The purpose of this K-01 application is to provide the candidate with training in theory and methods for the study of cultural socialization, adjustment, and mental health in adoptive families with children from South Korea to complement his existing expertise in Asian American mental health. The K-01 specifically will allow the candidate to enhance his knowledge in child development, family psychology, adoption, and the application of multiple methodologies. The application builds upon on-going NIH-funded research projects at the University of Minnesota on the adjustment of international adoptees, but the applicant focuses on the overlooked impact of the ethnic and racial experiences of adoptees through six proposed studies. The candidate's short-term goal is to enhance his knowledge and skills in basic science research and to test a transracial adoption model of cultural socialization. The candidate's long-term goal is to establish an independent line of research that includes the first U.S.-based epidemiological, longitudinal study that employs multiple methodologies to study the long-term effects of cultural socialization on the adjustment and mental health of Korean adoptees. The proposed program specifically incorporates coursework, research training, and consultation with experts in parent-child relationship, transracial adoption, risk and resilience, qualitative methods, epidemiology, longitudinal designs, and community-based research. The applicant's institution is strongly supportive of these goals, as evidenced through course release and allocation of resources, and the K-01 would contribute substantially to the candidate's development as an independent and leading researcher in these areas. ? ? ?
