identity profiles and psychological adjustment among adopted korean american adolescents a ...

145 Pages·2012·0.54 MB·English

IDENTITY PROFILES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT AMONG
ADOPTED KOREAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS

A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY

REED TYLER REICHWALD

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

RICHARD M. LEE, PH.D., ADVISER

August 2012
© Reed Tyler Reichwald 2012
i
Acknowledgements

I’d like to gratefully acknowledge the study participants, the adopted individuals
and their families who were willing to provide a glimpse into their experiences. I owe a
debt of gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Richard Lee, whose inspiration, wisdom, and “eagle
eye” helped me to complete this task, which my wife recently confessed she thought I’d
never finish. I’d also like to acknowledge my committee members, Drs. Jo-Ida Hansen,
Martha Rueter, and Moin Syed who provided invaluable support and mentorship during
my graduate career, as well as regular encouragement and guidance during dissertation
process. This dissertation would not have been possible without the tireless work of my
fellow dedicated graduate students and lab mates: Sue Song, Kyoung Ok Seol, Oh Myo
Kim, Alison Hu, and Andrea Yun. The work I was able to do on this dissertation was
graciously supported by a NIMH K-01 award (MH070740) to Richard M. Lee. I would
also like to thank my fabulous cohort members (Sam Anders, Nazneen Bahrassa,
Kyoung Rae Jung, Sulani Perera). Without their support and encouragement, graduate
school would have been a much more dull, dreary, and stressful experience.
ii
Dedication

This dissertation is dedicated to my wife Andrea and our three lovely children: Olivia,
Hettie, and Oscar, who went without a husband and father for many years in support of
my academic habit. Thank you a thousand times, without your support, none of this
would have been possible.
iii
Abstract
Drawing upon social identity and intersectionality theories and research, I conducted a
person-centered, multi-informant study of 158 pairs of adopted Korean American
adolescents (AKAA) and their adoptive parents. Using cluster analytic procedures, I
examined AKAA’ patterns of identification across multiple social domains (ethnic,
racial, and adoptive identities). The obtained clusters were validated empirically by
comparing groups along relevant variables (e.g., engagement in ethnic and racial
socialization, dissatisfaction with racial appearance, birth family interest, perceived
discrimination, colorblind attitudes, diversity in friendship networks) on which they
would be expected to differ . Finally, I examined the association between these identity
profiles and psychological adjustment, including behavioral development and other
measures of well-being. Results revealed the emergence of six conceptually unique
identity clusters that differed significantly on the various validity constructs measured.
However, the identity profiles were largely undifferentiated with respect to behavioral
development per parent and adolescent reports on the Strengths and Difficulties
Questionnaire (SDQ, Goodman, 1997). Group differences were found on broad
psychological outcomes including life satisfaction, perceived school belongingness and
peer competence, and school interest and motivation. Results confirm the importance of
considering the collective impact of multiple social identities on a variety of outcomes.
iv
Table of Contents
Page
Acknowledgements i
Dedication ii
Abstract iii
Table of Contents iv
List of Tables v
List of Figures vii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: Literature Review 8
Chapter 3: Study Goals and Hypotheses 47
Methods 25
Results 63
Chapter 4: General Discussion 93
References 106
Appendix A: Identity Scales 125
Appendix B: Behavioral Outcome Measures 127
Appendix C: Validity Scales 129
Appendix D: Well-Being Outcome Measures 135
v
List of Tables
Page
Table 1. Psychometric Properties of Ethnic, Adoptive, and White Identity Scales 58
Table 2. Psychometric Properties for Behavioral and Well-Being Outcome
Scales 59
Table 3. Psychometric Properties for Validity Scales 61
Table 4. Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering History 65
Table 5. Raw and Standardized Scale Means and Raw Standard Deviations for
Six Identity Clusters 67
Table 6. Significant Differences on Standardized Scale Means across 5-Clusters 72
Table 7. Correlations Between Identity Scales and Parent and Adolescent-
Reported Scores on Validity Scales 74
Table 8. Cluster Validation with Parent and Adolescent Data 76
Table 9. Correlations Between Scores on Identity Scales and a Sample of Items
Assessing Parents’ Perceptions of AKAA Identification Across Similar
Social Categories 79
Table 10. Group Differences in Parents’ Perceptions of AKAA Identification
Across Social Categories 80
Table 11. Tests of Cluster Independence 82
Table 12. Cluster Reliability 84
Table 13. Bi-Variate Correlations Among Scores on Identity Scales and Parent
and Adolescent SDQ Scales 85
vi
Table 14. Differences in Behavioral Outcomes Across Identity Clusters 86
Table 15. Psychometric Properties for Psychological (Proximal) Outcome Scales 88
Table 16. Bi-Variate Correlations Among Scores on Identity Scales and
Psychological Outcome Scales 88
Table 17. Group Differences on Broad Psychological (Proximal) Outcome
Scales 90
Table 18. Bonferroni Comparisons of Mean Scores on Psychological Outcome
Measures 91
Table 19. Correlations Among AKAA-Reported Psychological Outcomes and
Parent-Reported Behavioral Outcomes 92
vii
List of Figures
Page
Figure 1. Bar graph depicting standardized scores on adoptive, ethnic and White
identity scales for each of the identity profiles. 70
Figure 2. Bar graphs comparing standardized scores on adoptive, ethnic and
White identity scales for identity profiles associated with five and six-cluster
solutions. 72
1

Identity Profiles and Psychological Adjustment among Adopted Korean American
Adolescents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Although modern-day transnational adoption in the United States can be traced
back to the end of World War II, it occurred in large-scale following the Korean War
(Lee, 2003). Since 1953, U.S. families have adopted more than 162,683 children from
South Korea (South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2012). Though the number
of adoptions from South Korea has declined in recent years (U.S. Department of State,
2011), more Korean children have been adopted by American families than children from
any other sending country (Lee, 2003; Lee and Quintana, 2005). Many of these adopted
Korean Americans are now entering adolescence and young adulthood, important periods
of development marked by identity exploration and consolidation. However, the extant
research on identity development and psychological adjustment among transracial
transnational adoptees, including adopted Korean American adolescents (AKAA), is
limited. The present study examined patterns of identity development among AKAA and
their relationship to psychological adjustment.
Empirical research on transnationally adopted children and adolescents has
traditionally focused on comparing emotional and behavioral outcomes between adopted
and non-adopted individuals (Bimmel, Juffer, van Ijzendoorn, & Bakermans-Kranenburg,
2003; Lindblad, Hjern, & Vinnerljung, 2003; Versluis-den Bieman, & Verhulst, 1995).
Results from earlier research suggested that adoptees (both domestic and transnational)
were at greater risk for developing behavioral problems than their non-adopted
counterparts. However, these studies relied mostly on parent-report survey data with