- Shen, X., & Masek, L. (2023) The playful mediator, moderator, or outcome? An integrative review of the roles of play and playfulness in adult-centered psychological interventions for mental health, The Journal of Positive Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2288955
- Shen, X., (2023). Play and scientific creativity: A critical review and an integrative theoretical framework. Journal of Creative Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.596
- Shen, X., MacDonald, M., Logan, S. W., Parkinson, C., Gorrell, L., & Hatfield, B. E. (2022). Leisure engagement during covid-19 and its association with mental health and wellbeing in U. S. adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1081. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031081
- Shen, X., Liu, H., & Song, R. (2021). Toward a culture-sensitive approach to playfulness research: Development of Adult Playfulness Trait Scale-Chinese version and an alternative measurement model. Journal of Leisure Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2020.1850193
- Shen, X. (2020). Constructing an interactionist framework for playfulness research: Adding psychological situations and playful states. Journal of Leisure Research, 51 (5), 536-558. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2020.1748551
- Kerstetter D., Shen, X., Yi, X., Pan, B., Zhang, G. Li, R. Gao, J. & Li, G. (2020). Sources of happiness: A mixed methods phenomenological study of urban residents’ subjective well-being in Shenzhen, China. Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294120971742
- Shen, X., Hu, T., Pan, B., Chen, K., Qiao, L., & Zhu, J. (2020). Beyond self-selection: The multi-layered online review biases at the intersection of users, platforms and culture. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-02-2020-0012
- Shen, X., Chick, G., & Pitas, N. (2017). From playful parents to adaptable children: A structural equation model of the relationships between playfulness and adaptability among young adults and their parents. International Journal of Play, 6 (3), 244-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2017.1382983
- Shen, X., Chick, G., & Zinn, H. (2014). Playfulness in adulthood as a personality trait: A reconceptualization and a new measurement. Journal of Leisure Research, 46 (1), 58-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2014.11950313
- Shen, X., Chick, G., & Zinn, H. (2014). Validating the Adult Playfulness Trait Scale (APTS): An Examination of the Personality, Behavioral, Attitudinal, and Perceptual Nomological Network of Playfulness. American Journal of Play, 6 (3), 345-369. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1032064
- Song, R., & Shen, X. (2014). Leisure Constraints experienced by Chinese: An empirical study based on a national survey. Journal of Beijing International Studies University, 36 (1), 1-15.
- Chick, G., & Shen, X. (2011). Leisure and cultural complexity. Cross-cultural Research, 45, 59-81. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1069397110383490
- Shen, X., & Yarnal, C. (2010). Blowing open the serious leisure-casual leisure dichotomy: What’s in there? Leisure Sciences, 32 (2), 162-179. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400903547179
- Godbey, G., Crawford, D., & Shen, X. (2010). Assessing the constraints theory after two decades. Journal of Leisure Research, 42 (1), 111-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2010.11950197
- Zinn, H., & Shen, X. (2007). Wildlife Value Orientations in China. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 12, 331-338. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200701555444
- Su, B., Shen, X., & Zhou, W. (2006). Leisure life in later years: Differences between rural and urban elderly residents in China. Journal of Leisure Research, 38 (3), 381-397. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2006.11950084