More about this Faculty Member
Vita
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Dr. Jennifer A. Kam
Assistant Professor
Contact Information
School of Communication
The Ohio State University
154 North Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1339
Fax: (614) 292-2055
kam.12@osu.edu
Qualifications
B.A., 2002, The University of California, Davis (Communication and English)
M.A., 2004, San Diego State University (Communication Studies)
Ph.D., 2009, The Pennsylvania State University (Communication Arts & Sciences)
Profile
My research focuses on contextual and cultural stressors (e.g., cultural brokering, perceived discrimination, family economic stress, etc.) associated with minority group status, immigration, and acculturation processes that place youth at risk for substance use, poor academic performance, as well as other problem behaviors. In addition, I am interested in examining whether parent, teacher, and peer communication and relationship factors function as protective resources. I am currently examining who youth confide in when they experience contextual and cultural stressors, the type of supportive (or non-supportive) messages they receive, the advice they receive for coping with stressors, and whether such messages buffer against the potentially harmful effects of the stressors. Given these potential stressors and protective factors, my focus also lies in translating such findings to culturally-grounded school- and family-based substance use prevention research.
My second area of research involves communication and aging, with a particular focus on informal caregiving. My work includes exploring family members’ involvement in caring for an aging parent, along with examining how the identity gaps between young-adults and their grandparents predict their caregiving intentions and perceptions.
Finally, my methodological interests are in latent growth curve modeling, examining mediation and moderation with structural equation modeling, applying modern strategies for handling missing data, and more recently, learning latent class, profile, and transition analyses.
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