Provision of mental health services immediately following a natural disaster: Experiences after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Objective: The increased risk of mental health disorders in the months and years following a natural disaster highlights the need for more immediate preventive intervention. The objective of the current study was to learn from a real-time implementation of a natural disaster response following the Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico to identify strategies for providing mental health services immediately after a natural disaster.

Methods: Two focus groups were held with faculty (n = 6) and graduate students (n = 4) from a graduate psychology program at the Universidad Carlos Albizu, Centro Universitario Mayagüez.

Implementation of an Evidence-Based Psychotherapy for Trauma-Exposed Children in a Lower-Middle Income Country: the Use of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in El Salvador.

Central American youth are at a high risk for experiencing trauma and related psychosocial problems. Despite this, few studies of evidence-based trauma-focused interventions with this population exist. The objective of this project was twofold: 1) to train providers in El Salvador in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) as part of a clinical implementation project within a non-governmental organization, and 2) to conduct program evaluation to determine the feasibility of implementation and the effectiveness of the treatment.

A Pilot Trial of Universal School-Based Mental Health Screening in El Salvador: Traumatic Stress in an Underresourced School Environment.

Salvadoran youth have an elevated risk of trauma exposure and related mental health problems. However, investigations of childhood trauma exposure and mental health sequelae in El Salvador are limited. The present study aimed to (a) explore the prevalence of exposure to potentially traumatic events and symptoms of posttraumatic stress, anxiety, and depression and (b) evaluate the associations between specific trauma types and emotional functioning among Salvadoran youth.

The Social Distance Scale (v1): A Screening Instrument to Assess Patient Adherence to Prevention Strategies during Pandemics.

Background: This paper describes the development of a brief self-report screening measure of adherence to social distancing and self-protective behaviors in pandemic situations. Items measured behaviors currently established as primary strategies to prevent and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 infection.

Methods: An item pool of 29 questions was generated with the aim of estimating the frequency of specific behaviors and were written to avoid confounding the description of behavioral actions with evaluative judgements.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR): Towards equitable involvement of community in psychology research.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) answers the call for more patient-centered, community-driven research approaches to address growing health disparities. CBPR is a collaborative research approach that equitably involves community members, researchers, and other stakeholders in the research process and recognizes the unique strengths that each bring. The aim of CBPR is to combine knowledge and action to create positive and lasting social change.

Feasibility, acceptability and clinical utility of the Cultural Formulation Interview: mixed-methods results from the DSM-5 international field trial.

There is a need for clinical tools to identify cultural issues in diagnostic assessment.To assess the feasibility, acceptability and clinical utility of the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) in routine clinical practice.Mixed-methods evaluation of field trial data from six countries.

Developing Research Collaborations in an Academic Clinical Setting: Challenges and Lessons Learned.

Research collaboration in "real world" practice settings may enhance the meaningfulness of the findings and reduce barriers to implementation of novel intervention strategies. This study describes an initiative to integrate research into a hospital-based outpatient psychiatric clinic within an academic medical center, focusing on collaborative processes across three research projects. We report on the varied outcomes of the projects and utilize data from two focus groups to identify the key elements that contributed to the challenges and successes.

How Do Clinicians Prefer Cultural Competence Training? Findings from the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview Field Trial.

Objective: This study's objective is to analyze training methods clinicians reported as most and least helpful during the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview field trial, reasons why, and associations between demographic characteristics and method preferences.

Method: The authors used mixed methods to analyze interviews from 75 clinicians in five continents on their training preferences after a standardized training session and clinicians' first administration of the Cultural Formulation Interview. Content analysis identified most and least helpful educational methods by reason.

Does the Cultural Formulation Interview for the fifth revision of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) affect medical communication? A qualitative exploratory study from the New York site.

Objectives: Cross-cultural mental health researchers often analyze patient explanatory models of illness to optimize service provision. The Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) is a cross-cultural assessment tool released in May 2013 with DSM-5 to revise shortcomings from the DSM-IV Outline for Cultural Formulation (OCF). The CFI field trial took place in 6 countries, 14 sites, and with 321 patients to explore its feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility with patients and clinicians.

Barriers to implementing the DSM-5 cultural formulation interview: a qualitative study.

The Outline for Cultural Formulation (OCF) in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) marked an attempt to apply anthropological concepts within psychiatry. The OCF has been criticized for not providing guidelines to clinicians. The DSM-5 Cultural Issues Subgroup has since converted the OCF into the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) for use by any clinician with any patient in any clinical setting.