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Xiang Zhao

Title: Postdoctoral Researcher School/office: School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences

Email: xiang.zhao@oru.se

Phone: +46 19 301475

Room: L2627

Research subject

Psychology

Research environments

Center for Health and Medical Psychology (CHAMP)

About Xiang Zhao

Dr. Zhao is currently working at Örebro University as a Postdoctoral Researcher. With experts in the area of chronic pain, he is establishing predictive models using Swedish national registry data. Dr. Zhao started his research career with studies on tobacco use among Chinese adolescents. During his doctoral project in Australia and postdoctoral research in Austria, he has applied theories and methods from social and family psychology in health research.

Key interests: substance use; behavioural medicine; health research methodology; psychosomatic medicine; adolescent health; dyadic modelling

In the past 10 years, Dr. Zhao’s research focused on health and safety behaviours. Based on psychological models, his studies explain and predict behaviours such as tobacco and alcohol use, sun-safe protection, face mask use and vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic, and tattoo acquisition. He also extended the above theoretical paradigms by using interviews, ethnographies, and multi-informant perspectives, which provide an ecological lens for understanding contextualised health behaviours.

Dr. Zhao has involved in development and evaluation of several behavioural change interventions. His doctoral project is to design and implement a school-based anti-smoking program in China. He worked with researchers and governmental officials in Queensland, Australia, on developing an online drink-driving prevention program. In Austria, he provided statistical assistance to a cross-national project on child mental health problems in Eastern Europe.

So far, Dr. Zhao has over 40 articles published in refereed journals. He has completed over 100 reviews for academic journals. He serves as an Editorial Board Member of the Asian Journal of Social Psychology since September 2022. In addition to academic articles, Dr. Zhao also has published pieces about mental health promotion in popular magazines as well as two Chinese books for a general readership.

Dr. Zhao has teaching and supervision experience in Chinese, Australian, and European universities. The courses/seminars he has taught include quantitative research methods, behavioural intervention designs, and visual studies in health research. He lectured a health psychology course at the University of Klagenfurt in 2020. He has supervised students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Research teams
Publications

Research teams

Emotion and behavior

Publications

Articles in journals | Chapters in books |

Articles in journals

Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2022). Beliefs about smoking cigarettes among adolescents in Yunnan Province, China. Journal of Substance Use.
Knobel, P. , Zhao, X. & White, K. M. (2022). Do conspiracy theory and mistrust undermine people's intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Austria?. Journal of community psychology (Print), 50 (3), 1269-1281.
Davey, G. , Waldstein, A. & Zhao, X. (2022). God forbid! Rethinking substance use, religion, and spirituality. Addiction Research and Theory, 30 (5), 311-313.
Zhao, X. , Arnison, T. & Knobel, P. (2022). Protective health behaviors and fear of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: a public opinion perspective. Psychology, Health & Medicine.
Knobel, P. , Zhao, X. , Müller, J. K. & Grigoleit, L. (2022). Sun-safe behavior and perceptions during winter sports: an Austrian study based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 1-8.
Zhao, X. , Prandstetter, K. & Foran, H. M. (2022). Using Dyadic Modeling in Nursing Research: Introduction of Theory and Application. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 44 (8), 788-798.
Zhao, X. (2021). Experiencing the Pandemic: Narrative Reflection about Two Coronavirus Outbreaks. Health Communication, 36 (14), 1852-1855.
Zhao, X. & Knobel, P. (2021). Face mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic: comparing perceptions in China and three European countries. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 11 (6), 1199-1204.
Zhao, X. , Prandstetter, K. , Jansen, E. , Hahlweg, K. , Schulz, W. & Foran, H. M. (2021). Interparental Relationship Adjustment, Parenting, and Offspring's Cigarette Smoking at the 10-Year Follow-up. Family Process, 60 (2), 523-537.
Johnson, D. , Zhao, X. , White, K. & Wickramasinghe, V. (2021). Need satisfaction, passion, empathy and helping behaviour in videogame play. Computers in human behavior, 122.
Zhao, X. , Obst, P. L. , White, K. M. , O’Connor, E. L. & Longman, H. (2021). Network analysis among World of Warcraft players’ social support variables: A two-way approach. Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, 13 (3), 249-264.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2021). Smoking and the City: A Travelogue in Yuxi. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 22 (1), 58-80.
Zhao, X. , Davey, G. & Wan, X. (2021). Synergistic relationships between tobacco smoking, tattooing, religiosity, and spirituality among Chinese Buddhist adolescents. Addiction Research and Theory, 30 (4), 246-252.
Zhao, X. & Davey, G. (2020). Areca Nut Use among a Chinese Ethnic Minority, and Its Health Implications. Substance Use & Misuse, 55 (9), 1519-1524.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2020). ‘Feeding a cat that isn’t yours? Think again!’: an intervention protocol for reducing the feeding of free-roaming cats by residents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pacific Conservation Biology, 26 (4), 420-426.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2020). Free-Roaming Cat (Felis Catus) Management and Welfare Policies in Two University Campuses in Beirut, Lebanon: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 23 (1), 41-53.
Davey, G. , Zhao, X. & Khor, M. (2020). Heterogeneity in beliefs about feeding stray animals: The complexity of human–animal interaction. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 25 (1), 100-103.
Zhao, X. , Kelly, A. , Rowland, B. , Williams, J. , Kremer, P. , Mohebbi, M. , Carter, R. , Abraham, C. & et al. (2020). Intention to drink and alcohol use before 18 years among Australian adolescents: An extended Theory of Planned Behavior. Addictive Behaviours, 111.
Zhao, X. , Dichtl, F. F. & Foran, H. M. (2020). Predicting smoking behavior: intention and future self-continuity among Austrians. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 27 (5), 1042-1051.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2020). Turning points to becoming a tobacco smoker: Smoking initiation and identity change among Chinese youth. Symbolic interaction, 43 (2), 308-331.
Zhao, X. , White, K. & Young, R. (2019). A TPB-Based Smoking Intervention among Chinese High School Students. Substance Use & Misuse, 54 (3), 459-472.
Zhao, X. , Young, R. & White, K. (2019). Challenges for school-based, anti-smoking education in China. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 3 (1), 6-7.
White, K. , Zhao, X. , Starfelt Sutton, L. , Young, R. , Hamilton, K. , Hawkes, A. & Leske, S. (2019). Effectiveness of a theory-based sun-safe randomised behavioural change trial among Australian adolescents. Psycho-Oncology, 28 (3), 505-510.
Zhao, X. , White, K. & Young, R. (2019). Future Smoking Intentions at Critical Ages among Students in Two Chinese High Schools. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 26 (1), 91-97.
Davey, G. , Khor, M. & Zhao, X. (2019). Key beliefs underlying public feeding of free-roaming cats in Malaysia and management suggestions. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 24 (1), 1-13.
Zhao, X. , Davey, G. & Wan, X. (2019). Mindfulness, smoking intention, and nicotine dependence among Buddhist ethnic minority adolescents in China. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 28 (3), 210-220.
White, K. , Zhao, X. , Sutton, L. , Robinson, N. & Hamilton, K. (2019). Sun protection and young female beachgoers: A formative theory-based approach to identifying key sun safe beliefs. Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 30 (2), 263-266.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2019). Tattoos, modernisation, and the nation-state: Dai Lue bodies as parchments for symbolic narratives of the self and Chinese society. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 20 (2), 165-183.
Obst, P. , Zhao, X. , White, K. , O'Connor, E. & Longman, H. (2018). Game Identity-Based Motivations of Playing World of Warcraft and Their Psychological Outcomes. CyberPsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 21 (10), 655-660.
Zhao, X. , Young, R. & White, K. (2018). 'I'm not a smoker…yet': A qualitative study on perceptions of tobacco control in Chinese high schools. BMJ Open, 8 (4).
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2018). Lay Understandings of Health among Dai Lue in Xishuangbanna, China. Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 19 (2), 154-169.
Zhao, X. , White, K. , Young, R. & Obst, P. (2018). Smoking Beliefs Among Chinese Secondary School Students: A Theory-Based Qualitative Study. Nicotine & tobacco research, 20 (3), 321-331.
White, K. , Zhao, X. , Hyde, M. & Hamilton, K. (2018). Surviving the swim: Psychosocial influences on pool owners’ safety compliance and child supervision behaviours. Safety Science, 106, 176-183.
Khor, M. , Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2018). Why Do People Feed Free-roaming Cats? The Role of Anticipated Regret in an Extended Theory of Planned Behavior in Malaysia. Anthrozoos, 31 (1), 101-116.
Zhao, X. & Davey, G. (2017). Limited awareness of animal influenza prevention and control among Dai Lue smallholder farmers in Southwest China. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 49 (7), 1369-1375.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2015). An overview of therapy in China. Therapy Today, 26 (7), 12-15.
Zhao, X. & Davey, G. (2015). Contesting modernity: Tobacco use and romanticism among older Dai farmers in Xishuangbanna, China. Sociology of Health and Illness, 37 (8), 1173-1190.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2012). ‘A real man smells of tobacco smoke’ — Chinese youth's interpretation of smoking imagery in film. Social Science and Medicine, 74 (10), 1552-1559.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2012). Counselling in China. Therapy Today, 23 (9), 12-17.

Chapters in books

Zhao, X. & Davey, G. (2017). 傣乡草烟风俗考察漫记. In: Xishuangbanna Committee of Cultural and Historical Data, 共饮一江水 (pp. 175-178). 北京: 中国文化出版社.
Davey, G. & Zhao, X. (2013). China Association of Women Entrepreneurs. In: Mary Zeiss Stange; Carol K. Oyster; Jane E. Sloan, The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World (pp. 360-362). . Sage Publications.