The transition to motherhood is widely viewed as a significant life stage for women (Bailey, 1999;Byrne, 2006;McMahon, 1995). However, this process has not been explored in transracially adopted women who, in addition to making sense of how their adoption story impacts their self-concept as mothers, must also negotiate issues related to ethnicity, race, and ethnic and racial identities that emerge in relation to mothering a child of color. Interviews with 15 Korean American women who were adopted as children by White European American families and who were mothers or intended to be mothers to a multiracial (Asian and White) child were analyzed to develop a grounded theory model of the effects of becoming a mother on the development of ethnic and racial identities. Two interactive processes emerged: Reflecting with Intention and Reframing and Taking Action, which captured connections between the women's own childhood development and their children's imagined future development in relation to ethnicity and race. Reflecting with Intention described how the mothers' sense of responsibility and anticipation of their child's needs catalyzed reflection upon their own developmental experiences and an associated intention and motivation to foster more positive experiences for their children. This led to the second cycle of Reframing and Taking Action, where the mothers actively sought to increase their cultural knowledge, reframed their earlier experiences in relation to the benefits for their children, worked more actively to resist internalizing racism, and engaged more frequently in ethnic and racial affinitybased experiences.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop and validate the Resistance and Empowerment Against Racism (REAR) scale. Method: Fifty items developed through processes adapted from Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) were administered to a sample of 723 women and 230 men of color (Asian Americans, Black Americans, Latinx, and Native Americans). We employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using stratified subsamples; examined construct validity of the final REAR scale and subscales; and evaluated 2-week test-retest reliability with a subsample. Results: Analyses supported a four-factor model, including Awareness and Relational Resistance; Participation in Resistance Activities and Organizations; Interpersonal Confrontation; and Leadership for Resistance. The REAR demonstrated good test-retest and internal reliability and construct validity. Conclusions: Use of the REAR may enable researchers and clinicians to examine how people of color proactively respond to racism through empowered action to challenge racism, and how these responses may moderate the negative effects of racism on psychological well-being. Public Significance StatementThe wide prevalence and negative effects of racism on people of color has been well established by prior literature. Resistance is a kind of empowered coping that attempts to proactively challenge the existence and perpetuation of racism. Being able to measure the extent to which people engage in resistance actions will help illuminate how resistance could be a proactive strategy to foster positive mental health for people of color and contribute to a more equitable society.

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