PUBLISHED SCALES

Adoption, Diaspora, Race, Identity, and More

For more information and to use one of my measures send an email to JaeInKim.phd@gmail.com

BIRTH FAMILY THOUGHTS SCALE

Kim et al. (2020; Journal of Family Psychology)

For adopted individuals, understanding the role of birth family is an important part of developing a coherent life narrative. However, there is limited empirical research on this aspect of the adoption experience. We introduce a new construct, birth family thoughts, that captures a sense of curiosity about birth family, and describe the development of an accompanying brief self-report measure, the Birth Family Thoughts Scale (BFTS). Across 4 studies of transnationally adopted Korean American adolescents, emerging adults, and adults who were adopted before the age of 3 (ncombined 546), we found strong support for a 1-factor structure using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and good internal consistency and test–retest reliability. Convergent validity was generally supported. The BFTS was positively related to measures of adoption- and ethnicity-related constructs, although there were a few inconsistencies between studies and measures. Discriminant validity also was generally supported. We found no evidence for the BFTS being related to a poor adoptive family situation or an indication of psychopathology. We did find some evidence of the BFTS relating to internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Furthermore, while the BFTS was unrelated to travel to Korea, it was correlated with visiting an orphanage in Korea. It was also related to initiating a birth family search in Study 1, but not in Studies 2 or 3. We discuss the importance of considering birth family thoughts across the life span and with other populations, as well as the limitations of the current study including sampling issues inherent in working with hard-to-reach populations.

DIASPORIC IDENTITY SCALE

Kim et al. (2021; Adoption Quarterly)

Drawing upon diaspora scholarship and social identity theory, we propose a new psychological construct – diasporic identity – to capture how transnationally adopted individuals draw meaning from their migrations, the communities that they construct, and their relationships with their homeland. We describe the development of a new self-report measure – the Diasporic Identity Scale (DIS) – to assess this construct, and we provide initial psychometric evidence for it using a sample of transnationally adopted Korean American adolescents (N = 117). The DIS comprises two dimensions: solidarity (r =.90) and homeland attachment (r =.88). Diasporic solidarity is a sense of within-group empathy and emphasizes community building; homeland attachment captures a desire to return to the homeland and for cultural roots. Exploratory factor analysis supports the two-factor structure. We also provide initial evidence for convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity.

RECULTURATIVE ACTIVITIES SCALE

Kim & Baden (2025; Adoption Quarterly)

Transracially and transnationally adopted individuals lose their birth culture as they assimilate to the culture of their adoptive families. As adults, adopted individuals often seek out information, experiences, and community related to their birth culture, a process known as reculturation (Baden et al.). While research lends support for reculturation as a process, work examining the psychological processes associated with reculturation has been limited by the absence of an easy to use measure. Therefore, we developed a new measure of reculturation—the reculturative activities scale. Working with a sample of adult adopted individuals (n = 226), we examined the scale’s psychometric properties. Exploratory factor analysis indicated a three-factor solution, with dimensions of experiential education (α = .90), birth culture immersion (α = .71), and adoptee socialization (α = .76). We provide preliminary evidence for validity. We conclude with discussion of research applications.