Personal profile
Personal profile
Lixin Ren is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the Academy of Future Education, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in Psychology, specializing in developmental psychology, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Ren’s research centers on how various familial and extra-familial factors impact young children’s development within the Chinese context. She has led projects investigating Chinese parents’ evolving child-rearing beliefs and practices, co-parenting dynamics, young children’s engagement in organized extracurricular activities, and emotion-focused parenting interventions. Her involvement in various cross-cultural child-rearing projects has broadened her perspective, allowing her to explore the universal and culturally specific aspects of child development.
Research interests
Parenting, grandparenting, and co-parenting
Child involvement in extracurricular activities
Social-emotional learning
Cross-cultural psychology
Experience
Associate Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 2023-present
Associate Professor, East China Normal University, 2017-2023
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015-2016
Teaching
EDS416: Understanding Families in Educational and Community Settings
Courses taught at East China Normal University (2017-2022): Developmental Psychology (发展心理学); Methodologies and Methods in Educational Research (教育研究方法); Introduction to Psychology (教育的心理学基础); The Reggio Emilia Approach to Early Childhood Education: Theory and Practice (瑞吉欧教育理念：理论与实践); Role of Family and Community in Early Childhood (学前教育中的家庭和社区研究); Academic Writing for Doctoral Students(科研论文写作); Frontiers in Early Childhood Education Research (学前教育研究前沿)
Awards and honours
Changning Young Innovation Talent. Shanghai Changning District. 2020
Tin Ka Ping Visiting Fellowship Scheme Award (Inviting University: The University of Hong Kong). Tin Ka Ping Foundation. 2018
2018 Forbes 30 under 30 China. 2018
Dean’s Fellowship. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 2013-2014
American Educational Research Association (AERA) Summer Statistics Institute Fellow. 2012
Chancellor’s Fellowship. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 2010-2011
Education/Academic qualification
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2015
M.A., Developmental Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2012
B.S., Applied Psychology, Fuzhou University, 2010
Research areas
- Child Development
- Early Childhood Education
- Parenting
Person Types
- Staff
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
-
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 4 Quality Education -
SDG 5 Gender Equality -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Research on Impacts and Countermeasures of Intensive Parenting on Children's Development and Family Functioning
Ren, L. (PI), Zhang, C. (Team member), Shen, Y. (Team member), Fan, J. (Team member), Hong, P. (Team member), Li, Y. (Team member), Liu, S. (Team member), Liu, L. (Team member) & Li, X. (Team member)
20/09/25 → 20/09/28
Project: Governmental Research Project
-
Research on Impacts and Countermeasures of Intensive Parenting on Children's Development and Family Functioning
Ren, L. (PI), Li, X. (Team member), Zhang, C. (Team member), Shen, Y. (Team member), Fan, J. (Team member), Hong, P. (Team member), Li, Y. (Team member), Liu, S. (Team member) & Liu, L. (Team member)
12/09/25 → 20/09/28
Project: Governmental Research Project
-
International Comparative Study on Socialization Education in Primary and Secondary Schools and Database Construction
Zhao, Y. (PI), Yu, J. J. (Team member), Yan, R. (Team member), Lu, J. (Team member), Qin, J. (Team member), Jin, L. (Team member), Shcheglova, I. (Team member), Mao, Z. (Team member), Ren, L. (Team member), Day, M. (Team member), Wu, M. (Team member), Zhou, Q. (Team member) & Wang, Y. (Team member)
1/05/24 → 17/06/26
Project: Collaborative Research Project
-
The Quality of Chinese Home Learning Environment on Children’s Early Development
Qin, J. (PI), Ren, L. (CoPI), Jin, L. (CoPI) & Wang, T. (CoPI)
1/04/24 → 31/03/27
Project: Internal Research Project
-
A theoretical and empirical study of using drama-in-education to promote young children's social and emotional development
Xu, S. (PI), Lu, J. (Team member), Ren, L. (Team member), Jin, L. (Team member), Wu, A. (Team member) & Tateo, L. (Team member)
1/07/23 → 1/07/26
Project: Governmental Research Project
-
Co-Parenting and Parental Involvement in Chinese Families: Parenting Competence as a Mediator
Zheng, J. & Ren, L., Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Family Issues.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Does gender education improve gender equality awareness and empathy? A mixed-methods case study from a Chinese university
Shen, Y., Ya, X. & Ren, L., Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Innovations in Education and Teaching International.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Intensive Mothering Attitudes and Associations With Maternal Involvement Across Social Classes in Urban China
Li, Y., Ren, L. & Dai, W., Feb 2026, In: International Journal of Psychology. 61, 1, e70139.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Parental Technoference (Technology Interference) and Children's Social-Emotional Development: Coparenting as a Mediator
Shen, L., Zheng, J. & Ren, L., 13 Feb 2026, In: Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP. 47, 1, p. e7-e12Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Validation of the Parental Assistance with Child Emotion Regulation (PACER) Questionnaire Among Chinese Families of Preschoolers
Ren, L., Liu, S., Hu, B. Y. & Zhang, G., Feb 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Genetic Psychology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Children's learning and its documentation in the Reggio Emilia approach (瑞吉欧视野下的儿童学习与记录)
Ren, L. (Speaker)
5 Dec 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
-
How to evaluate the quality of preschool-family-community partnership (如何评价幼儿园家园社区协同工作的质量)
Ren, L. (Speaker)
2 Dec 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
-
Grandparents, Parents and Children: Deconstructing the Complex Relationships and Parenting Patterns in Contemporary Chinese Families with Preschool-aged Children (祖辈、父母与孩子：解构当代学前儿童家庭的复杂关系与教养模式)
Ren, L. (Speaker)
28 Nov 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
-
Intensive parenting attitudes of urban Chinese mothers and their association with parental involvement: A comparison of middle-class and working-class families (中国城市母亲的密集育儿态度及其与育儿参与的关联：中产阶层和工薪阶层的对比)
Li, Y. (Speaker) & Ren, L. (Speaker)
1 Nov 2025 → 2 Nov 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Presentation at conference/workshop/seminar
-
Scientific parenting: Essential support from early development to adolescence (科学养育：从早期发展到青春期的关键陪伴)
Ren, L. (Speaker)
30 Oct 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk