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In this study, the authors compared the behavioral development of 4- to 8-year-old South Korean children placed in institutional care (n = 230) or adopted internationally (n = 382), with age of entry, parental status, reason for institutionalization, and postinstitutionalization parental contact as risk factors for institutionalized children. There was a placement effect of adoption and support for age of entry and parental status as risk factors. Relinquished children institutionalized before age 2 fared the poorest across groups. Children institutionalized after age 2 with deceased/unknown parents fared best among institutionalized children. Institutionalization due to family disruption was a risk for relinquished children only, whereas parental contact did not increase the risk for behavioral problems. The unique sample population and other limitations are discussed. Keywords: international adoption, institutionalized children, institutional care, behavioral development, Korean DOI: 10.1037/a0017358

A quasi-experimental vignette study was conducted to test whether ethnic identity moderated the effects of frequent racial discrimination on situational positive and negative affect of Asian American college students. Results showed that imagining multiple incidents of racial discrimination was related to higher negative affect than imagining a single incident. Asian Americans with high ethnic identity reported lower positive affect when imagining multiple incidents of racial discrimination compared to individuals with high ethnic identity imagining a single incident; by contrast, Asian Americans with low ethnic identity reported higher positive affect when imagining multiple incidents of racial discrimination compared to individuals with low ethnic identity imagining a single incident of racial discrimination. Results suggest ethnic identity may exacerbate the association between racial discrimination and situational well-being for Asian Americans. Moreover, post hoc analyses indicate that the relationship between ethnic identity and discrimination is more relevant for U.S.-born Asian Americans than it is for immigrant Asian Americans. Keywords: racial discrimination, ethnic identity, situational positive and negative affect, Asian American, generational differences

The structure and measurement of acculturation/enculturation was investigated on 2 Asian American samples. Factor analyses revealed similar 2-factor structures for both acculturation and enculturation. The factor-analytic-derived measure yielded scores with [...]

In their reaction to the Major Contribution, the authors outline four specific research areas where counseling psychologists could make particularly important contributions: (a) the study of multicultural aspects of optimal human functioning, (b) self-efficacy and well-being, (c) positive interpersonal relationship processes, and (c) meaning in life.

Ethnic identity, in combination with approach-type coping strategies (i.e., social support seeking, cognitive restructuring, and problem solving), was hypothesized to moderate the effects of perceived racial discrimination on the well-being of Asian American college students. Results found that individuals with a strong ethnic identity were more likely to engage in approach-type coping strategies, but the use of cognitive restructuring and problem solving coping buffered the effects of racial discrimination on well-being only when racial discrimination was low. These results are contrary to the current literature and suggest ethnic identity and approach-type coping strategies may not always protect against discrimination for Asian Americans. Keywords: ethnic identity, coping, discrimination, Asian Americans

Problem solving and social support, as different styles of coping with intergenerational family conflict, were examined among 86 Hmong American college students. Problem solving and social support were hypothesized to differentially moderate the effects of family conflict on psychological adjustment. Furthermore, the effects of attributions of blame on the adjustment of Hmong American college students were examined. Results indicate that social support buffered and problem solving enhanced the negative effects of family conflict on symptoms of distress but not on affect. Additionally, there were significant interaction effects between family conflict and self-blame on distress. Specifically, students who were more likely to blame themselves reported higher levels of distress. Keywords: family conflict, coping, adjustment, Hmong, Asian Americans

Two coping strategies--problem solving and social support seeking--were hypothesized to differentially moderate the effects of intergenerational family conflict on well-being and adjustment in a college sample of 117 Asian American young adult children. Results indicated that social support served as a protective-stabilizing factor that buffered the effects of family conflict on positive affect and somatic distress. Problem-solving coping served as a protective-reactive factor that had a positive effect on positive affect when family conflict was low and a negative effect when family conflict was high. The potential implications of these findings for counseling and conducting research on Asian American college students are discussed.

This study investigated the resilience of 84 Korean American college students in the context of perceived ethnic discrimination. Two cultural resources, multidimensional ethnic identity and other-group orientation, were hypothesized as protective factors that moderate the negative effects of discrimination. Only 1 aspect of ethnic identity was found to have a moderation effect. Specifically, ethnic identity pride operated as a protective-reactive factor that moderated the effects of discrimination on depressive symptoms and social connectedness but not on self-esteem. Ethnic identity pride and perceived discrimination had first-order effects on self-esteem.

The authors investigated the structure and measurement of ethnic identity using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; J. S. Phinney, 1992) on a diverse sample of Asian American college students. The authors drew upon 3 previously published datasets to examine the factor structure of the MEIM, initial reliability and construct validity, demographic group differences, and concurrent validity with psychological well-being. The authors identified a 3-factor structure of the MEIM composed of Cognitive Clarity, Affective Pride, and Behavioral Engagement, and these 3 ethnic identity subscales demonstrated acceptable reliability and construct validity with some initial evidence for differential concurrent validity on 2 measures of well-being.

W. M. Liu, S. R. Ali, et al. (2004) provide a useful framework to understand the relevance of social class to counseling psychology research, but they overlook the intersection of race and social class in their review. The authors critique the middle-class mythology that pervades social class research in psychology and introduce segmented assimilation as an alternative process of adaptation among post-1965 immigrant groups. Segmented assimilation is defined as the variable process of adaptation and social mobility in the context of new patterns of immigration and accommodation into society that is racially and economically divided. The authors illustrate ways in which segmented assimilation may be incorporated into current and future counseling psychology research.

The number of transracial adoptions in the United States, particularly international adoptions, is increasing annually. Counseling psychology as a profession, however, is a relatively silent voice in the research on and practice of transracial adoption. This article presents an overview of the history and research on transracial adoption to inform counseling psychologists of the set of racial and ethnic challenges and opportunities that transracial adoptive families face in everyday living. Particular attention is given to emergent theory and research on the cultural socialization process within these families.

Ethnic identity and other-group orientation were examined as possible moderators and mediators on the effects of personal ethnic discrimination and minority group discrimination in 2 studies of Asian Americans. Results demonstrated that discrimination, particularly when directed personally at an individual, correlated negatively with psychological well-being and correlated positively with distress. Ethnic identity and other-group orientation, however, correlated positively with psychological well-being. Contrary to the main hypothesis, ethnic identity did not moderate or mediate the effects of discrimination, although other-group orientation demonstrated a moderator effect on community well-being. More research on ethnic identity and other-group orientation as protective factors that enable Asian Americans to be resilient against discrimination is necessary to clarify the findings from these studies.

This study examined the effects of social connectedness, social appraisal of the campus climate, and perceived stress of college women and men. Drawing from self-verification theory, social appraisal was hypothesized to mediate the effects of connectedness on perceived stress. Two hundred and fourteen college students were surveyed. Results support a partial mediation effect for women. Men, however, were more likely to negatively appraise the campus climate, and social connectedness was more negatively related to perceived stress for men than for women. Results are interpreted according to gender differences in independent and interdependent self-construal. The need to clearly define and measure social connectedness and social appraisal is also discussed. Counseling implications focus on the promotion and assessment of connectedness on campus., When Marie arrived at the counseling center, she wrote on her intake form that she was seeking counseling because she felt lonely. During the intake interview, Marie further explained that [...]

Social connectedness and its relationship with anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity was explored in the lives of women. Social connectedness was negatively related to trait anxiety and made a larger unique contribution to trait anxiety than social support or collective self-esteem. Women with high connectedness also reported greater social identification in high, as compared with low, cohesion conditions. Women with low connectedness exhibited no difference in either condition. Social connectedness was also positively related to state self-esteem across both conditions but did not have an effect on state anxiety. Future research in gender and cultural differences, self-evaluation process, and intervention strategies are discussed in light of the findings.

The study developed 2 measures of belongingness based on H. Kohut's (1984) self psychology theory. The Social Connectedness Scale and the Social Assurance Scale were constructed with a split-sample procedure on 626 college students. Internal reliability estimates for the 2 scales were .91 and .82, respectively. Test-retest correlations revealed good test stability over a 2-week period (rs = .96 and .84, respectively). Cross-validation for the 2 measures was achieved with confirmatory factor analysis with an incremental fit index greater than .90. Scale functions are described and results are discussed in light of current research and theory.

The differential effectiveness of leader-led and self-directed career and life planning workshops for 98 middle-aged and older adult participants was examined. First, a test of the magnitude of change on multiple attitudinal and behavioral variables revealed that participants improved regardless of treatment condition. Those participants in the leader-led condition, however, had greater posttest employment research interview behaviors than did participants in the self-directed condition. Second, 2 theoretically derived attributes, goal directedness and sociability-structure, were chosen to test the interaction effects between potentially salient participant attributes and workshop format. By means of a multivariate multiple regression strategy, no Attribute X Treatment interactions were identified. Results of this study suggest that the career and life planning workshops were positively received regardless of format and participant attribute.

From a self-psychology perspective adaptation to changes in life depends on the ability to maintain stable and meaningful life goals and purpose, or goal continuity. Goal continuity was hypothesized to be a mediator of early retirement adjustment, being a variable between personal and social resources and life adjustment. A multidimensional model of retirement adjustment was tested with self-report and interviewer indexes from a sample of 157 voluntary early retirees. Structural relations modeling indicated that social support did not directly influence adjustment but was associated with increases in goal continuity, which was linked to increases in leisure quality and life satisfaction. Implications for further research and for the role of personality in mediating midlife and early retirement adjustment are discussed.

Study is conducted to examine cultural socialization attitude, beliefs and parenting behavior in families with internationally adopted children. It is hypothesized that parents with lower color-blind racial attitudes would be more likely to engage in enculturation and racialization parental behavior because they hold stronger beliefs in the value and importance of cultural socialization.

Using a stress-coping framework, the authors examined indirect and direct coping strategies as potential mediators in the relationship between intergenerational family conflict and psychological distress in Asian American, Hispanic, and European American college students. Asian American college students reported the highest likelihood of family conflict. Students from all cultural groups also used direct coping slightly more often than they did indirect coping. Only indirect coping mediated the effect of family conflict on distress for Asian Americans and European Americans, but it did so in the opposite direction than hypothesized. For these two cultural groups, indirect coping fully accounted for the variance shared between family conflict and psychological distress. For Hispanics, indirect coping partially mediated the effect of family conflict on psychological distress.

The study examined the relationship among social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and psychological distress. The authors specifically hypothesized that the direct negative effect of social connectedness on psychological distress would be mediated by dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors. Prior to testing the hypothesis, the authors revised the original Social Connectedness Scale (SCS; R. M. Lee & S. B. Robbins, 1995). Studies 1 and 2 describe the revision and validation of the SCS on separate samples of college students. In Study 3, the authors surveyed 184 college students and found support for the mediation hypothesis on general psychological distress. The importance of assessing social connectedness and tailoring counseling interventions for people with low connectedness and dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors is addressed.

A sense of connectedness for men was hypothesized to be based on relationships that emphasize forms of social comparison, whereas a sense of connectedness for women was hypothesized to be based on relationships that emphasize forms of intimacy and physical proximity. The results from this study generally supported the hypotheses for both women and men. For women, relationships that emphasized reliable alliance and not guidance contributed to social connectedness. For men, relationships that emphasized reassurance of worth but not reliable alliance or opportunity for nurturance contributed to social connectedness. Differences in how women and men construct social connectedness are discussed in terms of counseling implications and future research.

This study describes the construction and initial validation of the Asian American Family Conflicts Scale (FCS) with 3 samples of Asian American college students. The scale consists of 10 typical Asian American family conflicts that are rated for likelihood of occurrence (FCS-Likelihood) and seriousness of conflict (FCS-Seriousness). In Study 1, FCS-Likelihood and FCS-Seriousness had sound internal reliability, stability, and construct validity. In Study 2, FCS-Likelihood correlated with socioeconomic and cultural orientation variables. Ethnic, generation, and language differences, as well as the parent-child acculturation gap hypothesis, also were confirmed for FCS-Likelihood. In Study 3, FCS-Likelihood correlated with measures of family cohesion, adaptability, and parent-child communication. Although further validation is necessary, FCS-Likelihood in particular is a potentially useful research and clinical instrument for assessing the quality of Asian American parent-child relationships.

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a conceptually grounded scale to assess cognitive aspects of color-blind racial attitudes. Five studies on the Color-Blind Racial Attitudes Scale (CoBRAS) with over 1,100 observations provide initial reliability and validity data. Specifically, results from an exploratory factor analysis suggest a 3-factor solution: Unawareness of Racial Privilege, Institutional Discrimination, and Blatant Racial Issues. A confirmatory factor analysis suggests that the 3-factor model is a good fit of the data and is the best of the competing models. The CoBRAS was positively related to other indexes of racial attitudes as well as 2 measures of belief in a just world, indicating that greater endorsement of color-blind racial attitudes was related to greater levels of racial prejudice and a belief that society is just and fair. Self-reported CoBRAS attitudes were sensitive to diversity training.