From Philosophy to Practice: Understanding the Development of Psychopathology in Context with Manchen Wang

Hi everyone! My name is Manchen Wang, and I am a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy.

Since early adolescence, I have been captivated by the long-standing nature-versus-nurture question, whether human morality is rooted in nature or shaped by experience. I always felt certain that people were born inherently good. However, as I grew older and became more aware of psychological struggles, moral conflict, and wrongdoing, that belief began to feel more complicated. I found myself wondering how individuals who begin with the same potential can develop such different psychological and moral trajectories. This question ultimately sparked my interest in developmental psychopathology and in how environmental factors shape both risk and resilience across development. I am especially interested in the bidirectional relationship between individuals and their environments, including how adverse conditions can contribute to the onset of psychological disorders, and how supportive contexts can instead function as protective factors and support intervention.

My path toward these academic inquiries took shape through research experiences. I work under the mentorship of Dr. Hallquist at the Developmental Personality and Neuroscience Lab (DEPENd Lab), where I contributed to projects examining how social and emotional cues influence goal-directed learning and decision-making in adolescents and young adults with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Through this work, I came to recognize the complexity of data analysis through tasks like artifact detection and quality checks for MRI scans. The experience also motivated a cross-cultural literature review on BPD, examining how symptoms are expressed, diagnosed, and treated across cultural contexts and how clinical approaches may need adaptation. Across the literature, several developmental risk factors consistently emerged, particularly childhood trauma, insecure attachment, emotion dysregulation, and elevated suicidality, reinforcing my interest in how early environments shape the development of psychopathology.

To complement this clinical and learning-based perspective, I joined Dr. Keely Muscatell’s Social Neuroscience and Health Lab (SNHLab). There, I contribute to a study investigating the bidirectional relationship between social stress and physiological processes, particularly inflammation and neural reactivity. Observing how experiences such as social evaluation produce measurable immune and neural responses expanded my perspective beyond behavior and cognition. It highlighted that social environments not only influence thoughts and emotions but can shape biological stress systems in real time. Together, these experiences led me to view development as a multilevel process in which interpersonal experiences, learning mechanisms, and biological responses interact to influence vulnerability and resilience.

In addition, as a Gil Intern, I had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Mina Ratkalkar and Dr. Maggie Carraway at New Spark Therapy and Dr. Sophia Walder-Hoge at Walder Psychology. Their mentorship has been extremely influential in deepening my understanding of how psychological science translates into real-world clinical practice, especially when working with complex presentations involving relational difficulties, ADHD, and developmental concerns. I have worked on record reviews for forensic and clinical reports, conducted targeted literature reviews, and am currently helping to create a brief 16-item ADHD assessment form for clinical use. What I have found especially meaningful is how my role involves turning specialized clinical knowledge into more accessible information for clients and caregivers. These experiences have given me a more concrete understanding of how assessment, intervention planning, and real-world constraints shape what care actually looks like in practice.

I’m deeply thankful for the opportunity to grow through the Gil Internship and for the mentorship that has guided me throughout this experience, especially the consistent support and guidance from Dr. Steven Buzinski and Richie Gray. I’m excited to keep building on these experiences across both research labs and clinical worksites as I continue to explore how environments shape mental health trajectories and how developmentally informed research and practice can better support youth.