Make the most out of your time at Convention by checking out this year’s program [Download pdf of AAPA_2015 Convention Program]. In addition to noting this year’s outstanding talks and research presentations, learn more about the numerous opportunities to network and connect with fellow AAPA members (Early Bird Reception and Breakfast, Lunchtime Discussions, etc). See you in Toronto!
Dear AAPA Members and Friends:
As you most likely know, the report commissioned by APA’s Board of Directors to examine the association’s conduct in regard to the Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) Task Force and the association’s relations with the Department of Defense and the CIA in relation to torture and interrogation techniques has been made public. The report document (also referred to as the Hoffman Report) and related materials are available at http://www.apa.org/independent-review.
Although AAPA is an organization independent of APA, we recognize that many of our members are also APA members and that actions of the APA (as the largest organization for our profession) have considerable impact on the public’s view of psychology.
We know that many of you have strong feelings about the past and present practices and policies of APA issues, as well as fears about the impacts on our profession of these practices and the findings of the investigation. This is a difficult moment for the APA and for the profession of psychology, and it will take considerable time for each of us, as psychologists, to understand and digest the implications for the profession, for our own professional activities, and for our own organizations. During this process and time, the Executive Committee of AAPA seeks to ensure that our members are well informed about these issues and the APA response that is still unfolding.
To that end, we offer the following current information and recommendations:
- We encourage you to directly review the Hoffman report (the Executive Summary is 72 pages, at the beginning of the report) and the APA response. There are many perspectives on these issues, and popular media articles have their own slants on reporting.
- We also encourage you to review the initial recommendations from the APA Board: http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/07/independent-review-release.aspx
- APA is working to develop active processes through which members, psychologists, and the public can comment and/or participate in discussions and recommendations. To that end:
- APA has set up a public comment mechanism (at the bottom of the independent report page): http://www.apa.org/independent-review/index.aspx
- APA/CoR will hold a Town Hall Meeting related to these issues at the APA Convention on Saturday, August 8 from 3-4:30pm.
- APA CoR is working on on-line venues for people who cannot attend convention to discuss the report.
Given the complexity of these issues, there will be extensive discussions on the APA Council of Representatives and throughout APA as an organization, with careful consideration of how best to proceed to ensure that the resulting process, policy, and procedures are ethical and reflect the best values of the process. Therefore, as further events unfold, we will do our best to keep you well informed.
On behalf of the AAPA Executive Committee,
Sumie Okazaki
AAPA President
Karen L. Suyemoto
AAPA Observer to the APA Council of Representatives
Convention News Highlights:
- Register by July 21st! Prices go up for on-site registration.
- Want to plan your Convention day? Download the schedule.
- Researchers & clinicians are invited to join together at a special lunchtime networking session, titled “Writing Case Studies: Highlighting Practice-Based Evidence and Evidence-Based Practice.” The event, co-sponsored by the Asian American Journal of Psychology and the AAPA Practice Task Force, will discuss the journal’s new guidelines for case study submissions. For more information:
- Are you a clinically-oriented researcher seeking to increase your publication record and collaborate with research-oriented clinicians?
- Are you a clinician with interesting case material to share but limited time and resources to publish?
Case studies provide practical examples of culturally-informed approaches to service delivery that can be evaluated alongside the research literature to inform treatment decisions. In a growing field such as Asian American psychology, case studies also may be especially helpful for exploring understudied phenomena and generating hypotheses that may be explored in future research. We encourage participants to come prepared to discuss ideas for case studies and present areas of expertise that they could contribute to the shaping of others’ case studies. Students are welcome!
In this lunchtime interactive session, we will:
1. Present the guidelines and requirements for submission of case studies to the AAJP Case Study Section.
2. Develop ideas for case studies highlighting innovative approaches to service delivery involving Asian Americans.
3. Provide opportunities to network and meet potential collaborators that can help bridge gaps in research and clinical practice.
TO REGISTER: Email the AAJP Case Study Section Editor, Doris F. Chang, at changd@newschool.edu and provide the following information:
1. Name and job title
2. Area of expertise
3. What kinds of case studies would you be interested in working on? (Examples: case studies involving kids and families; treatment of depression; spiritually-focused interventions; applications of mindfulness)
4. What kind of concrete assistance would be helpful? (Examples: information about the latest research on X to help ground my literature review; access to library databases or statistical help; consultation on a case formulation; help with taking my case notes and turning them into a paper; someone to edit my work)
5. What kind of assistance can you provide?
6. Do you have an idea for a case study that you wish to workshop or discuss during the session? (Y/N)
Good news! The 2014 Impact Factors have been released, and AAPA’s flagship journal, Asian American Journal of Psychology, received a score of 1.686 for 2014. This figure is up from 1.405 for 2013. Furthermore, AAJP ranked #1 among Ethnic Studies journals – evidence of AAJP’s success in disseminating our thriving membership’s scholarly contributions and interdisciplinary reach!
Please join in congratulating Founding Editor Fred Leong and current Editor Bryan Kim for their leadership and vision, and thanks to all the authors who helped make 2014 an impactful year for AAJP
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Asian American Journal of Psychology, Vol 6 No 2, (June 2015) Feature Article: Perceived Discrimination, Intergenerational Family Conflicts, and Depressive Symptoms in Foreign-Born and U.S.-Born Asian American Emerging Adults by Hsiu-Lan Cheng (New Mexico State University), Shu-Ping Lin (Tamkang University, New Taipei City, Taiwan) & Chu Hui Cha (New Mexico State University)
Hsiu-Lan Cheng, first author of the AAJP June 2015 issue’s feature article
Do you think your perspective or experiences of being racially discriminated are different from those of your family members, particularly those from a different generation? Has such difference ever led to disagreement or conflicts? How do you think these types of experience, either of being discriminated or in conflicts with your family, affect your mental health? As the sociocultural and political conversations on racial discrimination rage on in America in 2015, one does not have to look far to discover the long and elaborate streams of literature detailing the negative psychological consequences of discrimination. Against this backdrop, Cheng, Lin, and Cha (2015) extend these streams in the current June 2015 issue of the Asian American Journal of Psychology. Cheng and colleagues broaden our knowledge on the mechanisms through which discrimination negatively impacts mental health among Asian American and immigrant college students. Recognizing the interrelated and dynamic nature of contextual factors at various levels, Dr. Cheng and her colleagues cleverly hypothesize family conflict as a mediation between discrimination and depressive symptoms.
Drawing from her five years of clinical experiences as a staff psychologist at a large university counseling center before transitioning to a research-oriented academic career and also from personal experience as a first-generation immigrant, Dr. Cheng understood very well how intergenerational conflicts represent a powerful and complex influence particularly in Asian American and immigrant families where these issues are further compounded by identity development as racial minorities. Different individuals and different generations approach racial identity development in distinctive ways and the resulting dissonance in this process potentially contributes to family conflicts. Racial discrimination then embodies a prime example of intergenerational disagreement, which, like experiences of discrimination, also predicts more depressive symptoms.
This article is a fascinating read if you are interested in how different levels of ecological factors can influence each other, in a mediational fashion in this instance, to ultimately influence mental health on the individual level. Other specific explorations in the study included investigating both father and mother and at both first and second generation Asian immigrant and Americans differentially. More generally, the article also succinctly yet thoroughly reviews some of the most recent literature on associations between perceived discrimination, family conflict, and depression. So help yourself stay informed on the latest findings on how race relates to family and mental health!
Feature written by Ming-Che Tu, Chair of AAPA’s Division of Students, for Asian American Psychological Association
The latest Table of Contents can be accessed here: http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=browsePA.volumes&jcode=aap