Dr Ling’s research focuses on the psychological self-regulatory mechanisms that underpin health behavioural change and the development of metabolic health over childhood in cross-cultural contexts. Specifically, the propensity to engage in recurrent negative thoughts (called ‘emotional rehearsal’) and explicit attention to body movements (termed ‘movement reinvestment’) in children are within her current research domains and have uniquely placed her works within the translational realms of physical activity and public health research. Through her multidisciplinary enquiries, Dr Ling endeavours to design and implement psychological/health interventions to promote long-term health behavioural change. While in Hong Kong, she was regularly involved in school-based intervention initiatives to promote physical activity in Chinese children using strategies such as goal setting, physical activity feedback and environmental prompts. She is currently involved in various multidisciplinary projects with international collaborators, including an investigation in the propensity for movement reinvestment in Australian and Chinese children, and a longitudinal examination of the development of physical activity-specific rehearsal tendencies in childhood and its implications on long-term metabolic health and health behaviours.