gaining traction across multiple disciplines. Both commentaries on “A Relational Framework for Integrating the Study of Empathy in Children and Adults” underscored the need to expand the relational framework of empathy to incorporate the broader social and cultural context in which children and adults live. In the present reply we outline some specific ways that culture can inform the s…
The effect of emotional communication on infants' distinct prosocial behaviors
Discrete emotions convey distinct relational meanings that inform the response of a social partner, such as how to help. Although prosocial behaviors can take different forms and are observed in a variety of contexts across development, distinct forms of helping are often studied in forced‐choice settings in limited emotional contexts. This study examined the prevalence of three prosocial behaviors (instrumental helping, comforting, and indirect …
Intrusive parenting in Chinese American immigrant families
This multi-method study examined associations between observed and parent- and child-reported intrusive parenting, parent and child cultural orientations, and children's adjustment in a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American immigrant families. Participants were 239 Chinese American school-aged children ( M age = 9.19 years, range = 7.49 to 10.96 years) and their parents from first- and second-generation immigrant families. Parents …
Timing of adolescent emotional disclosures
Adolescent disclosure is a positive feature of parent-adolescent relationships, though disclosure to parents typically declines across adolescence. However, little is known about parental emotions that facilitate or inhibit real-time adolescent disclosures about their emotions and how parents respond to such disclosures during parent-adolescent interactions. The present study tested (1) whether maternal emotions were associated with the time to a…
The effect of mothers’ emotion‐related responses to adolescent disclosures and adolescent perspective taking on the timing of future disclosures
Adolescent disclosure to parents is an important feature of high‐quality parent–adolescent relationships and is associated with positive adolescent adjustment. However, no studies have examined parental emotion‐related responses (ERRs) to disclosures and adolescent dispositional characteristics that may facilitate or inhibit adolescent disclosures during real‐time conversations. The present study tested (a) which maternal ERRs to adolescent discl…
An exploratory analysis of emotion dynamics between mothers and adolescents during conflict discussions
Dynamic patterns of influence between parents and children have long been considered key to understanding family relationships. Despite this, most observational research on emotion in parent-child interactions examines global behaviors at the expense of exploring moment-to-moment fluctuations in emotions that are important for relational outcomes. Using recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) and growth curve analysis, this investigation explore…
Prosocial Tendencies among Chinese American Children in Immigrant Families
The present study examined relations between prosocial tendencies (dispositional sympathy and prosocial behavior) and psychological adjustment using a multi‐method and multi‐informant approach in a socioeconomically diverse sample of first‐ and second‐generation Chinese American children from immigrant families (N = 238, M age = 9.2 years). We tested the concurrent associations between: (a) children's dispositional sympathy (rated by parents, tea…
Chinese American immigrant parents’ emotional expression in the family
The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social af…
Effortful control and early academic achievement of Chinese American children in immigrant families
Parent–child cultural orientations and child adjustment in Chinese American immigrant families
Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships.…
Neighborhood characteristics, parenting styles, and children’s behavioral problems in Chinese American immigrant families
Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American children (n = 258, aged 6-9 years) in immigrant families, we examined the concurrent relations among neighborhood economic disadvantage and concentration of Asian residents, parenting styles, and Chinese American children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Neighborhood characteristics were measured with 2000 U.S. Census tract-level data, parents (mostly mothers) rated…
Commonalities and Differences in the Research on Children’s Effortful Control and Executive Function
Effortful control (EC) and executive function (EF) are 2 constructs related to children’s self-regulation that have historically been the subject of research in separate fields, with EC primarily the focus of temperament research and EF the focus of cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. This article selectively reviews and compares the EC and EF literature. The review indicates considerable similarities and overlaps in the definitions, …
Relations of Sars-related stressors and coping to Chinese college students' psychological adjustment during the 2003 Beijing Sars epidemic.
This study examined the main and interactive relations of stressors and coping related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) with Chinese college students' psychological adjustment (psychological symptoms, perceived general health, and life satisfaction) during the 2003 Beijing SARS epidemic. All the constructs were assessed by self-report in an anonymous survey during the final period of the outbreak. Results showed that the relations of s…
Feminism and Women Leaders in Spssi
We look at women leaders in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) as a case study to explore the roots of second wave feminist leadership in psychology and its impact on the acceptance of gender as an important part of the field. Although all psychological organizations excluded many women from leadership until the latter part of the 20th century, the SPSSI, despite the contradiction between its socially activist agenda…
Parent–child cultural orientations and child adjustment in Chinese American immigrant families
Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships.…
Neighborhood characteristics, parenting styles, and children’s behavioral problems in Chinese American immigrant families
Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American children (n = 258, aged 6-9 years) in immigrant families, we examined the concurrent relations among neighborhood economic disadvantage and concentration of Asian residents, parenting styles, and Chinese American children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Neighborhood characteristics were measured with 2000 U.S. Census tract-level data, parents (mostly mothers) rated…
Effortful control and early academic achievement of Chinese American children in immigrant families
Feminism and Women Leaders in Spssi
We look at women leaders in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) as a case study to explore the roots of second wave feminist leadership in psychology and its impact on the acceptance of gender as an important part of the field. Although all psychological organizations excluded many women from leadership until the latter part of the 20th century, the SPSSI, despite the contradiction between its socially activist agenda…
Chinese American immigrant parents’ emotional expression in the family
The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social af…
Horizontal Collectivism Moderates the Relationship Between in-the-Moment Social Connections and Well-Being Among Latino/a College Students
Sleep problems and poorer well-being may be particularly salient for Latino/a college students as they tend to experience sociocultural adjustments during this transitory time. Social connections, a correlate of health, change moment-to-moment for college students and may be experienced differently for people who more strongly endorse horizontal collectivist cultural values. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine how in-the-mome…
Predicting emotion regulation strategies from aspects of the social context in everyday life
Emotion regulation has traditionally been conceptualized as an intrapersonal phenomenon with a focus on individuals' personal experiences (e.g., feelings) and behaviors. However, a relational perspective on emotions underscores that emotion regulation occurs predominantly in the context of social interactions. Close relationships play an important role in emotion regulation in social interactions, particularly during emerging adulthood when indiv…
Navigating intercultural misunderstandings
The findings provide insight into a distinct form of cultural brokering. In addition, findings illustrate how cultural variation in emotion impacts daily social interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Parent empathy and adolescent disclosure in the context of type 1 diabetes management
Adolescent disclosure to parents is a key aspect of positive parent-adolescent relationships and youth adjustment. We leveraged a study of diverse families with an adolescent with type 1 diabetes to examine how observed parental empathy during parent-adolescent conflict discussions about diabetes management was associated with observed adolescent disclosure and adolescent self-reported disclosure to parents. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes and t…
The effect of mothers’ emotion‐related responses to adolescent disclosures and adolescent perspective taking on the timing of future disclosures
Adolescent disclosure to parents is an important feature of high‐quality parent–adolescent relationships and is associated with positive adolescent adjustment. However, no studies have examined parental emotion‐related responses (ERRs) to disclosures and adolescent dispositional characteristics that may facilitate or inhibit adolescent disclosures during real‐time conversations. The present study tested (a) which maternal ERRs to adolescent discl…
Feminism and Women Leaders in Spssi
We look at women leaders in the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) as a case study to explore the roots of second wave feminist leadership in psychology and its impact on the acceptance of gender as an important part of the field. Although all psychological organizations excluded many women from leadership until the latter part of the 20th century, the SPSSI, despite the contradiction between its socially activist agenda…
Relations of Sars-related stressors and coping to Chinese college students' psychological adjustment during the 2003 Beijing Sars epidemic.
This study examined the main and interactive relations of stressors and coping related to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) with Chinese college students' psychological adjustment (psychological symptoms, perceived general health, and life satisfaction) during the 2003 Beijing SARS epidemic. All the constructs were assessed by self-report in an anonymous survey during the final period of the outbreak. Results showed that the relations of s…
Commonalities and Differences in the Research on Children’s Effortful Control and Executive Function
Effortful control (EC) and executive function (EF) are 2 constructs related to children’s self-regulation that have historically been the subject of research in separate fields, with EC primarily the focus of temperament research and EF the focus of cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychology. This article selectively reviews and compares the EC and EF literature. The review indicates considerable similarities and overlaps in the definitions, …
Neighborhood characteristics, parenting styles, and children’s behavioral problems in Chinese American immigrant families
Using data from a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American children (n = 258, aged 6-9 years) in immigrant families, we examined the concurrent relations among neighborhood economic disadvantage and concentration of Asian residents, parenting styles, and Chinese American children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Neighborhood characteristics were measured with 2000 U.S. Census tract-level data, parents (mostly mothers) rated…
Chinese American immigrant parents’ emotional expression in the family
The present study examined 2 measures of Chinese American immigrant parents' emotional expression in the family context: self-reported emotional expressivity and observed emotional expression during a parent-child interaction task. Path analyses were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between measures of emotional expression and (a) parents' American and Chinese cultural orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social af…
Effortful control and early academic achievement of Chinese American children in immigrant families
Parent–child cultural orientations and child adjustment in Chinese American immigrant families
Direct and indirect/mediated relations of (a) children's and parents' cultural orientations and (b) parent-child gaps in cultural orientations to children's psychological adjustment were examined in a socioeconomically diverse sample of 258 Chinese American children (age = 6-9 years) from immigrant families. Parents reported on children's and their own Chinese and American orientations in language proficiency, media use, and social relationships.…
An exploratory analysis of emotion dynamics between mothers and adolescents during conflict discussions
Dynamic patterns of influence between parents and children have long been considered key to understanding family relationships. Despite this, most observational research on emotion in parent-child interactions examines global behaviors at the expense of exploring moment-to-moment fluctuations in emotions that are important for relational outcomes. Using recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) and growth curve analysis, this investigation explore…
Prosocial Tendencies among Chinese American Children in Immigrant Families
The present study examined relations between prosocial tendencies (dispositional sympathy and prosocial behavior) and psychological adjustment using a multi‐method and multi‐informant approach in a socioeconomically diverse sample of first‐ and second‐generation Chinese American children from immigrant families (N = 238, M age = 9.2 years). We tested the concurrent associations between: (a) children's dispositional sympathy (rated by parents, tea…
Timing of adolescent emotional disclosures
Adolescent disclosure is a positive feature of parent-adolescent relationships, though disclosure to parents typically declines across adolescence. However, little is known about parental emotions that facilitate or inhibit real-time adolescent disclosures about their emotions and how parents respond to such disclosures during parent-adolescent interactions. The present study tested (1) whether maternal emotions were associated with the time to a…
The effect of mothers’ emotion‐related responses to adolescent disclosures and adolescent perspective taking on the timing of future disclosures
Adolescent disclosure to parents is an important feature of high‐quality parent–adolescent relationships and is associated with positive adolescent adjustment. However, no studies have examined parental emotion‐related responses (ERRs) to disclosures and adolescent dispositional characteristics that may facilitate or inhibit adolescent disclosures during real‐time conversations. The present study tested (a) which maternal ERRs to adolescent discl…
Intrusive parenting in Chinese American immigrant families
This multi-method study examined associations between observed and parent- and child-reported intrusive parenting, parent and child cultural orientations, and children's adjustment in a socioeconomically diverse sample of Chinese American immigrant families. Participants were 239 Chinese American school-aged children ( M age = 9.19 years, range = 7.49 to 10.96 years) and their parents from first- and second-generation immigrant families. Parents …
Relational Goes Beyond Interpersonal
It is clear a relational approach to the study of empathy is gaining traction across multiple disciplines. Both commentaries on “A Relational Framework for Integrating the Study of Empathy in Children and Adults” underscored the need to expand the relational framework of empathy to incorporate the broader social and cultural context in which children and adults live. In the present reply we outline some specific ways that culture can inform the s…
The effect of emotional communication on infants' distinct prosocial behaviors
Discrete emotions convey distinct relational meanings that inform the response of a social partner, such as how to help. Although prosocial behaviors can take different forms and are observed in a variety of contexts across development, distinct forms of helping are often studied in forced‐choice settings in limited emotional contexts. This study examined the prevalence of three prosocial behaviors (instrumental helping, comforting, and indirect …
Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families
Research suggests that parent–child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent–child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school‐age children ( N = 239; age = 7.5–11 yea…
Horizontal Collectivism Moderates the Relationship Between in-the-Moment Social Connections and Well-Being Among Latino/a College Students
Sleep problems and poorer well-being may be particularly salient for Latino/a college students as they tend to experience sociocultural adjustments during this transitory time. Social connections, a correlate of health, change moment-to-moment for college students and may be experienced differently for people who more strongly endorse horizontal collectivist cultural values. We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine how in-the-mome…
Social environment and moment-to-moment variation in self-construal among Latinx emerging adults
Self-construal involves how one thinks of themselves in relations to others, including how much one thinks of themselves as separate from others (independent) or connected (interdependent). Researchers have typically assumed these self-perceptions are stable. However, given self-construal’s basis in the perceptions of others and the self, it is highly likely that self-construal can vary in different social environments. Thus, the goals of the pre…
Navigating intercultural misunderstandings
The findings provide insight into a distinct form of cultural brokering. In addition, findings illustrate how cultural variation in emotion impacts daily social interactions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)
Parent empathy and adolescent disclosure in the context of type 1 diabetes management
Adolescent disclosure to parents is a key aspect of positive parent-adolescent relationships and youth adjustment. We leveraged a study of diverse families with an adolescent with type 1 diabetes to examine how observed parental empathy during parent-adolescent conflict discussions about diabetes management was associated with observed adolescent disclosure and adolescent self-reported disclosure to parents. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes and t…
Self-construal and well-being in Latinx emerging adults
Emotion brokering in Latinx college students
Research on cultural brokering (i.e., interpreting cultural norms for others) indicates that some brokering practices (i.e., interpreting language) predict negative psychological adjustment. Recent research indicates that individuals also interpret emotions for others (i.e., emotion brokering). However, the associations between emotion brokering and psychological adjustment have yet to be reported. This investigation is the first to examine the a…
Predicting emotion regulation strategies from aspects of the social context in everyday life
Emotion regulation has traditionally been conceptualized as an intrapersonal phenomenon with a focus on individuals' personal experiences (e.g., feelings) and behaviors. However, a relational perspective on emotions underscores that emotion regulation occurs predominantly in the context of social interactions. Close relationships play an important role in emotion regulation in social interactions, particularly during emerging adulthood when indiv…
Psychology (22 works) · Social Psychology (16 works) · Developmental psychology (15 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (14 works) · Social Psychology (14 works) · Early Childhood Education and Development (8 works) · Immigration (7 works) · Chinese americans (5 works) · Clinical Psychology (5 works) · Clinical Psychology (4 works)