ABOUT THE LAB
The Immigrant and Minority Digital Mental Health Lab (IM-DMH Lab) examines how digital technologies, data systems, and artificial intelligence influence access to and experiences of mental health care among immigrant, racial/ethnic minority, and linguistically marginalized populations.
Our work focuses on the intersection of technology, culture, and behavioral health equity, with particular attention to how digital tools are implemented within real clinical and community contexts. Projects combine computational, quantitative, and qualitative approaches with administrative, digital, survey, and web-based data to examine how technology shapes the therapeutic process and to guide the development of culturally and linguistically responsive AI and digital interventions.
The lab aims to produce evidence that advances equitable mental health systems and promotes ethical, inclusive technology design across service, policy, and research settings.
PROGRAM OF RESEARCH
Topic 1. Digital Access to Mental Health Care among Immigrants and Minority Populations
This theme examines how immigrant, racial/ethnic minority, and limited English proficient (LEP) populations access, navigate, and experience digital mental health services. It focuses on the structural, linguistic, and cultural factors that influence engagement with telehealth, language-concordant therapy, and other virtual care modalities. The work also explores how digital systems can support more culturally and linguistically appropriate care guided by an implementation science framework.
Selected Publications/Works in Progress
- Yoo, N., Hong, Y., & Choi, Y. (2025). Explaining racial/ethnic disparities in telehealth use with different levels of English proficiency: A decomposition approach. Telemedicine Reports.
- Na, S., Solomon, P., & Yoo, N. (Revise and Resubmit). Impact of bilingual mental health providers on service utilization among Asian Americans: Moderating role of Medicaid spending. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
- Yoo, N., Hong, Y., & Choi, Y. (Under Review). Decomposing racial/ethnic disparities in the use of telemental health services among U.S. adolescents: Results from the National Survey.
- Yoo, N., Lee, J., & Jang, S.H. (Under Review). E-government engagement and subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Comparing North Korean refugees and native Koreans.
- Yoo, N., & Jang, S.H. (Under Review). Extending the technology acceptance model across the digital divide: AI perceptions, utilization, and well-being among migrant and native-born Koreans.
- Yoo, N., & Jang, S.H. (Under Review). How bridging and bonding social capital shape the performance expectancy of digital transformation among immigrants and natives.
Topic 2. Computational and AI Approaches to Behavioral Health Equity
This topic applies natural language processing, machine learning, and large-scale data analysis to study equity in behavioral health systems. It investigates how clinicians describe clients across professional roles, whether social and cultural contexts—such as discrimination or language barriers—are represented, and how these patterns affect the quality of care and data-driven decision-making. The research also evaluates the social implications of artificial intelligence in behavioral health.
Selected Publications/Works in Progress
- Yoo, N., Park, M., & Chang, D.F. (2025). Harnessing computational methods to assess racial, ethnic, and linguistic diversity in the social worker workforce in the United States. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
- Stanhope, V., Yoo, N., Matthews, L., Baslock, D., & Hu, Y. (2024). The impact of collaborative documentation on person-centered care: A textual analysis of clinical notes. JMIR Medical Informatics.
- Yoo, N., Matthews, L., Baslock, D. & Stanhope, V. (2024). Impact of collaborative documentation on completeness and length of clinical notes in behavioral health settings. Psychiatric Services.
- Yoo, N., Ritchie, A., & Gwadz, M. (R&R). Training computational social work scientists: Lessons from the Summer Institute of Computational Social Science. Journal of Social Work Education.
Topic 3. Digital Spaces of Well-being, Identity-making, and Coping
This theme analyzes online environments—such as immigrant forums and social media communities—as spaces of emotional expression, identity formation, and mutual support. It examines how individuals who experience stigma, marginalization, or mistrust of formal systems use digital platforms to seek connection, exchange coping strategies, and sustain resilience. Insights from these studies contribute to the development of natural language processing tools that better detect emotion, context, and support dynamics across culturally diverse online settings.
Selected Publications/Works in Progress
- Yoo, N., Rodwin, A., Park, M., Youm, S., & Jang, S.H. (Revise and Resubmit). Emotional expression in BTS fandom coping with depressive mood: A natural language processing study on YouTube comments. JMIR Infodemiology.
- Yoo, N., & Jang, S.H. (2024). Enhancing or compensating? The role of on- and offline social capital and technological self-efficacy on subjective well-being among immigrants and natives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
- Yoo, N., & Jang, S.H. (2023). Increased digital technology use, technological self-efficacy, and life satisfaction among North Korean migrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital Health.
- Yoo, N., Lee, J., Cheng, C., & Cureton, A., (In Progress). Digital mutual aid in precarity: Peer support among DACA recipients on Reddit across U.S. administrations.
Topic 4. Social and Structural Determinants of Mental Health among Minority Populations
This theme investigates how institutional, policy, and sociocultural contexts shape mental health, identity, and help-seeking among immigrant and minority communities. It examines the cumulative effects of inequality, discrimination, and racialization on well-being, while also identifying pathways of collective resilience and solidarity. The work bridges individual experience and macro-level conditions to inform more equitable behavioral health systems.
Selected Publications/Works in Progress
- Yoo, N., Nicholson, H., Chang, D.F., & Okazaki, S. (2023). Mapping anti-Asian xenophobia: State-level variation in implicit and explicit bias against Asian Americans across the United States. Socius.
- Yoo, N., Hong, Y., & Choi, Y. (2023). Immigrant-origin youths at risk: Trends in suicidal behaviors among Korean adolescents by immigrant origins and ethnic options. Journal of Affective Disorders.
- Chang, D.F., Yoo, N., Prasai, A., Lee, C.S., & Okazaki, S. (2023). From racial awakening to collective action: Asian Americans’ pathways to activism and benevolent support during COVID-19. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology.
- Baslock, D.& Yoo, N. (Revise and Resubmit). Multidimensional approaches to ranking state-level rurality to enhance comparisons across states. Milbank Quarterly.
- Yoo, N., Chang, D.F., & Prasai, A., Patankar, K., & Okazaki, S., (Under Review). The toll of racial ambiguity: street race concordance-discordance and mental health among Asian Americans.
- Yoo, N., Lee, C.S., Prasai, A., Chang, D.F., & Okazaki, S. (Under Review). I don’t belong here: Thwarted belongingness, collective identification, and suicidal ideation among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MENTORSHIP AND COLLABORATION
The IM-DMH Lab includes students and collaborators from social work, sociology, public health, psychology, and data science. Mentorship emphasizes research design, interdisciplinary collaboration, and professional development for students pursuing careers in mental health research and practice. Collaborations include partnerships with hospitals, community-based organizations, and research organizations working on behavioral health equity, digital inclusion, and ethical technology design.
At this time, I do not have open RA positions, but I am creating an interest pool of students. If opportunities arise, I may reach out to you. If you are a current U-M MSW student, some RA opportunities may be paid depending on project funding. Others may be for course credit or volunteer experience.
Importantly: you do not need prior research experience to sign up. If you are curious and motivated, that is enough for some of my projects. If you are volunteering, I will make every effort to ensure that your work is meaningful, that you learn something new, and that the experience contributes to your growth🌱. When students make substantial contributions to a project, there may also be opportunities to be involved in conference presentations or publications.
CONTACT
Dr. Nari Yoo, Assistant Professor of Social Work (nariyoo@umich.edu)
