Brian TaeHyuk Keum, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Welfare at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Broadly, Dr. Keum’s research focuses on reducing health and mental health disparities among marginalized and oppressed individuals and communities (specific areas listed below). As a social justice-oriented scientist-practitioner, Dr. Keum also draws from his clinical experience to conduct research that improves mental health practice and informs advocacy. He has been providing therapy to a diverse community- and college-based clientele for the past 8 years. He received his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Maryland-College Park and completed his American Psychological Association-Accredited Doctoral Health Service Psychology Internship at the University of Maryland Counseling Center. Prior to his doctoral education, he earned his M.A. in Mental Health Counseling from Columbia University Teachers College and a B.S. in Anatomy and Cell Biology from McGill University.
Please visit his ResearchGate or Google Scholar for full list of publications.
Lab website: The Health, Identities, Inequality, and Technology (HI2T) Lab
Using an interdisciplinary framework drawing from theories of racism, online communication, human-computer interactions, and violence, Dr. Keum’s primary research examines the biopsychosocial impact of online racism and racial violence in today’s digital society. He is particularly interested in exploring the mental health implications (e.g., loneliness, stress), risky behavioral outcomes (e.g., substance abuse, suicidal ideation), and negative social perceptual/worldview shifts linked to online racism among developmentally vulnerable and digitally-connected (e.g., Gen Z) youths and emerging adults of color. He ultimately aims to develop practical interdisciplinary coping interventions, digital tools, and prevention strategies for individuals, families, and communities, to mitigate the harmful costs of online racism, as well as promote a critical digital culture of anti-racism and advocacy. He is also working to expand his framework to examine other online discrimination experiences such as online sexism, and online heterosexism.
- Intersectionality and Asian American mental health
Dr. Keum’s research also focuses on the mental health of Asian individuals in the United States using an intersectional lens. Specifically, he examines body image issues and gendered racism as risk factors for mental health issues and risky behaviors (e.g., suicidal ideation, risky alcohol use) among Asian men and women. He also examines the socialization process of Asian individuals (e.g., gendered racial socialization) in the United States to uncover ways to mitigate adversities and adjustment difficulties, and reinforce protective and flourishing experiences at the individual and institutional levels. He employs both quantitative and qualitative research methods to address these research aims.
- Multicultural and social justice-oriented psychotherapy science
Additionally, Dr. Keum also conducts clinically-informed research on multicultural and social justice issues in clinician competence (e.g., therapist and agency effects on therapy outcomes for racial/ethnic minority and international individuals) and training (e.g., training program and peer norms related to social justice attitudes and advocacy). To elucidate factors contributing to disparities in therapy for minority clients, he focuses on understanding what leads to variability in therapist and agency effectiveness, as well as factors that promote the development of social justice attitude and advocacy action among trainees. In doing so, he employs dyadic (e.g., Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, Truth and Bias Model) and group level (e.g., Multi-level Modeling) analyses that better represent real world therapy and training dynamics compared to individual-level analyses.
- Culturally valid and informed psychometrics
Last, Dr. Keum evaluates existing psychological measures/assessments for use with culturally-diverse populations and develops new measures that are culturally-informed and psychometrically rigorous. He focuses particularly on assessing discrimination and oppression experiences that require greater empirical attention. He has expertise in cutting-edge psychometric techniques (e.g., measurement invariance, bifactor analysis) to evaluate the reliability, validity, and cross-cultural utility of psychological measures.
Dr. Keum’s research has been funded and recognized by multiple divisions (General Psychology; Counseling Psychology; Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race; Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy; Advancement of Psychotherapy) of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Foundation, the Asian American Psychological Association, Society for Psychotherapy Research, Active Minds, and the highly competitive Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Doctoral Fellowship from the Canadian government. Recently, Dr. Keum has been awarded a three-year grant ($~770,000) from the Tobacco Disease-Related Research Program to study links between online racism and high rates of smoking among Black young adults. The grant will also support Keum’s partnership with the California Youth Advocacy Network to conduct community- and campus-based anti-racism advocacy programs.
He is the recipient of the Rising Star Award given by the National Multicultural Conference and Summit which honors the efforts and significant contributions of early career psychologists in multicultural research, teaching, advocacy, policy, and/or clinical care; the 2022 Researcher of the Year Award given by the American Psychological Association’s Division 51 Society for Men and Masculinities; and the 2022 Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship on Race and Ethnicity Award given by the Section on Ethnic and Racial Diversity of the American Psychological Association’s Division 17 Society For Counseling Psychology. He has published widely, including in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Asian American Journal of Psychology, Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, Computers in Human Behavior, and Psychology of Violence. He currently serves on the editorial board for Psychology of Violence, The counseling Psychologist, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychology of Men & Masculinities, Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Frontiers in Psychology, and Personality and Social Psychology Review.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
*Denotes student co-authors
Keum, B.T. & *Wong, M.J., *Salim-Eissa, R. (in press). Gendered racial microaggressions, internalized racism, and suicidal ideation among Asian American women. International Journal of Social Psychiatry
Keum, B.T., & Li, X. (in press). Online Racism, Rumination, and Vigilance: Impact on Distress, Loneliness, and Alcohol Use.The Counseling Psychologist
Keum, B. T., Li, X., Cheng, H.-L., & *Sappington, R. T. (2022). Substance use risk among Asian American men: The role of gendered racism, internalization of western muscularity ideals, interpersonal and body shame, and drive for muscularity. Psychology of Men & Masculinities. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000368
Keum, B.T. & *Ahn, L.H. (2021). Impact of Online Racism on Psychological Distress and Alcohol Use: Test of Ethnic-Racial Socialization and Silence about Race as Moderators. Computers in Human Behaviors. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106773
Keum, B.T., & Choi, A.Y. (2021). Gendered Racism, Interpersonal Shame, Depressive Symptoms, and Alcohol Use among Asian American Men. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000505
*Ahn, L. H., Keum, B. T., *Meizys, G. M., *Choudry, A., *Gomes, M. A., & Wang, L. (2021). Second-generation Asian American women’s gendered racial socialization. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000575
Keum, B.T., & *Hearns, M. (2021). Online Gaming and Racism: Impact on Psychological Distress Across
Black, Asian, and Latinx Emerging Adults. Games and Culture. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211039082
Keum, B.T., & Cano, M.A. (2021). Online Racism, Psychological Distress, and Alcohol Use among Racial
Minority Women and Men: A Multi-group Mediation Analysis. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 91(4), 524–530. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000553
Keum, B.T., Bartholomew, T.T., *Robbins, K.A., Perez-Rojas, A.E., Lockard, A.J., Kivlighan Jr., D.M., *Kang, E., *Joy, E.E., *Aguiniga, S.M. (in press). Therapist and Counseling Center Effects on International Students’ Counseling Outcome: A Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Counseling Psychology
Keum, B.T. *Kase, C.A., *Sharma, R.,* Yee, S.E., O’Connor, S., *Bansal, P., & *Yang, N.Y. (in press). Collective Program Social Justice Identity and Perceived Norms on Promoting Student Advocacy. The Counseling Psychologist
Cano, M. A., Schwartz, S. J., MacKinnon, D. P., Keum, B.T., Prado, G., Marsiglia, F. F., Salas-Wright, C. P., Cobb, C., Garcini, L. M., De La Rosa, M., Sánchez, M., Rahman, A., Acosta, L., Roncancio, A. M., & de Dios, M. A. (2020). Exposure to ethnic discrimination in social media and symptoms of anxiety and depression among Hispanic emerging adults: Examining the moderating role of gender. Journal of Clinical Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23050
Keum, B.T., & Wang, L. (2020). Supervision and Psychotherapy Process and Outcome: A Meta-analytic Review. Translational Issues in Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000272
Keum, B.T., Morales, K., Kivlighan Jr., Hill, C.E., & Gelso, C.J. (2020). Do Therapists Improve in their Ability to Assess Clients’ Satisfaction? A Truth and Bias Model. Journal of Counseling Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000525
Keum, B.T., & Miller, M.J. (2020). Social Justice Interdependence among Students in Counseling Psychology Training Programs: Group Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Social Justice Attitudes, Training Program Norms, Advocacy Intentions, and Peer Relationship. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 67(2), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000390
Keum, B.T. & Miller, M.J. (2018). Measurement Invariance of the Perceived Online Racism Scale across Age and Gender. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 12(3), 3. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2018-3-3
Keum, B. T. (2018). Conceptual application of the group actor–partner interdependence model for person–group psychological research. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4(4), 340–348. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000180 *Special issue: Quantitative Methods
Keum, B.T., Brady, J., Sharma, R., Lu, Y., Kim, Y., & Thai, C. (2018). Gendered Racial Microaggressions Scale for Asian American Women: Development and Initial Validation. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(5), 571-585.https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000305
Keum, B.T., Hill, C.E., Kivlighan Jr., D.M., & Lu, Y. (2018). Group- and Individual-Level Self-Stigma Reductions in Promoting Psychological Help-Seeking Attitudes among College Students in Undergraduate Helping Skills Courses. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 65(5), Oct 2018, 661-668. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000283
Keum, B.T. & Miller, M.J. (2018). Racism on the Internet: Conceptualization and Recommendations for Research. Psychology of Violence, 8(6), 782 – 791. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000201 *Special issue: Racism, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Privilege, and Violence: Advancing Science to Inform Practice and Policy
Keum, B.T., Thai, C.J., Truong, N.N., Ahn, H.L., & Lu, Y. (2018). Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire Community Version Brief Across Race and Gender. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/17542863.2018.1436578
Keum, B.T., Miller, M.J., Lee, M., & Chen, G.A. (2018). Color-blind Racial Attitudes Scale for Asian Americans: Testing the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance Across Generational Status. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 9(2), 149-157. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000100
Keum, B.T., Miller, M.J., & Inkelas, K.K. (2018). Testing the Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the PHQ-9 Across Racially Diverse U.S. College Students. Psychological Assessment, 30(8), 1096-1106. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000550
Morales, K., Keum, B.T., Kivlighan Jr., D.M., Hill, C.E., & Gelso, C.J. (2018). Therapist Effects Due to Client Racial/Ethnic Status when Examining Linear Growth for Client-and Therapist-Rated Working Alliance and Real Relationship. Psychotherapy, 55(1), 9-19. https://doi.org/10.1037/pst0000135
Keum, B.T. (2017). Qualitative Examination on the Influences of the Internet on Racism and its Online Manifestation.International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 7(3), 13-23. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCBPL.2017070102
Wong, S., Keum, B.T., Caffarel, D., Srinivasan, R., Morshedian, N., Capodilupo, C., & Brewster, M.E. (2017). Exploring the conceptualization of body image in Asian American women: Negotiating cultural standards of beauty, cultural identity, and the implications for eating disorder risk. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(4), 296-307. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000234* Special issue: Qualitative Methods in Asian American Psychology
Keum, B.T., & Miller, M.J. (2017). Racism in Digital Era: Development and Initial Validation of the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS v1.0). Journal of Counseling Psychology, 64(3), 310-324. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000205
Keum, B.T. (2016). Asian American Men’s Internalization of Western Media Appearance Ideals, Appearance Comparison, and Acculturative Stress. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 7(4), 256-264. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000057
Keum, B.T., Wong, S., DeBlaere, C. & Brewster, M.E. (2015). Body Image and Asian American Men: Examination of the Drive for Muscularity Scale. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 16(3), 284 – 293. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038180
