Yoonsun Choi, PhD
969 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Office Location: E-13 / WSSC 209
Race, ethnicity, and culture fundamentally shape the development of minority and immigrant youth and young adults, a growing demographic in the U.S. Choi examines how these young people manage family and social pressures and wrestle with stereotypes about their race/ethnicity and culture, which often determine mental health and developmental outcomes. Understanding the range of influences affecting young people is crucial to the development of social support and interventions to ensure that they reach their potential. The goal of Choi's work is to identify the array of familial and social issues and gaps in the service network that service providers, as well as policymakers, must address to ensure the well-being of this expanding group of Americans.
For example, Choi’s research has debunked the "model minority" myth attached to Asian Americans. In truth, the behaviors and attitudes of Asian Americans are far more complex. There are also dramatic differences among Asian American subgroups. The "model minority" stereotype has been used to justify glossing over serious barriers and adversities that Asian Americans face, and, worryingly, impede the proper policy prescriptions. Choi's research efforts have aimed to answer questions such as why Asian American young people are doing better in some areas (e.g., academic achievement) but not others (e.g., disturbing rates of mental distress, with suicide as a leading cause of death among 15 to 24 years old); whether positive behaviors come at the price of mental health, how and why positive behaviors are not sustained into young adulthood, why emotional functioning further deteriorates during the transition to adulthood, and why Asian subgroups, with a common overarching Asian culture, have disparate developmental outcomes.
Since 2014, Choi has been following about 800 Filipino American and Korean American families in the Midwest (N=1,574 at Wave 1), studying the forces of assimilation and acculturation, and especially how culture plays out in family process. Through its longitudinal data (Wave 2 in 2016, Wave 3 in 2018, Wave 4 in 2021, and Wave 5 in 2024-2025), the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families (MLSAAF) has discovered that both Filipino and Korean American family process is a unique cultural blend, i.e., neither stereotypically Western nor Asian, and core traditional values such as familism (respect for adults, family obligation, and sacrifice for the family) endure despite significant signs of acculturation. It also found that young Asian Americans, while highly acculturated, strongly uphold their ethnicity and core heritage culture, but retention of heritage culture and identity is not uniformly beneficial to the well-being of the young people. Immigration is a significant life-altering event and can exert a physical and emotional toll on the family. Growing up as a visible racial minority, especially in an immigrant family, presents additional challenges such as minority and acculturative stresses. In recent years, Choi has expanded her research internationally (e.g., South Koreans and Korean Chinese) to better understand the interplay of majority/minority status, socioeconomic class, and acculturation in a global context.
Choi's research has been funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Russell Sage Foundation. She regularly appears before academic audiences and community groups to discuss her work.
This workshop will provide SSA doctoral students with the opportunity to examine the diverse social science theories that undergird social work and social welfare— as...
* Publications since 2016. Underline indicates student authors during the active phase of manuscript preparation.
Yoon, E., Lee, J.W., Lippert, K., Choi, Y., & Park, M. (In Press). Dual pathways of the internalized model minority myth as protection and pressure. The Counseling Psychologist.
Choi, Y., Choi, J., Park, M., Lee, S.Y., & Kim, K. (2026). Negative parenting and mental distress among South Korean youth. Children and Youth Services Review.187 (109052) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2026.109052.
Rudy, D., Im, J., Choi, Y., Han, S., Chao, P., & Ansari, S. (2026). Three forms of Korean American indirect parental warmth: Associations with maternal predictors and adolescent outcomes. Family Process. 65(1). https://doi.org/10.1111%2Ffamp.70104 (PMC12922488)
Park, M., Yang, Y., Gu, B., Choi, Y., & Yoo, H. (2026). Model minority stereotype, school and socioeconomic achievement, and mental health of Filipino American and Korean American youth. Journal of Research on Adolescence. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jora.70146
Park, M., Yoon, Y., Tuda, D., Park, I.Y., Su, J., & Choi, Y. (2025). The longitudinal impact of discrimination on substance use among Filipino and Korean American youth. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fjora.70023
Park, M., Jeong, E., Yoo, N., Choi, Y., Cabassa, L.J., Yasui, M., & Takeuchi, D. (2025). Mental health service use among Filipino American and Korean American young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Community Psychology. http://doi.org/10.1002/ajcp.70043
Huynh, M., Choi, Y., & Ro, A. (2025). The role of friend support on the impact of family stressors on the mental health of Asian American youth. Asian American Journal of Psychology.(16)4, 397-408. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000388 (NIHMSID 2126346)
Choi, Y., Park, M., Shen, Y., Zhang, M. & Kim, K. (2025). Measures of family process: Psychometric properties and invariance testing across South Koreans, Korean Chinese, and Korean Americans. Developmental Psychology. 62(1), 254-273. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0002074 (PMC12419487)
Park, M., Woo, B., Jeong, E., Gu, B., Choi, Y., & Takeuchi, D. (2025). Racial discrimination and anti-racist action: The mediating effects of fair-society belief among Filipino American and Korean American young adults. Journal of Research on Adolescence. 35(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.70023 (PMC12048768)
Choi, Y., Shen, Y., Park, M., & Kim, K. (2025). Changes and preservation of tradition in Asian parenting: Comparisons of family process among South Korean, Korean American, and Korean Chinese families. In X. Chen (Eds.), Asian Parenting: Meanings, Characteristics, and Implications. (pp.272-293) Routledge Publications.
Park, I.Y., Park, M., Bellamy, J. & Choi, Y. (2025). The relationship between familial factors and youth mental health outcomes in Korean American families: The mediation effects of youth’s negative emotionality. Family Process. 64(1), https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.13076
Park, M., Park, I.Y., Choi, Y. & Henly, J. (2024). The longitudinal impact of family, school, and religious support on the mental health of Filipino and Korean American adolescents across adolescence. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. 12, 4053-4066. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-024-02200-z
Maglalang, D.D., Woo, B., DeGuzman, J., Katigbak, C., Park, M., Choi, Y., & Takeuchi, D. (2024). Scale validation of Filipino cultural values and its associations with depressive symptoms and substance use in Filipino Americans. Asian American Journal of Psychology. 16(1), 2-10. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000352 (PMC12341386)
Choi, Y., Park, M., & Yasui, M. (2024). A pathway to positive youth development: Unpacking the Asian American youth paradox and cultural orientations among Filipino and Korean American youth. Children. 11(8), 950. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/8/950(PMC11352463)
Zhou, X., Park, M., & Choi, Y. (2024). Friendship homophily trajectories among Asian American youth from high school to college. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 53, 2139-2150. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-024-02008-4
Kim, T., Choi, Y., Yasui, M., Henly, J., & Harachi, T. (2024). Impact of perceived racial discrimination on depressive symptoms and school outcomes among Asian American adolescents—Korean, Cambodian, and Vietnamese. Journal of Social Service Research. 50(5), 758-770. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2024.2358249 (PMC12885568)
Park, M., Woo, B., Jung, H., Jeong, E., Choi, Y., Takeuchi, D., & Peregrina, H. (2024). COVID-19, racial discrimination, and civic engagement among Asian American young adults. Emerging Adulthood. 12(2), 236-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968231224098
Zhang, M., Shen, Y., Choi, Y., & Kim, K. (2023). Parental academic socialization and youth’s adjustments: A comparison of Korean youth in South Korea, China, and the United States. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. 52, 2526-2544. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01845-z
Lee, C.S., Sin, E.J., Park, M., Okazaki, S. & Choi, Y. (2023). Cultural family processes, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation: A longitudinal study of Asian American youth. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. 53(5), 802-817. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12984
Park, M., Choi, Y., Leopoldo, J.C., Yasui, M., & Takeuchi, D. (2023). Correlates of mental health and stigma toward mental health service use among Filipino Americans and Korean Americans. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 25, 1008-1015. (PMC10525022)
Lee, H.N., Yoon, E., Yanuaria, C. & Choi, Y. (2023). Acculturation/enculturation, culture-specific emotional distress, and parenting among Korean immigrant mothers. Asian American Journal of Psychology. 15(2), 73-82. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000328 (PMC11343448)
Yoon, E., Choi, Y., Kim, D. & Adams, P. (2023). Acculturation/enculturation and internalized model minority myth in Korean immigrant families. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 14(1), 63-72. (PMC10348698)
Choi, Y., Park, M., Pekelnicky, D.D., Lee, M. & Kim, T.Y. (2023). Prevention of substance use disorders in Asian American adolescents: A review of family-based interventions. In E. Chang & C.A. Downey (Eds.), Substance Use Disorders in Ethnic and Racial Minority Groups: Using Diversity to Help Individuals Thrive, APA Division 45 Book Series Cultural, Racial, and Ethnic Psychology (Series Editor: F.T.L. Leong). (pp. 117-216) American Psychological Association.
Yasui, M., Choi, Y., Chin, M., Samuels, G., Kim, K. & Victorson, D. (2023). Culturally attuned engagement: A qualitative analysis of social service providers in community-based organizations serving Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian immigrant populations. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 32(2), 67-78.
Yasui, M., Choi, Y., Samuels, G., Chin, M. Kim, K. & Victorson, D. (2023). Parental socialization of mental health in Chinese American families: What parents say and do and how youth make meaning. Family Process, 62, 319-335.
Choi, Y., Jeong, E., & Park, M. (2022). Asian Americans’ parent-child conflict and racial discrimination may explain mental distress. Policy Insights from Behavioral and Brain Sciences (PIBBS). 9(1), 18-26.
Shen, Y., Lee, H., Choi, Y., Hu, Y., & Kim, K. (2022). Ethnic-racial socialization, ethnic-racial identity, and depressive symptoms in Korean adolescents in the United States and China. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 51, 377-392.
Park, M., Choi, Y., Yoo, H. C., Yasui, M., & Takeuchi, D. (2021). Racial stereotypes and Asian American youth paradox. Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 50, 2374-2393. (PMC9074757)
Park, M., Choi, Y., Yasui, M., & Hedeker, D. (2021). Racial discrimination, mental health, and the moderating effects of racial and ethnic socialization among Asian American youth. Child Development, 92(6), 2284-2298. (PMC8932491)
Choi, Y., Kim, T.Y., Lee, J.P., Tan, K., Noh, S. & Takeuchi, D. (2021). Upholding familism among Asian American youth: Psychometric properties of familism measures among Filipino and Korean American youth. Adolescent Research Review, 6(4), 437-455. (PMC8673742)
Yoon, E., Choi, Y., Suh, J.E., & Galvin, S. (2021) Examination of Korean immigrant mothers’ parenting practices: By using the framework of bilinear acculturation. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 52-64. (PMC8132618)
Choi, J., Ryou, B., Kim, K., Choi, Y., & Hahm, H.C. (2020). 청소년 자살 위험의 유형화와 심리사회적 특성연구 (Latent subtypes and psychosocial characteristics of suicidality among South Korean youth). 사회복지연구 (Journal of Korean Social Welfare Studies).51(2). (Published in Korean)
Choi, Y., Park, M., Lee, J.P., & Lee, M. (2020). Explaining the Asian American youth paradox: Universal factors vs. Asian American family process among Filipino and Korean American youth. Family Process, 59(4), 1818-1836. (PMC9222425)
Woo, B., Maglalang, D.D., Ko, S., Park, M., Choi, Y., & Takeuchi, D. (2020). Racial discrimination, ethnic-racial socialization, and cultural identities among Asian American youths. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 26(4), 447-459 (PMC7483177)
Choi, Y., Park, M., Lee, J.P., Noh, S., & Takeuchi, D. (2020). Asian American mental health: Longitudinal trend and explanatory factors among Filipino- and Korean Americans. Social Science & Medicine: Population Health, 10(100542). (PMC6994703) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827319302769
Choi, Y., Lee, M., Lee, J.P., Park, M., Lee, S., & Hahm, H.C. (2020). Disempowering parenting and mental health among Asian American youth: Immigration and ethnicity. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 66(101077). (PMC7451263)
Tan, K., Gorman-Smith, D., Schoeny, M., & Choi, Y. (2019). Patterns of social-emotional problems and trajectories of aggression and substance use among middle school boys. Journal of Early Adolescence, 39(9), 1217-1243.
Ryou, B., Choi, Y., Hong, J.S., & Kim, K. (2019). Cultural Orientations and psychosocial adjustments among immigrant adolescents in South Korea. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 21 767-777.
Tan, K., Heath, R.D., Das, A., & Choi, Y. (2019). Gender differences in patterns of school victimization and problem behaviors during middle-school and their relation with school experience and graduation outcomes. Youth & Society, 51(3), 339-357.
Choi, Y., Park, M., Lee, J.P., Yasui, M., & Kim, T.Y. (2018). Explicating acculturation strategies among Asian American youth: Subtypes and correlates across Filipino and Korean Americans. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(10), 2181-2205. (PMC6286232)
Choi, Y., Kim, Y.S., Lee, J.P., Kim, H., Kim, T.Y., & Kim, S.Y. (2018). Bilinear, multidimensional cultural orientations and indigenous family process among Korean immigrant mothers and fathers. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(2), 127-139. (PMC6193501)
Choi, Y., Kim, T.Y., Noh, S., Lee, J.P., & Takeuchi, D. (2018). Culture and family process: Measures of familism for Filipino and Korean American parents. Family Process, 57(4), 1029-1048. (PMC5899960).
Augsberger, A., Rivera, A.M., Hahm, C.T., Lee, Y.A., Choi, Y., & Hahm, H.C. (2018). Culturally related risk factors of suicidal ideation, intent, and lethality of suicide plan among young Asian American women. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(4), 252-261.
Yasui, M., Kim, T.Y., & Choi, Y. (2018). Culturally specific parent mental distress, parent-child relations, and youth depression among Korean American families. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(10), 3371-3384.
Choi, Y., Park, M., Lee, J.P., Kim, T.Y., & Tan, K. (2017). Culture and family process: Examination of culture specific family process via development of new parenting measures among Filipino and Korean American families with adolescents. In Y. Choi & H.C. Hahm (Eds.), Asian American Parenting: Family Process and Intervention (pp.37-68), New York, NY: Springer.
Choi, Y. (2017). Rising challenges and opportunities of uncertain times for Asian American families. In Y. Choi & H.C. Hahm (Eds.), Asian American Parenting: Family Process and Intervention (pp.1-10), New York, NY: Springer.
Choi, Y. & Hahm, H.C. (2017). Asian American Parenting: Family Process and Intervention, New York, NY: Springer.
Choi, Y., Kim, T.Y., Pekelnicky, D.D., Kim, K., & Kim, Y.S. (2017). Impact of youth cultural orientations on perception of family process and development among Korean Americans. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(2), 244-257. (PMC5243931)
Choi, Y., Tan, K., Yasui, M., & Hahm, H.C. (2016). Advancing Understanding of Acculturation for Adolescents of Immigrants: Person-Oriented Analysis of Acculturation Strategy among Korean American Youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(7), 1380-1395. (PMC4907325) Adolescence, 45(7), 1380-1395. (PMC4907325)
Yoonsun Choi is the Mose J. and Sylvia Firestone Professor and Deputy Dean for Curriculum at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her fields of special interest include minority youth development; the role of race, ethnicity, and culture in youth development; children of immigrants; Asian American youth; and prevention of youth problem behaviors. Professor Choi teaches courses in immigrant adolescents for master’s students and life course development for doctoral students.
Professor Choi was a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Pre-Doctoral Trainee in Prevention Research and received an NIMH Dissertation Research Grant Award in Mental Health while at the Social Development Research Group, the University of Washington-Seattle. Professor Choi was also a recipient of the Research Scientist Development Award (K01) from NIMH. Funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD), Russell Sage Foundation, and the NIMH, she is the PI of the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families (MLSAAF) that examines Asian American adolescent and youth adult development and how their parents can help maximize youth potential. This study is particularly interested in the role of culture in family (such as culturally unique family processes, parent-child cultural conflicts), racial prejudice and discrimination, ethnic identity, and culture change and formation (acculturation) that may all be unique issues during the formative years for this target group, as well as other ethnic and immigrant youth. Details of MLSAAF can be found in www.mlsaaf.org.
Professor Choi received a B.A. in English/Education from Ewha University (Seoul, Korea), an M.S.S.W. from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Washington-Seattle. Her background also includes several years of clinical social work practice experience in multiple agencies with diverse populations. She worked with ethnic minority youth with severe emotional and/or behavioral problems and their families, children in foster care, mentally ill immigrant adults, and HIV+ immigrants with limited English proficiency. Professor Choi actively promotes the field of social work research, education and practice. She served as the Vice President for the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) and was the Program Chair for the SSWR 2012 Annual Conference, held in Washington, D.C. She is also active in the field of child and adolescent development research, e.g., having served as a Chair for the Asian Caucus of the Society of Research on Child Development (SRCD) (2021-2023) and the member of SRCD Publications Committee (2021-2025).