* denotes corresponding author. Papers are listed in reverse chronological order.

Published (Peer Review)#

  1. Lu, Zékai (Zachary), Zelin Liu, Nan Jiang, and Danhua Lin. 2026. ‘When Harm Does Not Simply Reverse: Asymmetric Within-Child Associations Between Child Maltreatment Allegations and Behavioral Problems.’ Child Abuse & Neglect 181:108332. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2026.108332

  2. Liu, Zelin, Zékai (Zachary) Lu, Yaqiong Wang, and Danhua Lin. 2026. ‘Predicting Positive Youth Development among Chinese Adolescents: A Machine Learning Approach Using Multiwave Longitudinal Data.’ Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being 18(5):e70211. doi:10.1111/aphw.70211

  3. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2026. ‘Bayesian Ising Model Network Analysis of Adversity Exposure, Health-Risk Behaviors, and Psychological Distress among US Transgender and Gender Diverse Adolescents.’ International Journal of Transgender Health 1–23. doi:10.1080/26895269.2026.2682505

  4. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2026. ‘The Topology of Adversities: Mapping the Space of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Social Positions, and Risk Behaviors/Health Outcomes among US Adolescents.’ Social Science & Medicine 119429. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119429

  5. Lu, Zékai (Zachary), Zelin Liu, Nan Jiang, and Danhua Lin. 2026. ‘The Social Stratification of Slumber: Disentangling the Intersectional Effects of Heterogeneous Adverse Childhood Experiences on Sleep Deprivation in US Children and Adolescents.’ Social Science & Medicine 403:119400. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119400

  6. Lu, Zékai (Zachary), Yanshu Niu, and Yuan Yao. 2026. ‘The Multilevel Meta-Analysis of the Association Between Child Maltreatment and Problematic Technology Use: Heterogeneity Across Different Subtypes and Moderating Factors.’ Developmental Review 80:101264. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2026.101264

  7. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2026. ‘Multiple Discrimination Experiences Patterns in the Asexual Adolescent and Youth Community: The Intersectionality of Outness and Gender Identity.’ Journal of Sex Research 1–17. doi:10.1080/00224499.2026.2656487

  8. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2026. ‘Disentangling the Developmental Cascades between Adolescent Maltreatment and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: From Between-person Differences to Within-person Changes.’ Journal of Research on Adolescence 36(1):e70157. doi:10.1111/jora.70157

  9. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2025. ‘Mapping Adolescent Problematic Social Media Use Patterns across 41 Countries/Regions: A Multilevel Latent Class Analysis with Social Determinants.’ Addictive Behaviors 172:108523. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2025.108523

  10. Lu, Zékai (Zachary), Zelin Liu, and Danhua Lin*. 2025. ‘The Association of Relative Deprivation, Interpersonal Relationships, and Problematic Social Media Use in 39 Countries/Regions: Does School Contextual Inequality Matter?’ Journal of Behavioral Addictions. doi:10.1556/2006.2025.00091

  11. Lu, Zékai (Zachary), and Samuelle Fortin. 2025. ‘Sociocultural Determinants of Injury Risk among Indigenous Peoples in Canada: A Population-Based Study of Heterogeneous Effects.’ Injury Prevention. doi:10.1136/ip-2025-045849

  12. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2025. ‘Adverse Childhood Experiences and Disordered Eating Behaviors Among US Children: Untangling the Developmental Sex Differences.’ International Journal of Eating Disorders. doi:10.1002/eat.24555

  13. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2025. “Book Review of Disclosing Sexual Violence in a Digital Society: Storytelling, Activism, and Justice by Tully O’Neill.” Sexualities.

  14. Lu, Zékai (Zachary). 2025. “Excessive Digital Devices Use as an Intermediate Variable between Heterogeneous Adverse Childhood Experiences and Psychopathology in US Adolescents: A Latent Class Cross-Sectional Analysis.” European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. doi:10.1007/s00787-025-02777-8

  15. Bi, Kaiwen, Gabriel J. Merrin, Tianyu Li, Xianlin Sun, Yi Chai, Zekai Lu*, and Mark Shuquan Chen*. 2025. “Navigating Unmeasured Confounding in Nonexperimental Psychological Research: A Practical Guide to Computing and Interpreting E-Value.” Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science 8(2):25152459251326571. doi:10.1177/25152459251326571

  16. Lu, Zekai. 2025. “Public Concern of Child Maltreatment in China from 2011 to 2024 and Its Socioeconomic Determinants: An Infodemiology Analysis Using Baidu Index.” Child Abuse & Neglect 163:107352. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107352

  17. Lu, Zekai*, Eran Shor, and Samuelle Fortin. 2025. “Ethnic Belonging and Chronic Disease in Indigenous Populations in Canada.” Preventive Medicine 192:108236. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2025.108236

  18. Lu, Zekai*, Ge Tang, and Samuelle Fortin. 2024. ‘Explaining Child Maltreatment and Aggression among Chinese Drug User: The Mediating and Moderating Roles of Drug Craving and Impulsivity.’ Child Abuse & Neglect 154:106954. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106954

  19. Lu, Zekai, Rongqin Yuan, Zelin Liu, and Hong Lu. 2024. ‘Exploring the Symptom Patterns of Depression and Anxiety among Teachers during COVID-19: A Latent Profile Analysis.’ Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. doi:10.1037/tra0001686

  20. Lu, Zekai, Chuyin Xie, Nian Liu, Ying Xie*, and Hong Lu*. 2022. “‘Can We Predict Aggression?’—Determining the Predictors of Aggression among Individuals with Substance Use Disorder in China Undergoing Enforced Detoxification through Machine Learning.” Journal of Affective Disorders. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.10.005

  21. Lu, Zekai, Lingxi Peng, Xuan Liu, Lizhi Zhan, Haohuai Liu, and Rong Hu*. 2022. “The Systematic Traceability and Analysis of COVID-19.” Journal of Nonlinear and Convex Analysis 23(10): 2383–93. Link

  22. Liu, Nian, Zekai Lu*, and Ying Xie. 2023. “Application of the R Package ProcessR to Implement Various Types of Intermediary Models.” China Health Statistics (Chinese, CSCD).

  23. Liu, Nian, Zekai Lu, and Ying Xie*. 2022. “Tracking Study on the Relapse and Aftercare Effect of Drug Patients Released From a Compulsory Isolated Detoxification Center.” Frontiers in Psychiatry 12:699074. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.699074

  24. Xu, Junhui, Zekai Lu, and Ying Xie*. 2021. “Loan Default Prediction of Chinese P2P Market: A Machine Learning Methodology.” Scientific Reports 11:18759. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98361-6

  25. Liu, Nian, Zekai Lu, and Ying Xie*. 2021. “Factors Affecting the Public Acceptance of Extramarital Sex in China.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18(11):5767. doi:10.3390/ijerph18115767

  26. Lu, Zekai, and Ying Xie*. 2021. “A Study of Public Opinion Texts on the ‘Sino-US Diplomatic Storm’ in Microblogs: A Word Vector Sentiment Analysis Based on R Language.” Media Watch, no. 02: 54–61. doi:10.19480/j.cnki.cmgc.2021.02.007 (Chinese, CSSCI)

  27. Lu, Zekai, Yaya Wang, and Ying Xie*. 2021. “A Random Forest-Based Approach to Poverty Alleviation Identification.” China Market 2021:22–23+36. doi:10.13939/j.cnki.zgsc.2021.25.022

Under Review#

  1. When Inequality Enters Bereavement: A Time-Varying Effect Model of Depressive Symptoms Around Spousal Loss by Gender and Race. Under external review in Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences

  2. Generational Imprinting and the Persistence of Low Fertility Ideals: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis of Ideal Number of Children in China. Under external review in Studies in Family Planning

  3. Co-Residence Reduces Depression but Not Physical Health Decline: Disentangling Causation from Selection on Health Trends in the Health and Retirement Study. Major R&R in Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences

  4. Mapping the Longitudinal Dynamics of Depressive Symptoms and Cognitive Function in Aging: Insights from Temporal Network Analysis. Under second round of external review in Aging & Mental Health (Sole Author)

  5. When Convergence Produces Divergence: Internet Use, Gendered Returns, and the Widening Gender Ideology Gap in China, 2012–2023. Major R&R in Journal of Chinese Sociology (Sole Author)

  6. Racialized Transitions in Discrimination Experiences Across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Latent Transition Analysis of Health Implications in Canada. Under external review in Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie

  7. From Social Problem to Clinical Risk: Computational Textual Evidence of How Adverse Childhood Experiences Discourse Reshapes the Child Welfare Knowledge Field. Major R&R in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse (First Author)

  8. Religious Freedom and Population Health: Cross-National Panel Evidence on Political Liberalization as the Mediating Pathway. Under external review in Journal of Religion and Health (First & Corresponding Author)

In Preparation#

  1. The Status Penalty of Overwork Culture: Satellite Evidence from China

  2. Theodicy in a Pandemic: How God Images Shape the Emotional Experience of Prayer and Subjective Wellbeing

  3. Social Inequality in Disability Recovery Among Older Americans, 1994–2022

  4. Racial Divergence in Family Formation Pathways and the Production of Midlife Health Disparities

  5. Seeing More People, Feeling More Alone: The Marital Bond, Social Reorganization, and Loneliness After Spousal Loss

  6. Praying Alone: The Decoupling of Institutional and Private Religion from Adolescence to Adulthood

  7. Faith Beyond the Congregation: Religion, Generalized Trust, and Subjective Wellbeing in Contemporary China

  8. How Well Does Combining Inverse Probability Weighting with the BCH Method Work for Causal Inference with Latent Class Exposures? A Monte Carlo Evaluation

  9. The Discordant Self: A Longitudinal Response Surface Analysis of Objective-Subjective Health Congruence and Well-being in Older Americans

  10. Religious Attendance and Multidimensional Health Among Older Americans: Bidirectional Within-Person Dynamics from a General Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis of the Health and Retirement Study, 2006–2020

  11. Do Living Arrangements Really Impact Health? Evidence From Fixed-Effects-With-Individual-Slopes Analysis of U.S. Older Adults

  12. Does Body Image Distortion Mediate the Link Between Adolescent Bullying and Depression in Early Adulthood? Evidence From a National Irish Cohort

  13. The Burden of Dual Belonging in a Settler-Colonial State: The Case of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. With my supervisor Eran Shor

  14. The Great Divergence: The Dynamic Evolution and Intersectional Formation of Sex Attitudes in Contemporary China. With my supervisor Eran Shor