Meifen Wei

My general research interests are (A) coping with minority-related stress (e.g., acculturative stress, minority status stress, or discrimination) among minority populations, in particular, Asian international students, Asian immigrants, and Asian Americans, (B) the implications of attachment theory to counseling psychology, and (C) counseling process and outcome research.

A. Coping with minority-related stress (e.g., acculturative stress, minority status stress, or discrimination)

My first research program is related to coping with minority-related stress (e.g., acculturative stress, minority status stress, or discrimination). The way minorities cope with minority-related stress is a very complicated research question to answer. A number of factors might impact this process such as different levels of acculturation, enculturation and ethnic identity, generation, cultural values, immigrant history, social economic status, or personality. Therefore, currently, I plan to focus on this research program in order to answer research questions specifically related to what protective factors work for whom under what situations to reduce the impact of minority stress on mental health outcomes among ethnic minorities and sexual minority groups, in particular for Asian international students, Asian immigrants, and Asian Americans.    

B. The implications of attachment theory to counseling psychology

My second research program is related to the implications of attachment theory to counseling psychology. Currently, I have three directions for this line of research. First. I would like to expand this line of research program to different ethnic groups, sexual minority groups, and community samples. Second, I am interested in longitudinal studies in this area.  Third, I would like to expand this research line to clinical populations to explore the associations among attachment, therapeutic relationships, help-seeking, and affect regulation.