About

Alisia (Giac-Thao) Tran is a faculty member involved in research related to ethnic and minority psychology and experiences. She has contributed to the understanding of health disparities, racial justice, and microaggressions, with a focus on minority mental health and multicultural approaches to research and practice. Her work includes examining race and student-athlete status, perceptions of peer mental health, and health disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Tran has also served as a project manager overseeing research on implicit attitudes related to race and student-athlete status, and has been involved in editing and authoring reports on mental health, substance use, and homelessness. Her research aims to enhance quality of life among underserved and high-risk populations through applied research and community engagement.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Medicine
• Clinical psychology
• Family medicine
• Sociology
• Physical therapy
• Nursing
• Social psychology
• Gerontology
• Developmental psychology
• Environmental health

Selected publications

• Women’s Microaggressions Scale

  PsycTESTS Dataset · 2025-01-01

  dataset
  PublisherDOI

• Exploring Latina Adolescent Athletes’ Sport Models: Profiles and Analysis of Favorite Athletes

  Journal of Sport and Social Issues · 2025-12-09

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Latina adolescent girls demonstrate a stark rate of underparticipation in sports activities. The aim of this study is to spotlight potential key factors that support their sport engagement. Operating from a Social-Cognitive Theoretical framework, this multifaceted study explores how Latina adolescent athletes’ characteristics (i.e., gender, ethnicity, sport) shared with their favorite athletes are associated with their sport engagement (i.e., sport efficacy, sport commitment, sport importance, and behavioral and attitudinal engagement with athletics). Participants included ninth- and 10th-grade Latina adolescent athletes who resided in the United States. Qualitative analysis of favorite athletes ( n = 234) revealed that Latina adolescent athletes favored racially/ethnically and gender diverse athletes. In quantitative analyses of identifiable favorite athletes, bivariate and partial correlations revealed mixed associations between shared sociocultural (i.e., shared Latinx identity) and sport characteristics (i.e., shared sport) and sport engagement variables. In regression-based indirect effect analyses, sport efficacy mediated the associations between shared sport and sport commitment and sport importance. Shared sport emerged as the most consistent correlate of sport engagement, which informs practical considerations of how favorite athletes and shared sport might be leveraged to encourage Latina adolescent girls’ engagement in sports.

  PublisherDOI

• Mental health perspectives on nonsuicidal self-injury and suicidality among intramural, club, and varsity women college athletes

  Journal of American College Health · 2025-01-10

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Findings spotlight the urgency to intervene in NSSI and suicidality among women college athletes while being informed of demographic, sport, and mental health risk factors.

  PublisherDOI

• Women’s Microaggressions Scale (WoMenS): A Comprehensive Sexism Scale

  The Counseling Psychologist · 2025-01-10

  article

  Sexism is pervasive but often manifests as microaggressions against women, which are subtle, covert forms of gender discrimination. Thus, we developed the Women’s Microaggressions Scale (WoMenS) based on an existing theoretical taxonomy and content analysis of social media data. Two separate studies were conducted for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). EFA supported an eight-factor, correlated structure and CFA supported a bifactor model, with eight specific factors and one general WoMenS factor. Overall, reliability and validity of the WoMenS were mostly supported in two samples. Specifically, the WoMenS subscales and body surveillance were positively correlated; the general WoMenS was positively correlated with anxiety, depression, body surveillance, and another measure of sexism but not life satisfaction. Furthermore, general WoMenS explained variance in anxiety and body surveillance above and beyond that explained by an existing sexism measure.

  PublisherDOI

• Évaluation des erreurs d’administration de potassium injectable : un never event fréquent ?

  Le Pharmacien Clinicien · 2024-06-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  L’erreur d’administration de chlorure potassium KCL injectable est un événement défini comme un « Never event » par l’Agence nationale de sécurité du médicament (ANSM). La sécurisation du circuit de ce médicament doit être une priorité de chaque établissement pour garantir la sécurité de la prise en charge des patients. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer au sein de notre établissement l’usage du KCL injectable, aux étapes de prescription et d’administration afin de mettre en évidence les potentiels risques et apporter si nécessaire des mesures correctrices appropriées. Une étude descriptive transversale a été menée sur une semaine. Toutes les prescriptions en cours ont été analysées. Tous les services ont été inclus. Les perfusions de potassium hautement concentrées administrées par pousse seringue dans les services de réanimation ont été exclues. Les critères d’évaluation ont été élaborés à partir des référentiels de l’ANSM et de la Société française de pharmacie clinique. Les données ont été obtenues via le logiciel de prescription de la pharmacie et le dossier patient informatisé. Les critères évalués étaient les suivants : Pour la prescription : – pertinence de l’indication (hypokaliémie sévère [< 3 mmol/L], voie orale compliquée ou impossible, justification médicale) ; – concentration (≤ 4 g/L) ; – débit d’administration (≤ 1 g/h). Pour l’administration : – concentration (≤ 4 g/L) ; – débit d’administration (≤ 1 g/h) ; – dispositif d’administration utilisé ; – étiquetage de la perfusion (mention du nom patient et du produit injecté). Au total, 31 patients traités par KCL injectable ont été inclus. Concernant les prescriptions : 87 % présentaient une indication pertinente, 94 % avaient une concentration conforme et 100 % avaient un débit d’administration correct. Au total, 81 % des prescriptions étaient entièrement conformes. Concernant les administrations : 90 % avaient une concentration conforme, 100 % avaient un débit d’administration correct, 61 % étaient administrées de manière sécurisée par pompe volumétrique et 38 % étaient correctement étiquetées. Au total, seules 14 % des administrations étaient entièrement conformes. Le paramétrage d’un protocole au sein du logiciel explique le fort taux de conformité des modalités de prescription. Toutefois, quelques prescriptions auraient pu être substituées par voie orale. Un rappel des indications recommandées dans le protocole pourra favoriser davantage le bon usage du KCL injectable. Concernant l’administration, le faible taux de perfusions sécurisées par pompe s’explique par le manque de dispositifs disponibles au sein des services. Cette observation a notamment permis d’appuyer l’achat de nouvelles pompes volumétriques. La principale non-conformité concerne l’étiquetage malgré l’existence d’une procédure détaillée. Un rappel et une sensibilisation des équipes aux bonnes pratiques s’avère encore nécessaire.

  PublisherDOI

• Livelihood and Environmental Impact in Urban Areas

  Sustainable development goals series · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter
  PublisherDOI

• Called up: calling to social justice action (SJA) and mental health of athletes

  Sport in Society · 2024-01-08

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The power of athletes to have social impacts is increasingly being acknowledged, and more and more sports stakeholders are recognizing athletes' interests and motivations to engage in social justice action (SJA; e.g. advocacy, activism). This contribution proposes the Athletes' Calling To SJA (ACTS) Mental Health Framework and mental health notes to explore the converse—how SJA impacts athletes, specifically their mental health. The ACTS Mental Health Framework provides an initial conceptualization of how SJA might impact athlete mental health through living a perceived "calling" to engage in SJA and additional potentially relevant factors. Empirical scholarship and sports examples are used to envision, outline, and advance the hypothesis that athlete SJA and engagement with current social issues could serve as mechanisms to support athlete mental health. Mental health considerations ("mental health notes") provide practice considerations.

  PublisherDOI

• Foul play: Implicit and explicit attitudes toward student-athletes.

  Journal of Diversity in Higher Education · 2024-03-28

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Attitudes Toward Student Athletes Implicit Association Tasks

  PsycTESTS Dataset · 2024-01-01

  dataset1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Asian American mental health help-seeking: An Asian value-informed health belief model.

  Asian American Journal of Psychology · 2024-09-23 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Richard M. Lee

  University of Minnesota

  25 shared

• Jenny Su

  St. Lawrence University

  8 shared

• Christina K. Lam

  James Madison University

  8 shared

• Nazneen F. Bahrassa

  University of Minnesota

  6 shared

• Jeffrey S. Mintert

  Leeds Beckett University

  6 shared

• Richard Lee

  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

  6 shared

• Alison W. Hu

  6 shared

• Moin Syed

  University of Minnesota

  6 shared

Labs

• Tran Ethnic & Minority Psychology & Experiences LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Psychology (Counseling Psychology, APA-accredited)

  University of Minnesota

  2012

• M.A., Psychology (Counseling Psychology)

  University of Minnesota

  2009

• B.A., Psychology and Sociology

  University of California-Berkeley

  2004

Awards & honors

• 2021 American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship…
• 2018 Asian American Psychological Association Early Career R…
• 2017 Arizona Psychological Association Faculty of the Year
• 2014 APA Minority Fellowship Psychology Summer Institute Fel…
• 2013 Division 17 Leadership Academy member