Brian 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 identities and communities using a contemporary lens. 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 for diverse communities. He has been providing therapy to 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.
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 health and mental health implications of online racism among developmentally vulnerable and digitally-connected (e.g., Gen Z) populations including adolescents and emerging adults of color. He ultimately aims to develop practical interdisciplinary coping interventions, digital tools, and prevention strategies to mitigate the harmful costs of online racism, as well as promote a 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.
Dr. Keum’s research interests also include: (a) mental health issues among Asian individuals, particularly the impact of gendered racism using intersectionality framework, (b) multicultural and social justice issues in therapist competence and training, and (c) culturally-congruent and culturally-relevant measure development/evaluation. He employs advanced quantitative methods such as dyadic analysis, response-surface analysis, multilevel analysis, and latent variable modeling to address his research questions. 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. He has published widely, including the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychological Assessment, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Asian American Journal of Psychology, Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, and Psychology of Violence. He currently serves on the editorial board for Psychology of Violence.
Please visit his ResearchGate or Google Scholar for full list of publications.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Keum, B.T., Morales, K., Kivlighan Jr., Hill, C.E., & Gelso, C.J. (in press). Do Therapists Improve in their Ability to Assess Clients’ Satisfaction? A Truth and Bias Model. Journal of Counseling Psychology.
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