Psychosocial Predictors of Acculturative Stress in Central American Immigrants

Little previous research has examined acculturative stress among Central American immigrants in the United States. This study explored psychosocial predictors of acculturative stress in a sample of Central American immigrants in Los Angeles. Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that family dysfunction, nonmarried status, ineffective social support, nonpositive expectations for the future, infrequent church attendance, and lack of agreement with the decision to migrate were significantly associated with greater levels of acculturative stress. The findings highlight the importance of using culturally relevant clinical methods when assessing and treating acculturating individuals.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44942/1/10903_2004_Article_412535.pd

College students and cyberbullying: how social media use affects social anxiety and social comparison

Cyberbullying is defined as aggression intending to inflict harm on others by electronic communication technologies. Cyberbullying has become more common as social media has grown and is accompanied by negative mental health consequences. Research on cyberbullying and mental health in adolescents suggests cyberbullying victimization moderates the relationship between social comparison and social anxiety, but little is known about this phenomenon in college students. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the relationship between cyberbullying, social anxiety, and social comparison amongst college students. A convenience sample of 486 undergraduate students from southern Texas and northern Ohio completed a PyschData survey that assessed social anxiety, social comparison, experiences with be a cyberbullying victim, perpetrator, or both. We found that social anxiety was associated with cyberbullying victimization and perpetration; however, social comparison was not. Cyberbullying victimization was not a moderator between social comparison and anxiety, suggesting that unlike adolescence, college students\u27 experiences with these constructs may be unique to their developmental level

An analogue study examining Attitude Change Theory and its implications for dissemination and implementation of empirically supported treatments

Despite the promise of research-based treatments, dissemination into community settings has been problematic. Attitudes toward these treatments may be partially responsible for the slow uptake. Building on the functional theory of attitudes, it was hypothesized that presenting emotion-focused rather than cognitively-focused information about a treatment would produce more positive attitudes toward the treatment in individuals interested in clinical practice. To test this hypothesis, 144 students (116 women; Mage = 22.46 years) completed a measure of vocational interest and evaluated a treatment after reading either an emotional or cognitive passage about the treatment. Consistent with the hypothesis, participants’ interests in clinical activities were related to more favorable reactions to the emotional passage but not the cognitive passage. This effect was partially mediated by message elaboration. Findings suggest that presenting clinicians with emotionally rich information on treatment options may help bridge the gap between research and practice

An Association Between Perceived Social Support and Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Severity Among Women With Lifetime Sexual Victimization: The Serial Mediating Role of Resilience and Coping

This study examined the association between perceived social support and severity of posttraumatic stress symptoms, serially mediated by resilience and coping among women exposed to different patterns of sexual victimization experiences: childhood sexual abuse (CSA) only, adult sexual assault (ASA) only, and sexual revictimization (SR). A total of 255 sexually victimized women recruited from four U.S. universities completed self-report measures online; 112 participants reported provisionally diagnosable levels of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The proposed model was largely supported in the CSA only group and the SR group. Different patterns of mediational effects were found across the three groups. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed

Latino and Non-Latino Parental Treatment Preferences for Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders

There is frequently a presumption that Latino parents have a greater preference for involvement in their child’s treatment for anxiety compared to non-Latino white parents. However, parent involvement may increase burdens associated with treatment and research suggests that Hispanic individuals already face significantly greater barriers to obtaining mental health treatment. In the current study, we compared Latino and non-Latino parents’ preferences for parental involvement and perceptions of burdens in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth anxiety. 117 parents (57 Latino) completed measures to assess child anxiety, perceptions of treatment involvement, and burdens associated with treatment. There were no significant differences between Latino and non-Latino parents except for a trend toward Latino parents reporting more concerns about the feasibility of obtaining CBT for their child’s anxiety. Because Latino parents expressed concern about potential treatment barriers, cultural adaptations for treatment should focus on decreasing burden rather than increasing parental involvement

Perceived Burdensomeness and Thwarted Belongingness Influence the Childhood Polyvictimization and Suicide Ideation Association among Hispanic Undergraduates

The present study examined the mediating effect of perceived burdensomeness (PB) and thwarted belongingness (TB) in the association between childhood polyvictimization and suicide ideation (past week) among 528 Hispanic college students. Nearly 10% reported polyvictimization, 19.8% had suicide ideation, and polyvictimization was a risk factor of suicide ideation through PB and TB. The indirect effect through PB was stronger than the indirect effect through TB. Interventions should focus on PB and TB to alleviate suicide ideation among Hispanic undergraduate students

Medication Noncompliance in Adolescents with Psychiatric Disorders

The purpose of the study was to estimate prevalence of medication non-compliance among adolescents, following discharge from hospital. A second purpose was to identify predictors of such noncompliance. Seventy-one adolescents, who had been prescribed a medication during psychiatric hospitalization, were interviewed by telephone, 6–8 months post-hospitalization. Medication noncompliance was defined as discontinuing medication without the recommendation of the treating physician. Twenty-four subjects (33.8%) were noncompliant with medication. Age, race, gender, SES, diagnosis, type and number of medications, severity of depression, and family living arrangement did not predict noncompliance. We concluded that noncompliance with psychotropic medications was relatively common and difficult to predict in adolescents who had been hospitalized to a psychiatric inpatient unit; the majority of them suffered from depression. Clinicians should be aware that medication noncompliance may be common and a relatively unpredictable phenomenon.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43958/1/10578_2004_Article_413259.pd

Latin American Trans-ancestry INitiative for OCD genomics (LATINO): Study protocol

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric disorder. Worldwide, its prevalence is ~2% and its etiology is mostly unknown. Identifying biological factors contributing to OCD will elucidate underlying mechanisms and might contribute to improved treatment outcomes. Genomic studies of OCD are beginning to reveal long-sought risk loci, but \u3e95% of the cases currently in analysis are of homogenous European ancestry. If not addressed, this Eurocentric bias will result in OCD genomic findings being more accurate for individuals of European ancestry than other ancestries, thereby contributing to health disparities in potential future applications of genomics. In this study protocol paper, we describe the Latin American Trans-ancestry INitiative for OCD genomics (LATINO, https://www.latinostudy.org). LATINO is a new network of investigators from across Latin America, the United States, and Canada who have begun to collect DNA and clinical data from 5000 richly phenotyped OCD cases of Latin American ancestry in a culturally sensitive and ethical manner. In this project, we will utilize trans-ancestry genomic analyses to accelerate the identification of OCD risk loci, fine-map putative causal variants, and improve the performance of polygenic risk scores in diverse populations. We will also capitalize on rich clinical data to examine the genetics of treatment response, biologically plausible OCD subtypes, and symptom dimensions. Additionally, LATINO will help elucidate the diversity of the clinical presentations of OCD across cultures through various trainings developed and offered in collaboration with Latin American investigators. We believe this study will advance the important goal of global mental health discovery and equity

Workplace, Household, and Personal Predictors of Pesticide Exposure for Farmworkers

In this article we identify factors potentially associated with pesticide exposure among farmworkers, grade the evidence in the peer-reviewed literature for such associations, and propose a minimum set of measures necessary to understand farmworker risk for pesticide exposure. Data sources we reviewed included Medline, Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, PsycINFO, and AGRI-COLA databases. Data extraction was restricted to those articles that reported primary data collection and analysis published in 1990 or later. We read and summarized evidence for pesticide exposure associations. For data synthesis, articles were graded by type of evidence for association of risk factor with pesticide exposure as follows: 1 = association demonstrated in farmworkers; 2 = association demonstrated in nonfarmworker sample; 3 = plausible association proposed for farmworkers; or 4 = association plausible but not published for farmworkers. Of more than 80 studies we identified, only a third used environmental or biomarker evidence to document farmworker exposure to pesticides. Summaries of articles were compiled by level of evidence and presented in tabular form. A minimum list of data to be collected in farmworker pesticide studies was derived from these evidence tables. Despite ongoing concern about pesticide exposure of farmworkers and their families, relatively few studies have tried to test directly the association of behavioral and environmental factors with pesticide exposure in this population. Future studies should attempt to use similar behavioral, environmental, and psychosocial measures to build a body of evidence with which to better understand the risk factors for pesticide exposure among farmworkers