Jennifer Kam

Research Areas

Dr. Kam uses quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the ways in which stressors—stemming from racial/ethnic marginalization, immigration, and acculturation—relate to immigrant youth’s academic, mental, and physical well-being. Although many stressors exist, she focuses on undocumented immigration status, interpreting for adult family members under stressful conditions, and perceived racial/ethnic discrimination. Much of Dr. Kam’s work utilizes a stress-resilience-thriving framework to identify individual (e.g., psychological and individual actions), interpersonal (e.g., communication with family, teachers, counselors, friends), and institutional (e.g., schools and universities) level factors that can attenuate the negative effects of stressors (i.e., buffer against the stress) and/or directly promote academic, mental, and physical well-being (i.e., thriving).