Research Interests

     Dr. Kim studies the intersection of family and cultural contexts in shaping adolescent development. Her focus is on Asian American (Chinese and Korean American) and Latino (Mexican American) families in the United States. Students with written and verbal proficiency in Chinese, Korean, or Spanish are encouraged to inquire about current research opportunities.

Current Research Areas:

• Immigration/Acculturation
• Language Brokering
• Parenting
• Depressive symptoms/School Achievement
• Measurement Invariance

Education

Arizona State University, National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellow, Prevention Research Center
University of California, Davis, Ph.D., Human Development
University of Southern California, B.A. Psychology, B.S. Business Administration

Selected Publications

*Denotes Student Authors

Kim, S. Y., Benner, A. D.*, Reid, R. M. N.*, Ongbongan, K.*, Dennerlein, D.*, & Spencer, D. K. (in press). It’s like we’re just renting over here: The pervasive experiences of discrimination of Filipino immigrant youth gang members in Hawaii.  AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Nexus.

Benner, A. D.*, & Kim, S. Y. (in press). Understanding Chinese American adolescents’ developmental outcomes: Insights from the Family Stress Model. Journal of Research on Adolescence.  Correlation Table.

Kim, S. Y., & Chao, R. K.  (in press). Heritage language fluency, ethnic identity, and school effort of immigrant Chinese and Mexican adolescents. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology.

Dinh, K. T., Gonzales, F., Tein, J.-Y., & Kim, S. Y. (in press). Cultural predictors of physical and mental health status among Mexican American women. American Journal of Community Psychology.

Liu. L. L.,* Lau, A. S., Chen, A.C.-C., Dinh, K. T., & Kim, S. Y. (in press). The influence of maternal acculturation, neighborhood disadvantage, and parenting on Chinese American adolescents’ conduct problems:  Testing the segmented assimilation hypothesis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Kim, S. Y., Benner, A. D.,* Ongbongan, K.,* Acob, J.,*, Dinh, K. T., Reid, R. M. N.,* & Dennerlein, D.*  (in press). Children of Filipino immigrants in Hawai’i: Adolescent girls’ experiences at home and at school. Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Studies.

Kim, S. Y., Nair, R.,* Knight, G. P., Roosa, M. W., & Updegraff, K. A. (in press). Measurement equivalence of neighborhood quality measures for European American and Mexican American families. Journal of Community Psychology.

Yee, B. W. K., Su, J.,* Kim, S. Y., & Yancura, L. (in press). Asian American families. In A. Alvarez & N. Tewari (Eds.), Asian American Psychology: Current Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Gonzales, N.A., German, M.*, Kim, S. Y., George, P.,* Fabrett, F. C.,* Millsap, R., & Dumka, L. E. (2008).  Mexican American adolescents’ cultural orientation, externalizing behavior and academic engagement: The role of traditional cultural values. American Journal of Community Psychology, 41, 151-164.

Weaver, S. R., & Kim, S. Y. (2008). A person-centered approach to studying the linkages among parent-child differences in cultural orientation, supportive parenting, and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese American families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37, 36-49.

Yee, B. W. K., DeBaryshe, B. D., Yuen, S., Kim, S. Y., & McCubbin, H. I. (2007). Asian American and Pacific Islander families: Resiliency and life-span socialization in a cultural context. In F. Leong, A. G. Inman, A. Ebreo, A., L. Yang, L. M. Kinoshita, & M. Fu (Eds.), Handbook of Asian American Psychology (pp. 69-86). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Kim, S. Y., Gonzales, N. A., Stroh, K.,* & Wang, J. J.-L.* (2006). Parent-child cultural marginalization and depressive symptoms in Asian American family members. Journal of Community Psychology, 34, 167-182.

Maynard, A. E., & Kim, S. Y. (2006). Cross-cultural development. In N. J. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Development (pp. 326-329). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Kim, S. Y., George, P. E.*, Carle, A., & Srinivasan, S. (2005). Factorial invariance of the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale (FACES-II) between Asian Americans and European Americans. In M. J. Kane (Ed.), Contemporary Issues in Parenting (pp. 65-77). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science.

Brody, G. H., Ge, X., Kim, S. Y., Murry, V. M., Simons, R. L., Gibbons, F. X., Gerrard, M., & Conger, R. (2003). Neighborhood disadvantage moderates associations of parenting and older sibling problem attitudes and behavior with conduct disorders in African American children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 211-222.

Kim, S. Y. & Wong, V.Y. (2002). Assessing Asian and Asian American parenting: A review of the literature. In K. Kurasaki, S. Okazaki, & S. Sue (Eds.), Asian American Mental Health: Assessment Theories and Methods (pp. 185-201). New York: Kluwer.

Kim, S. Y., & Ge, X. (2000). Parenting practices and adolescent depressive symptoms in Chinese American families. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 420-435.

Kim, S. Y. (2000). Asian American parenting. In L. Balter (Ed.), Parenthood in America: An encyclopedia (pp. 55-57). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

Zatzick, D. F., Kang, S. M., Kim, S. Y., Leigh, P., Kravitz, R., Drake, C., Sue, S., & Wisner D. (2000). Patients with recognized psychiatric disorders in trauma surgery: Incidence, inpatient length of stay, and cost. Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care, 49, 487-495.

Booth, J. R., Hall, W. S., Robison, G. C., & Kim, S. Y. (1997). Acquisition of the mental state verb know by 2- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 26, 581-603.

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