A gender invariant model of disgust propensity in blood-injection-injury phobia in Latina/o individuals

Latinas/os have been underrepresented in research investigating the role of disgust propensity in phobias. The current study was the first to examine associations between disgust propensity and Blood-Injection-Injury (BII) phobia, when acculturation was controlled for, in Latina/o Americans (n = 376). A structural model was developed with a BII fear latent variable consisting of fears of injection, blood, and sharp objects (causing injuries). The disgust propensity latent variable was formed with three domains of core, animal reminder, and contamination disgust elicitors. In the model, disgust propensity predicted BII fear when controlling for acculturation. A series of measurement and structural invariance tests demonstrated that the model was invariant between males and females. The current findings supported the hypothesis that disgust plays a role in BII fear symptoms similarly in Latinas and Latinos. The findings are expected to improve our understanding of mechanisms and treatment approaches for BII phobia symptoms in this underserved cultural group. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

A longitudinal investigation of the efficacy of online expressive writing interventions for Hispanic students exposed to traumatic events: competing theories of action

Objective: Although expressive writing (EW) appears efficacious for treating a range of posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms including diagnosed PTSD, little is known about its efficacy when offered online and for ethnic/cultural minority populations such as Hispanic individuals. The current study examined the longitudinal effects of two online EW tasks for treating PTS symptoms in a Hispanic student sample. Design: Seventy-one participants who had experienced a traumatic event were randomly assigned to either an emotion-focused (EM) writing group or a fact-focused (FC) writing group and completed online writing sessions for three consecutive days. Participants completed online assessments at 1-week, 1-month, and 3-month follow-ups. The PTSD Checklist–DSM-5 version was used to assess PTS symptoms. Results: Both groups reported statistically significant reductions in severity of PTS symptoms at 1-week follow-up with the EM group demonstrating statistically significantly greater symptom reductions than the FC group. Differential longitudinal effects over the 3-month follow-up periods were found for some PTS domains, with the EM group showing superior improvements relative to the FC group. Conclusion: EW delivered online can be useful for Hispanic individuals with PTS symptoms following traumatic life events. Further, the current findings align with an inhibitory learning model for explaining EW’s mechanism of action. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group