Miwa Yasui, PhD
Miwa Yasui is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago’s Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her areas of interest include cultural influences on developmental and familial processes such as ethnic identity development and ethnic-racial socialization, the examination of the culturally responsive assessments and interventions for ethnically diverse children and youth, intervention and prevention of problem behaviors among youth, and observational methodology.
Professor Yasui's research focuses on the influence of culture on development and family process in relation to psychopathology and mental health intervention. In particular, her research examines how multilevel cultural influences enhance or ameliorate the relationship between family processes and child psychopathology, especially among ethnic minority families. Her work applies the use of observational methods combined with surveys to study culturally specific developmental and familial socialization processes that are central to the adaptive development of ethnic minority children and youth.
Professor Yasui's work also examines cultural, contextual and familial factors that contribute to mental health disparities among immigrant and ethnic minority populations. In particular, she is studying the role of treatment engagement in racial and ethnic disparities among immigrant families. Her current project explores culturally specific pathways that may address underlying barriers to mental health service utilization and engagement among immigrant populations. Her research lab will continue both basic and intervention research that examines culturally specific influences on adaptive development among ethnic minority children and youth.
Biography
How do different cultures view mental health and illness? Why is mental health care readily accepted by some ethnic groups, but avoided by others? As clinicians and/or...
This course will examine the influence of culture within intervention, assessment and treatment. The course will examine how cultural considerations are critical in the...
This course teaches the skills necessary to develop and use information and data relevant to practice decision-making. A primary goal of this section is to encourage the...
Castro, F.G. & Yasui, M. (2017). Advances in EBI Development for Diverse Populations: Towards a Science of Intervention Adaptation Prevention Science 18(6): 623-629.
Yasui, M. (in press). Cultural dimensions of mental health and approaches to treatment: A dual approach in the exploratory examination of mental health beliefs, practices and experiences of Chinese American and immigrant youth and families. Chapter in Asian American Parenting: Family Processes and Intervention.
Yasui, M. Pottick, K., & *Chen, Y. (2017) Conceptualizing culturally infused engagement and its measurement for ethnic minority and immigrant children and families. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. DOI:10.1007/s10567-017-0229-2. (83 pages).
Liu, C.H., Yasui, M., Giallo, R., Tronick, E., & Seidman, L. (2016). U.S. parents with mental health problems: Parenting experiences and children’s functioning. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30 (6), 753-760. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2016.07.006
Choi, Y., *Tan, K.P.H., Yasui, M., & Hahm, H.C. (2016). Advancing Understanding of Acculturation for Adolescents of Asian Immigrants: Person-Oriented Analysis of Acculturation Strategy among Korean American Youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45 (7), 1380-1395. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-016-0496-0
Yasui, M., Dishion, T.J., Stormshak, E., & Ball, A. (2015). Socialization of culture and coping with discrimination among American Indian families: Examining cultural correlates of youth outcomes. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 6 (3), 317-341. DOI: 10.1086/682575
Yasui, M. (2015). A review of the empirical assessment of processes in ethnic-racial socialization: Examining methodological advances and future areas of development. Developmental Review, 37, 1- 40. DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2015.03.001 (lead article).
Yasui, M. (2015). The Cultural Ecogram: A tool for enhancing culturally anchored shared understanding in the treatment of ethnic minority families. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 24 (2), 89-108. DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2014.991980
Dishion, T.J., & Yasui, M. (2015). Translating Models of Adolescent Problem Behavior into Effective Intervention: Trials, Tribulations and Future Directions. In R. Schafer (Eds.) Handbook of Developmental Psychology in Action: Opportunities and Obstacles in Giving Psychology Away. Blackwell Publishing Co: NY. DOI: 10.1002/9781119095699.ch17
Yasui, M., & Wakschlag, L. (2015). The Culturally-Enhanced Videofeedback Engagement (CEVE) Framework: Preliminary data on the use of shared observations to enhance therapeutic engagement of clinicians with culturally diverse families. Transcultural Psychiatry, 52 (3), 417-443. DOI: 10.1177/1363461514561076
Yasui, M., Hipwell, A.E., Stepp, S. & Keenan, K. (2014). Psychocultural correlates of mental health service utilization among African American and European American girls. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42, 756-766. DOI: 10.1007/s10488-014-0610-0
Choi, Y., *Tan, K.P.H., Yasui, M., & Pekelnicky, D. D. (2014). Race–ethnicity and culture in the family and youth outcomes: Test of a path model with Korean American youth and parents. Race & Social Problems, 6:69–84. DOI: 10.1007/s12552-014-9111-8
Yasui, M., & Henry, D. B. (2014). Shared understanding as a gateway for treatment engagement: A preliminary study examining the effectiveness of the Culturally-Enhanced Videofeedback Engagement (CEVE) intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70:658–672. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.22058
Yasui, M., & Dishion, T. J. (2008). Direct Observation of Adolescent Family Interaction: Validity and Reliability as a Function of Coder Ethnicity and Training. Behavior Therapy, 39 (4), 336-347. DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2007.10.001
Yasui, M, & Dishion, T.J. (2007). The Ethnic Context of Child and Adolescent Problem Behavior: Implications for Child and Family Interventions. Clinical Child and Family Review. 137-179. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-007-0021-9
Connell, A. Dishion, T. J., Yasui, M. (2007). An adaptive approach to family intervention: Linking engagement in family-centered intervention to reductions in adolescent problem behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 4, 568-79. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006x.75.4.568
Dishion, T. J., & Nelson, S. E., & Yasui, M. (2005). Predicting Early Adolescent Gang Involvement From Middle School Adaptation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 34, 62-73. DOI: 10.1207/s15374424jccp3401_6
Stormshak, E. A., Dishion, T. J., Light, J., & Yasui, M. (2005). Implementing family-centered interventions within the public middle school: Linking service delivery change to change in problem behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. 33, 723-33. DOI: 10.1007/s10802-005-7650-6
Yasui, M., Dorham, C. R. & Dishion, T., J. (2004). Ethnic Identity and Psychological Adjustment: A Validity Analysis for European American and African American Adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 807-825. DOI: 10.1177/0743558403260098
Professor Yasui received her undergraduate degrees in Comparative Culture from Sophia University in Tokyo and in Psychology at the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Oregon. She completed her APA-accredited clinical internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Psychiatry, Institute for Juvenile Research. During her doctoral studies, she examined the role of implicit associations of stigma as a NIMH Development, Emotion, and Psychopathology as a predoctoral trainee and also developed an innovative observational measure of ethnic-racial socialization as a Predoctoral NIMH National Research Service Awardee. Prior to joining Crown Family School, Professor Yasui completed her NIMH Postdoctoral National Research Service Award Individual Fellowship during which she developed a culturally enhanced engagement intervention that integrates observational methodology with cultural sensitive clinical probes to increase treatment engagement among ethnic minority families seeking mental health services. Currently she is a Faculty Scholar for the K12 Patient Centered Outcomes Research Faculty Development Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Professor Yasui is also a licensed Clinical Psychologist and has been actively engaged in clinical practice during her predoctoral and postdoctoral training.