Publications by authors named "Garcini L"

Racist and xenophobic policies in the United States (e.g., family separations and lack of access to protected immigration statuses for undocumented immigrants) have historically excluded immigrants of color from accessing full civil rights, thus contributing to widening racial inequities in the US.

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Objectives: Latinx and Asian people are experiencing an elevated rate of immigration status-related oppression-both systematically and individually-despite actual nationality, and this type of cultural stressor has seen a rampant increase recently in the United States. We aimed to assess the relation and effect of immigration status microaggressions on psychological stress and some mechanisms connected to these experiences.

Method: Using a sample of Latinx and Asian college students ( = 776), we unpack the relationships between individual cultural stressors, such as immigration status microaggressions, and psychological stress, by exploring their mediating relation with internalized racism (Mediator 1), and fear of foreign objectification (Mediator 2), using Hayes's (2012) PROCESS Model 6-serial mediation.

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Introduction: Vaccine mandates are controversial, and people vary widely in their preferences to support or reject vaccine mandates. For some, vaccine mandates represent a commitment to reduce harm and support public health. For others, vaccine mandates are viewed as a threat to individual freedom and a violation of personal choice.

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The author describes how she has earnestly struggled to find her fit in providing mental health services to Hispanic/Latino clients and the Latino communities that she belongs to. She wonders, Personal and systemic biases and arbitrary criteria for being enough to serve Latino patients hurt providers and clients alike. Her work reminds her of the need to charge against stereotyping and racism to meet patients' needs regardless of skin color or linguistic abilities.

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Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways): The Hispanic/Latino Cancer Survivorship Cohort Study aims to examine the influence of sociocultural, medical, stress-related, psychosocial, lifestyle, behavioral, and biological factors on symptom burden, health-related quality of life, and clinical outcomes among Hispanics/Latinos who have been previously treated for cancer. Avanzando Caminos is a prospective, cohort-based study of 3000 Hispanics/Latinos who completed primary cancer treatment within the past 5 years that is representative of the general Hispanic/Latino population in the United States. Participants will complete self-report measures at baseline (time [T] 1), 6 months (T2), 1 year (T3), 2 years (T4), 3 years (T5), 4 years (T6), and 5 years (T7).

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers need to rethink their methodologies to combat systemic oppression and promote equity for marginalized communities.
  • Historical research practices have often harmed people of color by overlooking their experiences, necessitating a shift towards decolonial and liberatory frameworks.
  • The article proposes a comprehensive lens that addresses tensions in research, offering practical recommendations for achieving ethical, equitable, and inclusive practices in psychological research.
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Record-breaking levels of asylum seeking by families with young children continue at the United States/Mexico border, particularly the Rio Grande Valley sector. In this Commentary, our aim is to increase awareness by providing child and adolescent mental health care providers with an update on current migrant conditions, bringing to light issues of family separation previously highlighted in the Journal. For context, our international group has collected data, via 3 large-scale studies funded by the National Institutes of Health, from more than 600 Latinx immigrants seeking asylum at the US/Mexico border in the last 4 years, during which levels of violence, climate disruption, and poverty in the Northern Triangle of Central America (ie, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) and Mexico have propelled high and sustained levels of asylum seeking in the United States.

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Within the United States (U.S.), the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted critical inequalities affecting undocumented communities and resulting in particularly heightened stress for members of these communities.

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Article Synopsis
  • Psychologists can play a crucial role in addressing societal and public health crises by collaborating with public sectors to support marginalized communities, particularly Latinx immigrants.
  • The article emphasizes the importance of collectivistic psychological leadership that focuses on equity and cultural nuances to enhance the well-being of these historically marginalized groups.
  • It also discusses the formation of the Latinx Immigrant Health Alliance (LIHA) aimed at tackling health disparities exacerbated by systemic inequalities, especially during the pandemic, and calls for translating psychological methods into actionable social justice initiatives.
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The topic of immigration is timely yet polarizing. By definition, to be an immigrant implies being in a state of transition and transformation. The eventual outcome is likely to be influenced by a series of contextual factors starting in the country of origin, continuing during the migration journey, and culminating in receiving communities.

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Objective: The Latinx immigrant youth population composes nearly a quarter of all children in the U.S. and are a high-risk group for police encounters.

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The mental health burden associated with anti-immigrant rhetoric and ever-changing immigration policies is undeniable, though the psychological and emotional sequalae may remain invisible for years to come. Exclusionary immigration policies, as a form of structural racism, have also led to an epidemic of stress-related health within the Latinx community, particularly the Latinx immigrant community, across the United States. Recent examples of anti-Latinx and anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies include the 45 President's implementation of the Zero Tolerance policy, Migrant Protection Protocols, and Title 42.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study looked at how traumatic events affect mental health, like anxiety and depression, in undocumented Latinx immigrants, not just posttraumatic stress.
  • It involved 253 participants who shared their experiences with trauma and their mental health symptoms, showing that more trauma leads to higher anxiety and depression.
  • The researchers found that trauma happened at different times during immigration and highlighted the need for better care that understands these experiences.
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Unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs) are a fast-growing demographic in the United States, doubling in population since 2014. According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a UIM is someone under the age of 18 years who enters the United States without lawful status and an accompanying guardian. Most UIMs in the United States originate from the Central American northern triangle (ie, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras), with violence, extreme poverty, and family re-unification as the top 3 reasons for migration.

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The number of unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs) and families from Central America seeking asylum in the U.S. continues to rise.

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Background: A disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and deaths have been reported among Latinxs in the U.S. Among those most affected by the pandemic are marginalized families, including those that are undocumented and mixed-status, in which some, but not all members are undocumented.

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Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) offers temporary administrative relief from deportation for undocumented immigrant adolescents and young adults who were brought as children to the United States. Accordingly, DACA has contributed to creating a different landscape of opportunities for this group. However, DACA has been and continues to be highly contested in the national political climate.

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Understanding of human brain development has advanced rapidly as the field of developmental cognitive neuroscience (DCN) has matured into an established scientific discipline. Despite substantial progress, DCN lags behind other related disciplines in terms of diverse representation, standardized reporting requirements for socio-demographic characteristics of participants in pediatric neuroimaging studies, and use of intentional sampling strategies to more accurately represent the socio-demographic, ethnic, and racial composition of the populations from which participants are sampled. Additional efforts are needed to shift DCN towards a more inclusive field that facilitates the study of individual differences across a variety of cultural and contextual experiences.

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A critical step to reduce the spread of COVID-19 is vaccination. We conducted a mixed methods project that used online surveys and focus groups with 64 Community Health Workers and (CHW/Ps) located near the U.S.

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Objective: Latinx asylum-seeking families report posttraumatic distress that is 161-204% higher than in nonimmigrants, with adverse consequences for health and well-being. Recent U.S.

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Addressing mental health is an important part of the COVID-19 response among historically underserved communities, which have been disproportionately affected. Community Health Workers (CHWs) are well placed to offer insights about barriers to mental health service use in their communities, and they are well positioned to address mental health gaps by providing education, resources, and assistance to bridging the gap for the use of more traditional mental health services. Using the perspectives of CHWs, this project identified barriers faced by CHWs in assisting community members with their mental health needs, along with relevant training needs to more effectively deliver mental health resources, referrals, and recommendations to community members.

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Undocumented and mixed-status families, in which some, but not all members have an undocumented immigration legal status, often face multiple and chronic stressors that influence their health. Compounded by trauma and limited opportunities, the aforementioned stressors negatively impact the physical and mental health of the undocumented and mixed-status population. This article uses a social determinants of health (SDOH) framework, examining five key domains--economic stability, education, healthcare, the social and community context, and the neighborhood and built environment.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study investigated how immigration legal status affects distress among individuals in response to the potential termination of the DACA program.
  • Nearly 41% of the participants showed levels of distress that could indicate posttraumatic stress disorder, with DACA recipients experiencing significantly higher distress than others.
  • Key factors linking to increased distress included DACA status, being male, and having lower financial security, highlighting the urgent need for psychological support and changes in immigration policy to help those affected.
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