Yuane “Joy” Jia

Pamela Rothpletz-Pulia, Ed.D., RDN, Professor
Email: rothplpm@shp.rutgers.edu

Scott Parrot, Ph.D., Professor
Email: parrotja@shp.rutgers.edu

Margaret Schenkman, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Professor
Email: Margaret.schenkman@cuanschutz.edu

Dr. Hester O’Connor, Clinical Psychologist
Research Department, Kanha Shanti Vanam Ashram
Telengana, Hyderabad
Email: hester.oonnor@volunteer.heartfulness.org

Grant Funding 

Title: Exploring Oral Health Experiences for People with SMI and Developing Stakeholder-Informed Guidelines and Training

Sponsor Agency: National Institute of Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)

Brief Overview of Aims:

The study seeks to explore oral health quality of life predictors and oral health care experiences of people diagnosed with serious mental health conditions (SMHC; e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and general anxiety disorder) about their oral health care experiences. The research will generate recommendations for creating positive oral healthcare experiences for people living with SMHC.

Total Dollar Amount: $600,000

Role: Co-Investigator

Funding Period: Sep.2023- Sep.2026

Title: Validation in Diverse Populations of the Awareness Atlas – A New Measure of the Manifestation of Consciousness

Sponsor Agency: N/A

Brief Overview of Aims:

The long-term objective of this work is to investigate the impact of meditation on self-consciousness and further, to examine relationships among consciousness, self-awareness, stress and well-being. Our immediate goal to make the Awareness Atlas scale accessible to all cultures and a diverse range of populations, which requires further validation. The specific aims of this investigation are:

1. To examine the criterion validity of the scale by examining correlations between the newly developed scale and established measurements that are considered valid in measuring consciousness and related to impact of meditation.
2. To further validate the scale in a diverse population across culture/country origin, age, race/ethnicity, gender. This will be accomplished by measurement invariance analyses with a large sample across continents.

Total Dollar Amount:  0

Role:  Principal Investigator

Funding Period: N/A

Professional Achievements

2024-2025

Rutgers University Equity and Inclusion Faculty Diversity and Collaborative Mutual Mentoring Team Grant Award for The Affinity Network.

2023-2024

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) OASIS Leadership & Professional Development program

Selected Publications

1. Jia Y., Schenkman M., O Connor H., Jayanna K., Pearmain R., van’t Westeinde A., Patel K. (2024). Validation of the Awareness Atlas – A new Measure of the Manifestation of Consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1283980
2. Song, X. & Jia, Y. (2023). Using Latent Growth Mixture Modeling to Detect Group Developmental Differences in Preclinical Medical Education. Advances in Health Sciences Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-023-10279-y
3. Jia, Y., Gesing, P., Jun HJ., Burbage, A., Hoang, T., Kulo, V., Cestone, C., McBrien, S., Tornwall, J. (2022). Exploring the impacts of learning modality changes: Validation of the Learning Modality Change Community of Inquiry and Self-Efficacy scales. Education and Information Technologies. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-022-11258-3
4. Jia Y., Spagnolo A., Barrett N., Murphy A., Basto P. M., & Rothpletz-Puglia P. & Luther S. (Accepted). Validation of a Peer Observation and Evaluation Tool for Teaching. Educational Technology Research and Development.
5. Jia Y., Eissenstat S., & Gao, N. (Accepted); Educational Expectations Matter in College Application and STEM Major Choices for Students with and without Disabilities. Journal of Disability Policy Studies.
6. Zechner M. R., Jia Y., Hill N., Kasper A., York J., Singhal V. Rothpletz-Puglia P. (Accepted Nov 2024). A Co-produced Mixed Methods Protocol: Exploring Perceptions of Oral Health Care & Quality of Life in People Living with Mental Health Conditions. PLOS
7. Wei, S., Liu, X., & Jia, Y. (2014). Using Rasch measurement to validate the instrument of students’ understanding of models in science (SUMS). International Journal of Science & Mathematics Education, 12:1067-1082. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-013-9459-z
8. Jia, Y., Konold, T. R., Cornell, D. & Huang, F. (2016). The impact of validity screening on associations between self-reports of bullying victimization and student outcomes. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 78: 80-102. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316441667176
9. Jia, Y., Konold, T. R., & Cornell, D. (2016). Authoritative school climate and high school dropout rates. School Psychology Quarterly, 31: 289-303. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000139
10. Cornell, D., Maeng, J. L., Burnette, A. G., Jia, Y., Huang, F., Konold, T., . . . Meyer, P. (2017). Student threat assessment as a standard school safety practice: Results from a statewide implementation study. School Psychology Quarterly, 33: 213-222. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spq0000220
11. Konold, T. R., Cornell, D., Jia, Y., & Malone, M. (2018). School climate, student engagement, and academic achievement: A latent variable, multilevel multi-informant examination. AERA open,4(4): 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858418815661

Anyone interested in studying meditation and/or spirituality and their impact on individual’s personal development and well-being, or anyone interested in the applications of advanced statistical models in addressing health problems, feel free to contact me at joy.y.jia@rutgers.edu.