Social Isolation and Perceived Barriers to Establishing Social Networks Among Latina Immigrants

Research has identified numerous mechanisms through which perceived social isolation and lack of social support negatively impact health. Little research attention has been dedicated to factors that influence the development of social networks, which have the potential to decrease perceptions of social isolation and provide social support. There is mixed evidence concerning the availability of supportive social networks for Latinos in the US. This study explores trauma-exposed Latina immigrants’ experiences of social isolation in the US and its perceived causes. Twenty-eight Latina immigrant women participated in an interview about traumatic experiences. Informal help seeking and the availability of friendships in the US were also queried. Frequent comparisons between experiences in their home countries and in the US shaped the emerging themes of social isolation and lack of social support. Women reported feeling lonely, isolated, closed-in, and less free in the US due to family separation and various obstacles to developing and maintaining relationships. Socioeconomic, environmental, and psychosocial barriers were offered as explanations for their limited social networks in the US. Understanding experiences of social isolation as well as barriers to forging social networks can help inform the development of social support interventions that can contribute to improved health among Latinos.     

Racial, Cultural and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Mental Health: Toward Theory and Research at Community Levels

We need to further develop theoretically informed, empirically grounded bodies of knowledge on how community structures, norms, and processes operate in local communities and how they affect human well-being, especially in culturally diverse and ethnic minority communities. Scholars pursuing this agenda will benefit from population thinking which focuses attention on human aggregates and on equilibrium processes and social and community mechanisms of change. They will benefit too from considering a promising body of theory and research on social capital. Community level knowledge has profound intervention-related implications at policy levels: such knowledge figured prominently in initiatives associated with 2.5 million residents leaving poverty neighborhoods during the decade 1990–2000. It continues to figure in crucial policy debates and provides a knowledge base on which future federal reports, like 2001s Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity—A Supplement to Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, can draw.This article is based on the address delivered as the recipient of the 2004 Division 27 Award for Distinguished Contribution to Theory and Research in Community Psychology     

Spirituality Predicts Health and Cardiovascular Responses to Stress in Young Adult Women

The primary focus of this study was to investigate the roles of spirituality and religiosity in self-reported physical health, and to determine whether there is an association between an individuals spirituality and cardiovascular responses to two stressors. Fifty-two females participated in both a betrayal interview and a structured interview, during which blood pressure and heart rate were monitored. Spirituality, as assessed by the Spiritual Well-being Scale, was associated with perceived stress, subjective well-being, and medication use. The Existential Well-being subscale predicted fewer physical health symptoms and was associated with lower mean heart rate and decreased heart rate reactivity. The Religious Well-being subscale was associated with reduced systolic blood pressure reactivity in response to the structured interview. These findings suggest that spirituality may have a salutary effect on health, even in a fairly young sample. While previous studies have predominantly reported that religion, as well as spirituality, have a health protective effect, this study did not find strong support for that conclusion. Religiosity in this age group may still be undergoing developmental maturity, which may explain the lack of relationships to health.     

Co-Occurring Youth Profiles of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Protective Factors: Associations with Health,Resilience, and Racial Disparities

It is important to understand racial/ethnic differences in adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), given their relationship to long-term physical and mental health, and the public health cost of the significant disparities that exist. Moreover, in order to inform interventions and promote resilience, it is critical to examine protective factors that mitigate the relationship between adversity and poor health. The current study utilized latent transition analyses (LTA) to examine co-occurring profiles of ACEs and protective factors (from school, family, and community contexts) and links to health outcomes among 30,668 Black (10.4%), Latinx (12.3%), and White youth (77.3%) ages 12–17 (52.5% male) who participated in the 2011–12 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Results suggested that greater adversity was associated with worse health, while more access to protective factors was associated with better health. White youth had consistently lower endorsement of ACEs, greater access to protective factors, and better health compared to their Black and Latinx counterparts. Efforts to improve child health and racial/ethnic disparities in research and practice must consider adversity, protective factors, and the systemic inequities faced by racial/ethnic minority youth in the United States.     

Depression screening and treatment among uninsured populations in Primary Care

Uninsured populations have poor treatment engagement and are less likely to receive evidence-based interventions for depression. The objective of the current study was to retrospectively examine depression screening, diagnosis, and treatment patterns among uninsured patients in primary care. Study sample included all patients (N = 11,803) seen in nine community-based clinics. Key variables included depression screener and/or a depression diagnosis, anti-depressant initiation, behavioral health visits, and patient follow up measures. Treatment patterns from the subsample of patients diagnosed with depression were analyzed by collecting the number of behavioral health visits and antidepressant use six months (180 days) following the diagnosis. Utilization of the depression screening tool was high (67%, n = 7,935) and 24% (n = 2,789) of the patients had a diagnosis of depression, however, more than half of the patients with a depression diagnosis did not have a recorded treatment plan (n = 1,474). The odds of anti-depressant use and behavioral visits for Hispanic patients were significantly greater than for Non-Hispanic patients. Universal screening with brief measures in primary care is improving, however, guideline-concordant depression treatment remains elusive for uninsured populations.     

Mediation of Childhood Adversity and Health by Relationship Quality in Diverse Couples

Individuals with economic disadvantage experience greater (a) adverse childhood experiences (ACE), (b) risk for low relationship quality and relationship dissolution, and (c) disparity in physical and mental health. Thus, a critical need exists to understand the connections between areas of disparity in family and relational health on physical and mental health for those most vulnerable to the deleterious effects. The researchers therefore tested a dyadic model for the mediation of ACE and health by relationship quality with data from 503 couples with economic disadvantage and a racial or ethnic minority background (76.9%). The data fit the proposed model and explained a majority of the variance in health, 82.3% of the variance in menʼs health and 56.5% in womenʼs health—both large effects. Moreover, the significant indirect pathway between ACE and health through relationship quality contributed 98.05% and 57.40% of the total effects for men and women, respectively. Overall, a significant relationship existed between ACE, relationship quality, and health for men and women at the actor-level and the dyadic influence between members of a couple contributed to the overall model fit. Results add to support for the role of relationship quality as a dyadic social determinant of health disparities with implications for prevention and intervention.     

Towards a Social-Structural Model for Understanding Current Disparities in Maori Health and Well-Being

Colonization has resulted in Maori occupying a vulnerable position in New Zealand society. Comparatively poor health, along with complex social and economic problems, is a reflection of this fundamental insecurity. This article aims to put forward a historical and developmental perspective for understanding some of the current health disparities experienced by Maori, by exploring the concepts of historical trauma, loss of land, and alternative theories of development from post-development theory.     

Agency and Communion Related to Mental Health in Japanese Young Adults

Based on Bakan’s (1966) theory, Helgeson (1994) presented a conceptual model of the relationships of biological sex, agency, and communion with psychological and physical well-being. This study was designed to examine the relationships of mitigated and unmitigated agency (M, M-) /communion (F, F-) with mental health in Japanese young adults. Participants were 602 (247 men, 355 women) undergraduate students and vocational school students in Japan. The average age of the participants was 20.0 years (SD=4.1). The results showed that communion (F) was positively associated with social support, unmitigated communion (F-) was strongly and positively associated with dysphoria for both men and women, unmitigated agency (M-) was also positively associated with dysphoria for women, and agency (M) was negatively associated with dysphoria for women. Both M and F were positively associated and F- was negatively associated with self-esteem for both men and women. M may moderate F-, and social support may moderate M-, for women. Thus our findings partially supported Helgeson’s model.     

Solidarity and Community Engagement in Global Health Research

Abstract

Community engagement (CE) is gaining prominence in global health research. A number of ethical goals–spanning the instrumental, intrinsic, and transformative–have been ascribed to CE in global health research. This paper draws attention to an additional transformative value that CE is not typically linked to but that seems very relevant: solidarity. Both are concerned with building relationships and connecting parties that are distant from one another. This paper first argues that furthering solidarity should be recognized as another ethical goal for CE in global health research. It contends that, over time, CE can build the bases of solidaristic relationships—moral imagination, recognition, understanding, empathy—between researchers and community members. Applying concepts from existing accounts of solidarity, the paper develops preliminary ideas about who should be engaged and how to advance solidarity. The proposed approach is compared to current CE practice in global health research. Finally, the paper briefly considers how solidaristic CE could affect how global health research is performed.     

近十年特殊人群心理健康研究热点与趋势——基于WoS的可视化分析

运用CiteSpace软件,对2012年~2021年WoS核心合集数据库1 182篇特殊人群心理健康主题文献进行可视化分析,获取特殊人群心理健康研究的热点与趋势。结果发现：近十年特殊人群心理健康研究主题涵盖该类人群家庭相关因素研究、智力障碍以及孤独症谱系障碍相关研究、对特殊人群的整合干预与服务;其中,特殊人群心理健康问题“风险因素”是持续热点,对其心理服务需求及其满足方式研究热度上升,而对该类人群的流行病学、精神分裂症及精神发育迟滞研究热度有所下降,如何为特殊人群“实施”心理服务为该领域最新前沿。

     

Defining the Nature and Impact of Goals in Children and Adolescents with a Chronic Health Condition: A Review of Research and a Theoretical Framework

This paper presents a review of research related to goals in youth with a chronic health condition (CHC) and a related framework to inform theory and research. Performed literature review using PsychINFO and Medline with a combination of many key words related to health, goals, and youth. Sixteen studies related to goals in youth with a CHC were identified. An integrative framework to inform research on goals in pediatric CHCs was presented based on studies reviewed. The impact of a CHC on goals and related behaviors, impact of goal conflict and collaboration, interventions with goal-setting components, and impact of developmental, disease, socioeconomic, and cultural factors were described. Recommendations for future research were discussed. The application of theory related to the nature and impact of goals in youth with a CHC will advance the field from a research and clinical standpoint.     

Building Resilience in Families,Communities, and Organizations: A Training Program in Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support

This article describes the Summer Institute in Global Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, a brief immersion training program for mental health, health, and allied professionals who work with populations that have endured severe adversities and trauma, such as domestic and political violence, extreme poverty, armed conflict, epidemics, and natural disasters. The course taught participants to apply collaborative and contextually sensitive approaches to enhance social connectedness and resilience in families, communities, and organizations. This article presents core training principles and vignettes which illustrate how those engaging in such interventions must: (1) work in the context of a strong and supportive organization; (2) appreciate the complexity of the systems with which they are engaging; and (3) be open to the possibilities for healing and transformation. The program utilized a combination of didactic presentations, hands‐on interactive exercises, case studies, and experiential approaches to organizational team building and staff stress management.     

Factors Impacting the Mental Health of the Caregivers of Children with Asthma in China: Effects of Family Socioeconomic Status,Symptoms Control,Proneness to Shame,and Family Functioning

Caregiver mental health is widely considered to be an important factor influencing children's asthma symptoms. The present study aimed to examine key factors that contribute to caregiver mental health in pediatric asthma with a Chinese sample. Two hundred participants reported their family socioeconomic status (SES), proneness to shame, asthma symptoms control of their child, family functioning, and their depression and anxiety symptoms. Results suggested that low family SES, low family functioning, and a high level of shame proneness were associated with high levels of anxiety and depression for caregivers. Family functioning mediated the effects of SES and shame on caregiver mental health and also moderated the effects of SES and shame on caregiver depression. This study highlights the importance of reducing experience of shame and enhancing family functioning in families affected by pediatric asthma.     

Acculturation Conflict,Cultural Parenting Self‐Efficacy,and Perceived Parenting Competence in Asian American and Latino/a Families

Parents from immigrant backgrounds must deal with normative parenting demands as well as unique challenges associated with acculturation processes. The current study examines the independent and interactive influences of acculturation conflict and cultural parenting self‐efficacy (PSE; e.g., parents’ confidence in instilling heritage, American, and bicultural values in their children) on perceptions of general parenting competence. Using data from 58 Asian American and 153 Latin American parents of children in grades 6–12, ethnic differences were also explored. Results suggest that lower acculturation conflict is associated with higher perceptions of general parenting competence for both Asian and Latin American parents. Higher cultural PSE is associated with higher perceived general parenting competence for Latino/a parents only. One significant interaction was found, and only for Asian Americans, whereby the negative association between acculturation conflict and perceptions of parenting competence was weaker for those who felt efficacious in transmitting heritage messages. Results are discussed in light of clinical implications and the need for further recognition and study of culturally relevant factors and frameworks among families from immigrant backgrounds.     

The Crying Clinic: Increasing accessibility to Infant Mental Health services for immigrant parents at risk for peripartum depression

Peripartum depression (PPD) is considered a major public health concern due to its profound impact on families, including infants. In this paper, we report on a pilot initiative designed to reduce barriers and stigma related to the use of traditional infant mental health services for immigrant parents deemed at high risk of PPD. The Crying Clinic (CC) is an innovative walk‐in service offered in a culturally diverse Canadian community to support maternal well‐being and healthy parent–infant relationships. The CC was designed to be a gateway to existing infant mental health services, through its emphasis on accessibility and cultural sensitivity. Support for concrete concerns, such as anxiety about normative infant behaviors like crying, is underscored in this approach to attract vulnerable families who would otherwise not access mental health support. A review of 44 users, utilization, plans for the use of additional services, and client evaluations suggests that the CC accomplished most of its goals. We conclude that gateway service models such as the CC have the potential to enhance traditional infant mental health programs by creatively addressing the challenge of engaging highly vulnerable parents from culturally diverse backgrounds.