Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim

Dr. Bo-Kyung Elizabeth Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences. The goal of her research is to bridge the research-practice gap in service delivery models to address the mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs of youth in and at-risk for being involved in the juvenile justice system. Specifically, Dr. Kim is committed to research that seeks to reduce racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparities endemic to the juvenile justice system. While much of the research has focused on evidence-based programs to reduce these problems, not much has been achieved to reduce the racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparities prevalent in the juvenile justice system. Dr. Kim's research includes three focus areas: 1) understanding the development of both healthy and problematic behaviors in adolescence; 2) identifying service needs of youth in school and justice systems; and 3) identifying and testing effective strategies to improve services that promote positive development among youth at-risk for or in the juvenile justice system. Together, her research seeks to move evidence-based practice into service systems in order to reduce mental, emotional, and behavioral health inequity experienced primarily by youth of color over the life course. In collaboration with the UPenn Center for Guaranteed Income Research, Dr. Kim is currently serving as the site-PI for BIG:LEAP, a randomized controlled trial testing the effect of guaranteed income among families living in the City of Los Angeles. 

Institute Affiliations

• UC Berkeley Center for Prevention Research in Social Welfare

Selected Publications

• Tan, K. P., Mahoney*, J., Campbell*, J., Laursen*, T., Kemp, D., Kim+, B. K. E. (2023). The promise of racial healing to achieve health equity through school-based prevention. American Journal of Public Health, 113, S119-S123
• Boyd, R., Castro, F. G., …. Kim, B. K. E., …. (2023). Strategic directions in preventive intervention research to reduce health disparities and promote health equity. Prevention Science, 24, 577-596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01462-5
• Kim, B. K. E., Dierkhising, C. B., DeLeon*, J., Sandoval*, J., Brissett, A. E., & Bounds, D. T. (2022). Evaluation of services for the commercial sexual exploitation of children and youth: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. Advance online: https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380221126185
• Kim, B. K. E., Gilman, A. B., Thompson*, N., & DeLeon*, J. (2021). Statewide trends of trauma history, suicidality, and mental health among youth entering the juvenile justice system. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(2), 300-307.
• Kim, B. K. E., Gilman, A. B., Tan, K., Kosterman, R., Bailey, J., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (2020). Identifying and predicting criminal career profiles from adolescence to age 39. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 30(4), 210-220
• Bath, E., Kim, B. K. E., Lopez, S. A., Amani, B., & Milburn, N. G. (2019). Lessons learned: Challenges and strategies for conducting family-based intervention research in juvenile justice settings. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 58(11), 1038-1041
• Logan-Greene, P., Kim, B. K. E., Quinn, C., Voisin, D., & DiClemente, R. (2018). Ecologies of mental health risk among African American girls in juvenile detention. Children and Youth Services Review, 85, 245-252
• Kim, B. K. E., Gilman, A. B., Hill, K. G., & Hawkins, J. D. (2016). Examining protective factors against violence among high-risk youth: Findings from the Seattle Social Development Project. Journal of Criminal Justice, 45, 19-25.
• Kim, B. K. E., Oesterle, S., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (2015). Change in protective factors across adolescent development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 40, 26-37
• Kim, B. K. E., Gloppen, K. M., Rhew, I. C., Oesterle, S., & Hawkins, J. D. (2015). Effects of the Communities That Care Prevention System on youth reports of protective factors. Prevention Science, 16(5), 652-662