Jinni Su
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Mail code: 1104Campus: Tempe
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Jinni Su is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Psychology. She is a developmental psychologist with training in human development and behavior genetics. Her research focuses on how genetic and environmental influences contribute to the development of substance use and related behavioral and emotional health outcomes in diverse populations, particularly during adolescence and young adulthood. She is passionate about increasing representation of racial/ethnic minority populations in genetic research and takes a cultural genomics approach to study the interplay between genetic predispositions and sociocultural factors in predicting substance use and related outcomes among racial/ethnic minority youth.
Su received her bachelor’s degree in Economics at Beijing Normal University, China and her master’s and doctoral degrees in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University.
- Ph.D. Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 2015
- M.S. Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 2011
- B.A. Economics, Beijing Normal University, China 2009
- Gene-Environment Interplay
- Substance Use
- Health Disparities
- Intergenerational Transmission of Risk and Resilience
- Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Department of Psychology Research Lab: Genes, Environment, and Youth Development Lab
Select representative publications:
*undergraduate coauthors, **graduate coauthors
- Su, J., Fusciello, C.*, Jamil, B.**, & Causadias, J. M. (2026). Ethnic-racial discrimination and mental health among Latinx college students: Examining the moderating role of individual, family, peer, and cultural factors. Journal of Latinx Psychology.
- Su, J., Trevino, A.**, Jamil, B.**, Elam, K. K., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Seaton, E., & Causadias, J. (2026). Ethnic discrimination moderates genetic and environmental influences on adolescent internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Behavior Genetics. 56(1), 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-025-10247-9
- Jamil, B.**, Su, J., Trevino, A.**, Elam, K., Grimm, K., Cruz, R., Lemery-Chalfant, K., & Seaton, E. (2026). Polygenic risk for major depressive disorder and adolescent depressive problem trajectories: Gene-environment interplay with family processes. Development and Psychopathology.
- Su, J., Jamil, B.**, Elam, K., Trevino, A.**, Lemery-Chalfant, K., Seaton, E., Cruz, R., & Grimm, K. (2025). Interplay between polygenic risk and family processes in predicting trajectories of adolescent externalizing behaviors. Frontiers in Psychiatry.
- Su, J., Jamil, B.**, Ghazoul, M*., Wernik, S.*, & Trevino, A.** (2024). Parental influences on substance use outcomes among college students: A latent profile analysis and racial/ethnic differences. Emerging Adulthood.
- Jamil, B.**, & Su, J. (2024). Multidimensional social support and associations between COVID-19 stress and depressive/anxiety outcomes among Hispanic/Latinx and White first-year college students. Journal of American College Health. doi: 10.1080/074448481.2023.2299413
- Trevino, A.**, Jamil, B.**, Su, J., Aliev, F., Elam, K.K., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2024). Alcohol use disorder polygenic risk scores and trajectories of early adolescent externalizing behaviors: Examining the role of parenting and family conflict in the Racially/Ethnically Diverse ABCD Sample. Behavior Genetics, 54, 101-118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-023-10155-w
- Su, J., Kuo, S. I., Aliev, F., Rabinowitz, J., Jamil, B.**, …& Dick, D. M. (2024) Polygenic risk, social support, and alcohol use among European American and African American adults. Development and Psychopathology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579423001141
- Su, J., Conroy, I.*, Trevino, A.**, Zheng, Y., & Kuo, S. I. (2023). COVID-19 related stressors, parent-child relationship, and profiles of alcohol and mental health outcomes among White and Hispanic/Latinx first-year college students. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 54, 1298-1296. doi: 10.1007/s10578-022-01337-4
- Su, J., Trevino, A.**, Jamil, B.**, & Aliev, F. (2022). Genetic risk of alcohol use disorders and childhood impulsivity: Examining the role of parenting and family conflict. Invited paper for the Special Issue of Development and Psychopathology entitled “Leveraging Genetically Informative Study Designs to Understand the Development and Familial Transmission of Psychopathology”. Development and Psychopathology, 34, 1827-1840.
- Su, J., Trevino, A.**, Kuo, S. I., Aliev, F., Williams, C. D., Guy, M. G., The Spit for Science Working Group, & Dick, D. M. (2022). Racial discrimination and alcohol problems: Examining Interactions with Genetic Risk and Impulsivity. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51, 1552-1567.
- Su, J., Kuo, S. I., Aliev, F., Chan, G., Edenberg, H. J., Kamarajan, C., McCutcheon, V. V., Meyers, J. L., Schuckit, M., Tischfield, J., & Dick, D. M. (2021). The association between polygenic risk, sensation seeking, social support and alcohol use in adulthood. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 130, 525-536. doi: 10.1037/abn0000568.
- Su, J., Seaton, E. K., Williams, C. D., The Spit for Science Working Group, & Dick, D. M. (2021). Racial discrimination, depressive symptoms, ethnic-racial identity and alcohol use among Black American college students. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 35, 523-535. doi: 10.1037/adb0000717.
- Su, J., Kuo, S. I., Derlan, C. L., Hagiwara, N., Guy, M. C., & Dick, D. M. (2020). Racial discrimination and alcohol problems among African American young adults: Examining the moderating effects of racial socialization by parents and friends. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(2), 260–270. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000294
- Ksinan, A., Su, J., Aliev, F., The Spit for Science Working Group, & Dick, D. M. (2019). Unpacking genetic risk pathways for college student alcohol consumption: The mediating role of impulsivity. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 43, 2100-2110.
- Su, J., Supple, A. J., Leerkes, E. M., & Kuo, S. I. (2019). Latent trajectories of alcohol use from early adolescence to young adulthood: Interaction effects between 5-HTTLPR and parenting quality and gender differences. Development and Psychopathology, 31, 457-469.
- Su, J., Kuo, S. I., Myers, J. M., Guy, M. & Dick, D. M. (2018). Examining interactions between genetic risk for alcohol problems, peer deviance, and interpersonal traumatic events on trajectory of alcohol use disorder symptoms among African American college students. Development and Psychopathology, 30, 1749-1761.
- Su, J., Kuo, S. I., Aliev, F., Guy, M. C., Derlan, C. L., Edenberg, H. J., … & Dick, D. M. (2018). Influence of parental alcohol dependence symptoms and parenting on adolescent risky drinking and conduct problems: A family systems perspective. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 42, 1783-1794.
- Su, J., Kuo, S. I., Bucholz, K. K., Edenberg, H. J., Kramer, J. R., Schuckit, M., & Dick, D. M. (2018). Understanding mechanisms of genetic risk for adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems: The mediating role of parenting and personality. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 21, 310-321.
- Su, J., Supple, A. J., & Kuo, S. I. (2018). The role of individual and contextual factors in differentiating substance use profiles among adolescents. Substance Use and Misuse, 53, 734-743.
- Su, J., & Supple, A. J. (2016). School substance use norms and racial composition moderate parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use. American Journal of Community Psychology, 57, 280-290.
- Su, J., & Supple, A. J. (2014). Parental, peer, school, and neighborhood influences on adolescent substance use: Direct and indirect effects and ethnic variations. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse. 13, 227-246.
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| BIO 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| NEU 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| NEU 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| PSY 498 | Pro-Seminar |
| NEU 499 | Individualized Instruction |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 792 | Research |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| PSY 499 | Individualized Instruction |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| PSY 399 | Supervised Research |
| NEU 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| NEU 493 | Honors Thesis |
| PSY 498 | Pro-Seminar |
| PSY 591 | Seminar |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 799 | Dissertation |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| NEU 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| NEU 493 | Honors Thesis |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| PSY 792 | Research |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 792 | Research |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 498 | Pro-Seminar |
| PSY 492 | Honors Directed Study |
| PSY 493 | Honors Thesis |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| PSY 599 | Thesis |
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 591 | Seminar |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| BIO 495 | Undergraduate Research |
| PSY 592 | Research |
| PSY 341 | Developmental Psychology |
| PSY 341 | Developmental Psychology |
| PSY 599 | Thesis |