Danbi Choe, a doctoral student in School Psychology, has won the Lyle V. Jones Dissertation Fellowship from Carolina’s Graduate School.
One of the University’s prestigious Royster Fellowships, the Lyle Jones Dissertation Fellowship provides tuition and a living stipend for one year to an advanced student completing research leading to the Ph.D.
Choe is conducting dissertation research aimed at developing and evaluating an intervention designed to support social emotional learning among Korean immigrant adolescents.
Her study seeks to develop a mental health program tailored to fit the unique needs and experiences of Korean immigrant youth, a group that has not received a lot of study despite their increasing needs, Choe said.
Using a mixed methods design, Choe’s study first will collect quantitative and qualitative data from an expert panel and intervention stakeholders to evaluate the feasibility and validity of Choe’s proposed intervention she calls HEAM, standing for “Help and Encouragement for Asian immigrant youth’s Mental health.”
The study will explore HEAM’s efficacy by examining the improvements in participants’ social emotional knowledge, skills, and well-being. In addition to offering contributions to a body of literature on the intersections among mental health, immigrant youth, and intervention research, Choe’s study also promises to offer practical implications for educators and clinicians working with youth from diverse backgrounds.
Her dissertation adviser is Steve Knotek.
The fellowship is named after Lyle V. Jones, who served as director of the psychometrics laboratory and as vice chancellor and dean of the Graduate School from 1969 to 1979.