Areas of expertise/research interests

• child maltreatment
• parent-child relationships
• intergenerational transmission of trauma
• revictimization
• PTSD

Current research and projects

In collaboration with Anne DePrince, I am conducting a longitudinal research project testing two prevention programs with female teens in the child welfare system. One prevention program utilizes social learning theory to teach teens about power in relationships, social influences on violence and healthy communication skills.

The other prevention group utilizes an executive functioning/risk detection approach to teach teens to recognize and respond to internal and external signals about safety.

Both programs are designed to increase healthy dating skills and interpersonal relationships, which in turn is expected to decrease revictimization risk.

Professional biography

My research generally examines the trajectory of traumatic experiences, whether through a lifespan perspective of how childhood traumatic events lead to a range of outcomes later in life or through an intergenerational transmission frame of trauma and its effects.

Some specific themes within my broad research interests include: 1) how parenting practices might buffer or interfere with children's functioning; 2) specific mechanisms, such as emotion regulation, that might elucidate more clearly how trauma may lead to various outcomes; and 3) the correlates of risk for revictimization after experiencing childhood abuse.

In my examination of these topics, I utilize multiple methodologies, such as clinical interviews, behavioral tasks, self-report questionnaires, physiological indices and observational coding. I conduct my research with individuals from diverse backgrounds and of all ages—young children up through adults.

Education

• PhD, University of Denver

Publications

• Chu, A., Pineda, A. S., DePrince, A. P., & Freyd, J. J. (2011). "Child abuse: Vulnerability and protective factors." In M. Koss, A. Kazdin, & J. White (Ed.), Violence Against Women and Children, Vol 1: Mapping the terrain (pp. 55-75). Washington, D.C.:American Psychological Association.
• DePrince, A. P., Chu, A. T., Pineda, A. S. (2011). "Links between specific post-trauma appraisals and three forms of trauma-related distress." Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 1-12.
• Lieberman, A. F., Chu, A. T., Van Horn, P., & Harris, W. W. (2011). "Trauma in early childhood: Empirical evidence and clinical implications." Development and Psychopathology, 397-410.
• Chu, A. & Lieberman, A. F. (2010). "Clinical implications of traumatic stress from birth to age five." Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 469-494.
• DePrince, A.P., Zurbriggen, E., Chu, A., & Smart, L. (2010). "Development of the trauma appraisal questionnaire (TAQ)." Journal of Trauma, Aggression, and Maltreatment, 19, 275-299.
• Mauss, I. B., Butler, E. A., & Chu, A. (2010). "Cultural background, emotion control values, and emotional responding." Cognition and Emotion, 24, 1026-1043.