Christopher T. H. Liang

The Asian American Racism-Related Stress Inventory: Development, factor analysis, reliability, and validity

The development of the 29-item Asian American Racism-Related Stress Inventory (AARRSI) is presented. In the first study, data from 161 Asian American respondents were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis, which yielded 3 subscales composed of Socio-Historical Racism (14 items), General Racism (8 items), and Perpetual Foreigner Racism (7 items). The data also revealed initial evidence of AARRSIs reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity. In the second study, data from 142 Asian American respondents were subjected to a confirmatory factor analysis, which provided support for the factor structure derived from the first study. Additional evidence of AARRSIs reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity were also found. In the third study, data from 38 Asian American respondents yielded evidence of AARRSIs test-retest reliability.

A qualitative study of adaptation experiences of 1.5-generation Asian Americans.

Adaptation experiences of 1.5-generation Asian American college students (N = 10) were examined using the consensual qualitative research method. Results indicated 4 domains of adaptation experiences: preimmigration experiences, acculturation and enculturation experiences, intercultural relationships, and support systems. Participants reported that English proficiency played a significant role in their initial adjustment. Currently, most of the participants reported feeling identified with both the U.S. and Asian cultures. Some participants reported having experienced racism in the past. Many participants noted that they currently have no difficulty establishing friendships with culturally different persons. Participants reported currently feeling most close to friends of a similar background and that they usually seek support from friends, family, and religious organizations, but not from a psychologist or counselor.

Client Perspectives of Multicultural Counseling Competence A Qualitative Examination

Multicultural competence is a burgeoning area of research in counseling psychology. However, there has been little focus on understanding multicultural competence from the perspective of clients. This study used qualitative interviews and grounded theory to develop a model of clients’ perspectives of multicultural counseling. The resulting model suggested that clients’ experiences of multicultural counseling were contingent on their self-identified needs and on how well they felt the counselor met these needs. Moreover, clients appeared to actively manage and moderate the extent to which culture was broached in counseling based on a host of conditions including counseling relationship, salience of identity, counselor behavior, and expectations of counseling, to name a few. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The Role of Coping in the Relationship between Perceived Racism and Racism-Related Stress for Asian Americans: Gender Differences.

On the basis of stress and coping theory, the authors examined coping as a mediator of the relationship between perceptions of racism and racism-related stress with a sample of Asian American college students (N 336). Results indicated that coping mediated the relationship between racism and racism-related stress differentially by gender. The more that men perceived racism, the more likely they were to use support-seeking coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The more that women perceived racism, the more they used active coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The findings demonstrate how coping with racism differs for Asian Americans on the basis of gender.

The Impact of White Heterosexual Students' Interactions on Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People: A Longitudinal Study

Based on the Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1979) a model for understanding the development of attitudes toward LGB relationships among White heterosexual undergraduate students was proposed. Using 401 White heterosexual students (70% women) attending a large public mid-Atlantic university this model was tested. More specifically, the effects of gender, pre-college variables (attitudes and interpersonal contact), and college contact with LGB individuals on attitudes toward LGB relationships after two years of college were tested using a series of regression analyses. The proposed model was supported by statistical analyses. Suggestions for facilitating the development of more positive attitudes among students are made.

Rumination partially mediates the associations between perceived ethnic discrimination, emotional distress, and aggression.

Research suggests that perceived ethnic discrimination is associated with poor psychological and physiological health. Rumination, or perseverative thoughts about negative experiences, may constitute a maladaptive coping strategy that mediates the associations between perceived discrimination, emotional distress, and aggression. Our sample consisted of 170 ethnic minority and 134 White American participants. For ethnic minority participants, we found a pattern of correlations consistent with rumination partially mediating a causal link between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms, hostility, anger, and aggression. In White participants, by contrast, the significant associations between perceived discrimination and these indices of emotional and behavioral distress were not statistically mediated by rumination. We discuss possible theoretical and clinical implications of these results.

The Role of Collective Self-Esteem for Asian Americans Experiencing Racism-Related Stress: A Test of Moderator and Mediator Hypotheses

This study examined the role of four dimensions of collective self-esteem (CSE) as a moderator and mediator in the relationship between racism-related stress and psychological adjustment among 134 Asian American college students. CSE was not found to moderate the effects of racism-related stress on self-esteem problems, interpersonal problems, or career problems. However, the results of mediator analyses indicated that public CSE is a mechanism that explains the relationship between racism-related stress and self-esteem problems and interpersonal problems but not career problems. No other dimensions of CSE were found to be significant mediators. The implications for these findings for research and practice are discussed.

A Theoretical Examination of Psychosocial Issues for Asian Pacific American Students.

This theoretical investigation examines psychosocial issues for Asian Pacific American (APA) students, one of the fastest-growing but most understudied college populations. The authors found that general groupings of developmental issues align somewhat with traditional psychosocial theory, although the underlying assumptions and specific developmental tasks do not fit the experience of APAs.

A Content and Methodological Analysis of 35 Years of Latino/a-Focused Research:

Two separate studies were conducted to examine the contents and methodology of Latino/a-focused articles published during a period of 35 years in seven major journals used by counseling psychologists as well as the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. Together, the two studies suggest that acculturation, academic achievement, assessment, and alcohol, drugs, and tobacco use were the most common topics of inquiry. The results of these two studies also suggest that descriptive field methodologies were most commonly used and that convenience sampling procedures were used most frequently. Trends in the coverage of published research provide some evidence of the increased attention to Latino/a-focused research literature. However, results also indicate that Latino/a-focused articles represented only 2% of the total number of articles published in non—ethnic-specific journals. These two studies also illuminate potentially worthwhile areas for future inquiry.

Attitudes of White Student Services Practitioners toward Asian Americans.

Using an experimental design, the attitudes of White student services practitioners toward Asian Americans were explored. Results of this study indicated that attitudes toward Asian Americans significantly differed in a positive direction when compared to attitudes toward people in situations where race was not identified. Suggestions for practice are provided.