Narrative

What are the unique racial and ethnic experiences of Asian Americans? How do these experiences relate to the development, well-being, and mental health among Asian American individuals and families? What can psychologists do to improve the lives of Asian American individuals and families? My students and I seek to answer these questions by focusing on aspects of culture, ethnicity, and race that function as risk or protective factors for well-being, mental health, and achievement, such as acculturation/enculturation, ethnic identity development, discrimination/racism, parent-child acculturation conflicts, and cultural socialization. I am particularly interested in the transracial and transnational experiences of Korean children who were adopted internationally by White families. In collaboration with the Center for Personalized Prevention Research in Children's Mental Health, I also have begun to engage in community-based research on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based prevention programs for racial and ethnic minority populations.