Dan Wang

SRL Family Research Group

About SRL

Founded in August 2025, the Soil, Roots, & Leaves (SRL) Family Research Group is dedicated to promoting child and family health and well-being within various contexts. We seek to explore how families—the “roots”—shape the growth of children—the “leaves,” and how supportive environments—the “soil” — provide nutrition for strong roots and healthy leaves. We engage in interdisciplinary research that utilizes quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches and that involves researchers and practitioners. We envision a society in which every child and family thrives.

Founder & Coordinator

• Dan Wang, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Sociology | The University of Oklahoma
  • Vulnerable Families; Culture; Evaluation
  • https://www.ou.edu/cas/soc/people/faculty/dan-wang
  • Email: dan.wang@ou.edu

Members (Last Name A-Z)

• Rin Ferraro, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Sociology | Sam Houston State University
  • Child Maltreatment; Welfare System; Youth Wellbeing
  • https://www.shsu.edu/directory/employee-profiles/ferraro-amanda-acf064
  • Email: acf064@shsu.edu
• Ami Frost, ABD
  • Doctoral Candidate
  • Department of Sociology | The University of Oklahoma
  • Marriage; Gender; Parenting
  • https://www.ou.edu/cas/soc/people/students
  • Email: afrost@ou.edu
• Qingyu Jiang, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor
  • Department of Psychology and Communication | University of Idaho
  • Child Development; Mental Health; Maternal and Child Health
  • https://www.uidaho.edu/people/qjiang
  • Email: qjiang@uidaho.edu
• Erin Maher, Ph.D.
  • Professor
  • Department of Sociology | The University of Oklahoma
  • Child Maltreatment; Early Childhood; Poverty
  • https://www.ou.edu/cas/soc/people/faculty/erin-maher
  • Email: erin.maher@ou.edu
• Yuanyuan Yang, Ph.D.
  • Assistant Professor
  • Zarrow School of Social Work | The University of Oklahoma
  • Asset Building; Child Mental Health; Poverty Policy
  • https://www.ou.edu/cas/socialwork/about/faculty-and-staff/yuanyuan-yang
  • Email: yuanyuan.yang@ou.edu

• Father Involvement
• Substance Use
• Home Environment
• Child Maltreatment
• Cultural Parenting

Bold denotes SRL members; *denotes graduate students; **denotes undergraduate students

• 2026
  • Wang, Z., Wang, D., *Frost, A. M. H., & Xia, Y. (2026; in press). Paternal parenting experiences and young children’s behavior problems in Chinese families. Family Relations. 
• 2025
  • Wang, D., *Frost, A. M. H., & Jiang, Q. (2025). Family relationships mediate the association between material hardship and adolescent mental health. Journal of Family Psychology. Online First. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0001406
  • Wang, D., *Frost, A. M. H., & Wang, Z. (2025). Investigating bidirectional relationships between parenting stress and child maltreatment from early childhood to adolescence: A random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Child Abuse & Neglect. 169. 107616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107616
  • Maher, E. J., Ferraro, A. C., & Wang, D. (2025). Subgroups of risk and adversity for families investigated for child maltreatment by poverty status. Sociological Perspectives. 68(1-3), 61-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214251321447
  • Wang, D., & Frost, A. M. H. (2025). Neighborhood collective efficacy reduces child maltreatment through decreasing parenting stress: A longitudinal path model. Child Abuse & Neglect. 161. 107247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2025.107247

• 2026
  • Wang, D., Maher, E. J, Ferraro, A. C., Yang, Y., & Connelly, S. E. (2026, November 18–21). Caregiver substance use problems and associations with child maltreatment. [Symposium Paper Accepted]. In D. Wang (Chair), From Research to Policy: Promoting Child Well-Being in the Context of Maltreatment [Symposium]. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Discussant: D. Wang.
  • Maher, E. J., Wang, D., & Ferraro, A. C. (2026, November 18–21). The double neglect of chronic neglect. [Symposium Paper Accepted]. In D. Wang (Chair), From Research to Policy: Promoting Child Well-Being in the Context of Maltreatment [Symposium]. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Discussant: D. Wang
  • Yang, Y., Ferraro, A. C., Maher, E. J., Wang, D., & Jiang, Q. (2026, November 18–21). The impact of child removal on child well-being and racial/ethnic disparities. [Symposium Paper Accepted]. In D. Wang (Chair), From Research to Policy: Promoting Child Well-Being in the Context of Maltreatment [Symposium]. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Discussant: D. Wang
  • Wang, D., Yang, Y., & Maher, E. J., Jiang, Q., & *Hunt, R. G. (2026, November 18–21). Father-child closeness and young adult depression in married and unmarried families. [Symposium Paper Accepted]. In C. M. Trout, S. A. Cho, & D. Wang (Chairs), Beyond the sidelines: Reexamining fathers’ roles in contemporary family life [Symposium]. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Discussant: S. Molloy
• 2025
  • Wang, D., Wang, Z., Xia, Y., & **Banwait, S. (2025, November 19–22). Do perceived parenting and child behavior problems differ for Chinese mothers and fathers with young children? [Paper Presentation]. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
  • Wang, Z., Wang, D., *Frost, A. M. H., & Xia, Y. (2025, November 19–22). Correlates of paternal parenting stress, coparenting, and young children’s problem behaviors in Chinese families. [Poster Presentation]. National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
  • Wang, D., *Frost, A. M. H., & Wang, Z. (2025, May 1–3). Bidirectional relationships between parenting stress and child maltreatment? A cross-lagged panel model from early childhood to adolescence. [Poster Presentation] Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) Biennial Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.

Wang and Frost Publish Research on Paternal Parenting

_{May 7, 2026}

SRL Family Research Group members, Dr. Dan Wang, Ami Frost, and their collaborators recently publish research on paternal parenting in Chinese families at Family Relations.

Citation: Wang, Z., Wang, D., *Frost, A. M. H., & Xia, Y. (2026; in press). Paternal parenting experiences and young children’s behavior problems in Chinese families. Family Relations. Project Team: This study derives from a collaborative project among four researchers at the University of Oklahoma (Wang & Frost), Henan University (Wang), and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Xia). Objective:This study examines relationships between paternal parenting experiences and behavior problems in young children aged 3 to 6 years in China. Background: Although the role and impacts of fathers in parenting has been understood in Western contexts, it is less studied within the Chinese cultural context. Methods: We used a quota sampling approach and recruited participants through childcare centers, in which interested teachers shared the online survey link with parents. We analyzed data from 485 fathers in Henan province using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and multiple linear regression. Results: Chinese fathers who reported more cooperative coparenting experienced lower levels of parenting stress, less child maltreatment, and fewer behavior problems in their children than fathers with less cooperative coparenting. Moreover, higher levels of paternal parenting stress and more child maltreatment predicted more child behavior problems, even after adjusting for family characteristics. Finally, cooperative coparenting was associated with fewer child behavior problems. Conclusions: The findings provide empirical evidence of paternal contribution to child behavioral outcomes in Chinese families. Implications: The study highlights the need to reduce parenting stress and child maltreatment behaviors among fathers and to enhance cooperative coparenting between mothers and fathers to prevent child maladaptive behaviors.