Lisa Kiang, Ph.D.

2004-2006 FRC IV Postdoctoral Fellow Assistant Professor, Psychology Department Wake Forest University kiangl@wfu.edu

Lisa Kiang received her doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Denver. Her research interests center on self and identity and on how family and social relationships impact development and mental health. Her specific focus is on the development of ethnic identity among Asian Americans, including the role that identity plays in adjustment and in how children cope with issues of acculturation and stress. Dr. Kiang's dissertation examined relationship-specific differentiations in Chinese Americans' ethnic identity and the impact such differentiations have on global and relational adjustment and relationship quality. Ethnic socialization and acculturation processes were also examined. During the FRC postdoctoral period, Dr. Kiang worked primarily with Andrew Fuligni at UCLA conducting studies on the social and cultural development of adolescents, including how ethnic identity may buffer adolescents, particularly from immigrant backgrounds, against issues related to daily acculturative stress. Her secondary advisor was David Takeuchi who focused directly on issues of Asian American mental health, illness, and risk for serious disorder. During her tenure as an FRC postdoc, her chief goal was to receive further theoretical and methodological training on integrating issues of identity and family with the study of mental illness among Asian American adolescents. Dr. Kiang is currently Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University and continues to build her research program on ethnic identity, social relationships, and well-being.

UCLA Center for Culture & Health, 760 Westwood Plaza, Box 62, Los Angeles, CA 90024   FRC4@ucla.edu