Publications by authors named "Elena Flores"

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant mental health challenges, particularly for vulnerable populations, including non-binary gender individuals. The COMET international study aimed to investigate specific risk factors for clinical depression or distress during the pandemic, also in these special populations.

Methods: Chi-square tests were used for initial screening to select only those variables which would show an initial significance.

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The aim of this study was to examine video-recorded observations of evening family mealtime at home among Mexican American children to help elucidate style of meal service, fathers' and mothers' feeding practices and child's eating behavior. Consistent with guidelines for coding behaviors, we analyzed observational data of evening mealtimes of 71 Mexican American children aged eight to 10 years. Regarding style of meal service, in almost all cases (96%), parents plated the child's food, with more available on the table or counter in 40% of the observations.

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Article Synopsis
  • A large international study involving 55,589 participants from 40 countries was conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, revealing that 17.80% of participants experienced probable depression and 16.71% reported distress.
  • The research indicated that individuals with a history of mental disorders showed significantly higher rates of depression, with the highest risk linked to conditions like Bipolar disorder and self-harm, and found that belief in conspiracy theories was prevalent among participants.
  • The study developed a model demonstrating the connection between anxiety, distress, and the progression to probable depression and suicidality, suggesting that addressing modifiable factors could be beneficial in improving mental health outcomes.
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Introduction: The treatment of adolescents with Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) presents a variety of challenges. The identification of a patient's treatment goal might be an important predictor of cannabis consumption and a key factor when designing the intervention. This paper aims to present the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Goal Commitment (ASAGC) questionnaire in adolescent consumers of cannabis and to report the association of goal commitment with the treatment outcome.

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This study examined parenting styles, parenting practices and family practices that may be associated with weeknight sleep duration among 8- to 10-year-old Mexican American (MA) children. This cross-sectional study of MA children used baseline data from a 2-year cohort study of mother-child pairs (n = 308) with additional data on fathers (n = 166). Children's weeknight sleep duration was accelerometer estimated and averaged for 2 weeknights.

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Background: The prevalence of obesity among Latino children is alarmingly high, when compared to non-Latino White children. Low-income Latino parents living in urban areas, even if they are well-educated, face obstacles that shape familial health behaviors. This study used qualitative methods to explore parents' experiences in providing meals and opportunities to play to their children aged 2 to 5 years.

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Mothers' feeding practices are associated with their children's weight status, but little is known about the associations between fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status. Moreover, there is a dearth of research on Latino fathers' feeding practices and children's weight status, even though Latino children suffer some of the highest obesity rates in the U.S.

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Study Objective: Short sleep duration is a risk factor for childhood obesity. Mechanisms are unclear, but may involve selection of high carbohydrate foods. This study examined the association between estimated sleep duration and macronutrient intake as percentages of total energy among Mexican American (MA) 9-11 year olds.

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Background: Blood transfusion safety is based on reliable donor screening for transmissible infections such as the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Study Design And Methods: A novel HCV core-specific antibody was assayed on random single donations from 2007 first-time blood donors who tested negative for anti-HCV and HCV RNA on routine screening. Sample collection broke the code between donations and donors for ethical reasons.

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Objective To determine whether parents who prefer a heavier child would underestimate their child's weight more than those who prefer a leaner child. Methods Participants were Mexican-American families (312 mothers, 173 fathers, and 312 children ages 8-10) who were interviewed and had height and weight measurements. Parents reported their preferred child body size and their perceptions of their child's weight.

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Background: Parental feeding practices are thought to influence children's weight status, through children's eating behavior and nutritional intake. However, because most studies have been cross-sectional, the direction of influence is unclear. Moreover, although obesity rates are high among Latino children, few studies of parental feeding practices have focused on this population.

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Objective: Cross-sectional studies show that sleep is related to childhood obesity. We aimed to examine the longitudinal impact of sleep on the risk of obesity in Mexican American children.

Design And Methods: We evaluated 229 Mexican American 8-10-year-olds and their mothers at baseline and at 12- and 24-month follow-ups.

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Background: Moderate-vigorous physical activity (%MVPA) confers beneficial effects on child musculoskeletal health, cardiovascular fitness, and psychosocial well-being; in contrast, sedentary time (%SED) is emerging as a risk factor for health. This study aimed to identify parental, child and neighborhood factors influencing longitudinal assessments of body mass index (BMI) and activity patterns among Latino children, and to estimate lagged and cross-lagged effects between child BMI, %MVPA and %SED.

Methods: A longitudinal design with assessments at baseline, 1 and 2 years follow-up (FU) was used to evaluate the effects of maternal and paternal factors (BMI, age, education level, acculturation, household income and household size), child factors (gender, age, BMI, pubertal status) and neighborhood factors (disorder, victimization) on child BMI, %MVPA and %SED, expressed as a percent of awake time, in 282 Latino children ages 8-10 y and their parents.

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We know of no studies comparing parent-reported sleep with accelerometer-estimated sleep in their relation to paediatric adiposity. We examined: (i) the reliability of mother-reported sleep compared with accelerometer-estimated sleep; and (ii) the relationship between both sleep measures and child adiposity. The current cross-sectional study included 303 Mexican American mother-child pairs recruited from Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

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Context: Young Latinos in the United States are at high risk for STDs and are less likely than other youth to use condoms. To our knowledge, no studies have examined the relationship between sexual values and condom negotiation strategies among young Latinos.

Methods: Cross-sectional data collected in 2003-2006 from 571 Latino women and men aged 16-22 in the San Francisco Bay Area were used to examine associations between sexual values (e.

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Background: Although obesity rates are high among Latino children, relatively few studies of parental feeding practices have examined Latino families as a separate group. Culturally-based approaches to measurement development can begin to identify parental feeding practices in specific cultural groups. This study used qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and test the Parental Feeding Practices (PFP) Questionnaire for use with Mexican American parents.

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The activity and safety of two-weekly dose-adjusted (DA)-EPOCH (etoposide, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin)-like chemotherapy with high-dose dexamethasone plus rituximab (DA-EDOCH14-R) was explored in 20 patients with previously untreated poor prognosis diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The main outcomes were compared with those of 27 poor-prognosis patients enrolled into a previous trial of 3-weekly DA-EPOCH-R. Toxicity was manageable and there were no therapy-related deaths.

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Utilizing the concept of race-based traumatic stress, this study tested whether posttraumatic stress symptoms explain the process by which perceived discrimination is related to health risk behaviors among Mexican American adolescents. One hundred ten participants were recruited from a large health maintenance organization in Northern California. Mediational analyses indicated that adolescents who perceived more discrimination reported worse posttraumatic stress symptoms, controlling for covariates.

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Purpose: To examine which condom negotiation strategies are effective in obtaining or avoiding condom use among Latino youth.

Method: Interviews were conducted with 694 Latino youth, 61% female, aged 16-22. Participants reported on their condom negotiation strategies, perceptions of whether their sexual partner wanted to use condoms, and actual condom use.

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Context: Understanding Latino youths' sexual values is key to informing HIV prevention efforts. Few studies have examined associations between culturally based sexual values and behaviors among Latinos.

Methods: A sample of 839 sexually active Latinos aged 16-22 residing in San Francisco were interviewed in 2003-2006.

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Background: Latino youth in the United States are at greater risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in comparison with non-Hispanic white youth.

Methods: Sexually active heterosexual Latino youth aged 16 to 22 years (N = 647) were recruited for interviews through a large health maintenance organization or community clinics.

Results: Adjusting for gender, age, ethnic heritage, and recruitment method, woman's consistent use of hormonal contraceptives, ambivalence about avoiding pregnancy, longer length of sexual relationship, and greater overall trust in main partner were independently associated with inconsistent condom use and engagement in a greater number of sexual intercourse acts that were unprotected by condom use.

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Purpose: This study examined longitudinal associations between violence involvement, substance use, and sexual activity.

Methods: A total of 302 urban Mexican-American and European-American adolescents were randomly selected and recruited from the membership lists of a large health maintenance organization. Data were obtained from interviews conducted when the mean ages of adolescents were 15, 18, and 19 years.

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Objective: This study tested whether violent victimization by peers was associated with alcohol and tobacco use among adolescents, and whether adaptive coping styles moderated associations.

Methods: A total of 247 urban Mexican-American and European-American adolescents aged 16-20 years were interviewed.

Results: Independent of demographics and violent perpetration, adolescents victimized by violence reported greater alcohol and tobacco use.

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