Sunghyun Hong

PhD Student. Social Work/Psychology - Developmental Candidate

My research examines (1) how sociocultural contexts and relational processes shape behavioral and neural mechanisms, (2) how these mechanisms influence risk and resilience in behavioral and mental health among adolescents and young adults disproportionately affected by systemic inequality, and (3) how these findings can empirically inform social work frameworks to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of behavioral and mental health care.

Research Interests

Developmental shaping of resilience, neuroscience of resilience, biology x environment transactions, risk and protective factors, cultural variability, life-course perspective, strength-based framework, trauma-informed practices and system

Dissertation Title

pending winter 2027

Contact Information

Education

  • 2019 MSW Social Work
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • 2015 BS Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Activities

Publications

Routte, I., Hong, S. H., & Ribeiro Brown, B. (in press). Critical subjectivity in qualitative social work research in the age of artificial intelligence. Social Service Review, 100(4), 000-000.
Eldeeb, N., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Zhao, L., Hong, S., Chang, O. D., & Herrenkohl, T. I. (2026). Squaring the circle: Is triangulation of child abuse reports helpful? Child Abuse & Neglect, 175, 107852.
Hong, S., F. Cross, F. A. Hardi, D. Benson, C. R. Quinn, & D. C. Watkins. (2026). Maternal ethnic-racial enculturation: Implications for social skill development in early childhood. Infant and Child Development, 35(4), e70123.
Hong, S., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Kim, M., Saba, S., Bender, A., Yu, C. L., Fedina, L., & Herrenkohl, T. (2026). When empathy helps and hurts: Non-Linear associations between early childhood maltreatment history, empathy and self-harm thoughts. Child Maltreatment, 0(0).
Hong, S., Ribaudo, J. M., Safyer, P., Routte, I. E., & Watkins, D. C. (2025). Advancing psychodynamic-based clinical social work practice to address structural trauma: Integrating neuroscience and attachment theory. Social Work, 70(2), 121-130.
Wu, C., Hong, S., Cross, F., Sypher, I., McLoyd, V. C., Huntley, E., Hyde, L. W., Mitchell, C. & Monk, C. S. (2024). Increasing diversity in neuroimaging research: Participant-driven recommendations from a qualitative study of an under-represented sample. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 70, 101474.
Hong, S., Hardi, F., Tillem, S., Goetschius, L. G., McLoyd, V. C., Brooks-Gunn, J., Lopez-Duran, N. L., Mitchell, C., Hyde, L. W. & Monk, C. S. (2024). Mother-child closeness and adolescent structural neural networks: A prospective longitudinal study of low-income families. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, nsae083.
Hong, S. H., Yu, C.-L., Rousson, A. N., Bender, A. E., Fedina, L., & Herrenkohl, T. I. (2024). Examining the association between trauma characteristics and adult depression and anxiety: Analysis of types, variety, repetition, and timing of past trauma. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 39(3-4), 569-586.
Hong, S. (2024). Trauma-informed cultural humility mental health practice: Centering history among African American Women. Social Work, 69(1), 64-72.
Saba, S. K., Godwin, J., Hong, S., Pan, T., Chang, Y., Brindle, E., & Herrenkohl, T. (2023). Associations between childhood maltreatment and physiological dysregulation in adulthood: Methodological decisions and implications. Child Abuse and Neglect, 144, 106369.

Honors and Awards

Year Description
2027 - Winter Rackham One-term dissertation fellowship
2026 Mary Malcomson Raphael Scholarship, Center for the Education of Women, University of Michigan
2026 Student Travel Award, Flux Congress, The Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
2025 - Winter Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Fellowship
2025 - Winter Rackham Merit Fellowship
2025 - Fall Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Endowed Scholarship
2025 Data and AI Intensive Research with Rigor and Reproducibility Program Scholarship Recipient
2024 - Winter Department of Psychology NICHD T32 Training Grant
2024 - Sp/Su Department of Psychology NICHD T32 Training Grant
2024 - Sp/Su Bobbe & Jon Bridge Award for Engaged Scholarship
2024 - Fall Henry J Meyer Scholarship Award
2024 - Fall Rackham Merit Fellowship
2023 - Winter School of Social Work Joint Doctoral Program Grant
2023 - Winter Department of Psychology NICHD T32 Training Grant
2023 - Sp/Su Department of Psychology NICHD T32 Training Grant
2023 - Fall Department of Psychology NICHD T32 Training Grant
2022 - Fall Department of Psychology NICHD T32 Training Grant
2021 - Winter John and Penny Tropman Conference Travel Grant
2021 - Winter John F. Longres Award in Psychology or Sociology
2021 - Sp/Su ISR-Rackham Summer Training Award
2021 - Fall W.K. Kellogg Family Endowed Fellowship
2020 - Winter Rackham Merit Fellowship
2019 - Fall Rackham Merit Fellowship

Presentations

Year Description
2026 Hong, S., Zhang, L., Tung, R., Tillem, S., Hardi, F., Michaud, S., Huntley, E., Mitchell, C., Hyde, L., Monk, C.(2026). Characterizing Network Patterns of Structural–Functional Coupling in the Adolescent Brain, Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Bordeaux, France.
2026 Hong, S., Tung, R., Zhang, L., Tillem, S., Huntley, E., Mitchell, C., Hyde, L., Monk, C. (2026). PM2.5,Triple-Network Structural–Functional Coupling and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence. Posterpresentation for the Flux Congress, La Jolla, CA.
2025 Hong, S., Michael, C., Watkins, D.C., Rivas-Drake, D., McLoyd, V. C., Zhang, Y., Tillem, S., Mitchell, C., Hyde, L.W. & Monk, C.S. (2025). Delineating Neural Pathways to Positive Youth Development: Ethnic-Racial Identity, Self-regulation Capacity, and Functional Brain Architecture. Poster presentation at The Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN
2025 Hong, S., White, L. & Routte, I. (2025). Living in Silos: Social Work Research as a Bridge between Science and Social Change. Roundtable at the Society for Social Work and Research, Seattle, WA
2024 Hong, S., Michael, C., Hardi, F., Tillem, S., Brooks-Gunn, J., McLoyd, V. C., Mitchell, C., Hyde, L. W. & Monk, C. S. (2024) Interpersonal Support, Functional Brain Architecture, and Internalizing Symptoms during Adolescence. Poster presentation at the Organization for Human Brain Mapping, Seoul, South Korea.

Courses

Past Courses

Title Instructor Term Course Section Meeting Start Meeting End
Contexts of Life-course Development: Childhood, Adolescence, and Early Adulthood Hong, Sunghyun Fall 2025 002 02:00 pm 05:00 pm View Course
Contexts of Life-course Development: Childhood, Adolescence, and Early Adulthood Hong, Sunghyun Fall 2024 002 02:00 pm 05:00 pm View Course