Suicide Ideation and Suicide Risk among Latina University Students: Examining the Main and Interactive Effects of Childhood Maltreatment and Mindfulness

The associations between childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation and risk are well-established. However, there is a relative paucity of work exploring these associations among Latinx populations, particularly women. To address the substantial mental and physical health disparities found among Latinx individuals, the present study aimed to examine (1) childhood maltreatment severity (CMS) and suicidal ideation and risk associations among Latina university students; and (2) the moderating role of mindfulness (i.e., present-focused, nonjudgmental acceptance and awareness of cognitions and physiological sensations) in these associations. Latina students (N = 1079; Mage = 21.95, SD = 4.30) recruited from a public, southwestern university completed online, self-report surveys. Covariates included depressive symptom severity and age. Significant main and interactive effects emerged for CMS (Beta = 0.10, t = 3.21, p < .001) and mindfulness (Beta = -0.09, t = -3.15, p <.001) on suicidal ideation (Beta = -0.09, t = -3.53, p < .001), but not suicide risk. Simple slope analysis results indicate that Latina students with low mindfulness and increased CMS endorsed greater suicidal ideation. These findings have the potential to improve and inform suicide-focused intervention and prevention measures for this vulnerable and underserved population.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg

The Association Between Anxiety Sensitivity and Food Cravings among Individuals Seeking Treatment for Weight-Related Behaviors

Obesity is a chronic and highly prevalent condition in the United States. In an effort to address the management and prevention of obesity, it is important to understand motivational processes that may guide maladaptive eating processes and contribute to or maintain weight gain. Existing work has shown anxiety sensitivity (AS) to be a significant risk factor for increased cravings across a variety of health behaviors (e.g., smoking, alcohol use). Yet, no work has examined the relationship between AS and state-like food cravings. Therefore, the current study sought to examine the association between AS and a variety of state-like food cravings, including: (1) an intense desire to eat, (2) anticipation of relief from negative states and feelings/improvement in mood that may result from eating, (3) obsessive preoccupation with food or lack of control over eating, and (4) craving as a physiological state. Participants included 161 (Mage = 31.58, SD = 10.71; 60.9% female) individuals seeking treatment for weight-related behaviors. Results indicated that elevated AS was associated with reinforcement-based and physiological food cravings. Our findings indicate that there may be clinical utility in screening for AS among individuals seeking treatment for weight-related behaviors.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg

Pain Severity and Smoking Abstinence Expectancies among Latinx Individuals Who Smoke Cigarettes: The Moderating Role of Perceived Discrimination

Latinx individuals experience significant health disparities related to smoking cessation in the United States (US). Although past works have consistently implicated pain in the maintenance of smoking behavior, limited research has examined the role of social determinants (e.g., perceived discrimination) in pain–smoking relations. The current study sought to examine the moderating role of perceived discrimination in the relation between pain severity and smoking abstinence expectancies (i.e., a cognitive factor related to poor smoking outcomes) among 226 Latinx individuals who currently smoke cigarettes (Mage = 34.95 years; SD = 8.62; 38.5% female). The results indicated a statistically significant interaction between pain severity and perceived discrimination with regard to smoking abstinence expectancies (i.e., negative mood, somatic symptoms, harmful consequences, and positive consequences). Post-hoc analyses revealed the association of pain severity and negative mood, harmful consequences, and positive consequences smoking abstinence expectancies evident for individuals with higher perceived discrimination. Moreover, the association between pain severity and somatic symptoms smoking abstinence expectancies was stronger for individuals with higher perceived discrimination. Overall, these results suggest that clinical and community-based public health strategies may benefit from addressing the role of perceived discrimination among Latinx individuals who smoke cigarettes in the context of pain

Evaluating the role of smoking abstinence expectancies in the relation between perceived ethnic discrimination and cigarette dependence among Latinx individuals who smoke

•Perceived discrimination is related to cigarette dependence among Latinx persons who smoke.•Smoking abstinence expectancies are tied to perceived discrimination and cigarette dependence.•Harmful consequences of smoking abstinence expectancies is a point of clinical intervention. The experience of perceived ethnic discrimination is prevalent and has harmful effects across various behavioral health processes among Latinx persons. Yet, there is limited work on the association between perceived ethnic discrimination and smoking among this health disparities group. Building from initial work that has demonstrated a relationship between perceived ethnic discrimination and smoking abstinence expectancies, the present study sought to explore mechanisms by which perceived ethnic discrimination may be related to cigarette dependence. Specifically, we tested the indirect effect of perceived ethnic discrimination on cigarette dependence through smoking abstinence expectancies (i.e., negative mood, somatic symptoms, harmful consequences, and positive consequences) among Latinx persons who smoke (N = 338; Mage = 35.53 years; SD = 8.65; age range 18–61; 37.3% female). Results indicated that abstinence expectancies related to harmful consequences was a statistically significant underlying factor between the experience of perceived discrimination and cigarette dependence (b = 0.39, SE = 0.16, CI95% = 0.08, 0.71, CSE = 0.14). Overall, the present study suggests that smoking abstinence expectancies pertaining to harmful consequences may be a point of intervention for Latinx persons seeking to reduce or quit smoking. Future research is needed to extend the generalizability of these findings by corroborating the mediational role of abstinence expectancies related to harmful consequences across Latinx persons of varying cigarette use severity levels over time