Post-earthquake Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and their Correlates among College-Youths in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Exposure to earthquake has previously been associated with adverse mental health outcomes, however, evidence is limited among youth in resource-limited settings. This study explored the association of retrospective extent of exposure on current day depressive symptoms and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among 125 youth attending a college in Kathmandu, Nepal. A self-administered survey including socio-demographic variables, scale for earthquake exposure and Nepali language validated standardized scales for depressive and PTSD symptoms was used.

"Give Me Proof": A Covert but Coercive Form of Non-partner Sexual Violence Contributing to Teen Pregnancy in Haiti and Opportunities for Biopsychosocial Intervention.

Adolescent girls in low-resource settings account for over 7.3 million births annually (generally unplanned). Unplanned teen pregnancies are increasing in low-resource settings.

Psychometric properties of a Haitian Kreyòl version of the trauma symptom checklist.

Background: In this study, the first to examine psychometrics of a Haitian Kreyòl version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist-40 (TSC-40), we investigated trauma symptoms in survivors of Haiti's 2010 earthquake who reside in Haiti's Cité Soleil slum, a violent neighborhood where non-partner sexual violence (NPSV) is rampant and whose residents are historically underrepresented in research.

Methods: 233 women and 280 men 18 years or older completed the TSC-40. Differential Item Function (DIF) analysis was performed on the TSC-40 responses for women and men.

Experiences of sexual and gender minorities in an urban enclave of Haiti: despised, beaten, stoned, stabbed, shot and raped.

Studies of sexual and gender minorities in Haiti and globally typically involve HIV research and programming with men who have sex with men. We conducted focus groups with individuals in Haiti's Cité Soleil slum whose assigned gender at birth matched neither their gender identity nor contextual heteronormative constructions of gender roles, i.e.

In their Own Words: Resilience among Haitian Survivors of the 2010 Earthquake.

Social sciences literature highlights the importance of resilience in relation to risk and trauma. The 2010 Haitian earthquake compounded trauma for a nation that has endured slavery/despotic leadership, structural violence and poverty. Since 2010, various sources broadly describe Haitian survivors as resilient.

Religious Beliefs, PTSD, Depression and Resilience in Survivors of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

Background: This study examines relationships between religious beliefs regarding the origin of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and posttraumatic symptomatology as well as depressive symptoms and resilience among its survivors.

Method: We used convenient sampling to recruit participants (n=167). They completed six scales, which had been translated into Haitian Creole, including measures such as the Earthquake Experiences Exposure (EEE), the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI), the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experience Questionnaire (PDEQ), the PTSD Checklist (PTSD-CL), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD- RISC) RESULTS: Among our participants, 51% were male, (mean age=30.

Adapting an evidence-based intervention for HIV to avail access to testing and risk-reduction counseling for female victims of sexual violence in post-earthquake Haiti.

Haiti has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. Before the 2010 earthquake, Haitian women bore a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS, had lower HIV knowledge, less capacity to negotiate for safer sex, and limited access to HIV testing and risk-reduction (RR) counseling. Since 2010, there has been an increase in sexual violence against women, characterized by deliberate vaginal injuries by non-intimate partners, increasing victims' risk of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS.

Symptoms of PTSD in a sample of female victims of sexual violence in post-earthquake Haiti.

Background: Globally, sexual violence (SV) impacts 25-33% of women, is often perpetrated by intimate partners and occurs even post-disasters. The 2010 Haiti earthquake occasioned a SV epidemic in Cité Soleil, where over 50% of females are reportedly victims of SV via non-intimate partners/strangers (NPSV). Little is known about the psychological effects of SV perpetrated by NPSV; even less in known about the biopsychosocial consequences of NPSV on women in Haiti.

Language of sexual violence in Haiti: perceptions of victims, community-level workers, and health care providers.

Non-partner sexual violence (NPSV), an important risk factor for HIV, is of global public health significance and understudied. The 2010 earthquake interacted syndemically with structural factors to increase sexual violence and HIV risk for women in Cité Soleil, Haiti. We used an exploratory sequential qualitative design and Grounded Theory to investigate language/terminology for NPSV, victims and perpetrators, and health effects of NPSV on victims, in four focus groups: Health care providers (HCPs) (n=3; n=8), community advocates (n=8), and victims (n=8).

Shelter recovery in urban Haiti after the earthquake: the dual role of social capital.

This paper documents the culture-specific understanding of social capital among Haitians and examines its benefits and downsides in post-disaster shelter recovery following the 12 January 2010 earthquake. The case study of shelter recovery processes in three socioeconomically diverse communities (Pétion-Ville, Delmas and Canapé Vert) in Port-au-Prince suggests that social capital plays dual roles in post-disaster shelter recovery of the displaced population in Haiti. On the one hand, it provides enhanced access to shelter-related resources for those with connections.

Type and frequency of substances injected in a sample of Haitian immigrant picuristes (informal injectionists) and clients.

In view of health inequities disfavoring Haitians, substances given by Florida Haitian picuristes/informal injectionists were investigated. Semi-structured interviews of 10 picuristes and 25 clients were obtained, transcribed, and analyzed using ATLAS.ti and SPSS.

Picuriste/injectionist use among Haitian immigrants in Miami-Dade County, Florida: implications for HIV-related theory.

Objectives: We explore the risks reported to picuriste (injectionist) use in a non-probability sample of Haitian immigrant residents of Miami-Dade, Florida, using a mixed method approach. Picuristes typically have no formal medical training, and may use non-sterile needles.

Methods: Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted of picuristes (n = 10) and picuriste users (n = 25).

Haitian picuristes/injectionists as alternatives to conventional health care providers in South Florida.

Barriers in seeking access to conventional health care services continue to be a problem in the United States, especially among recent racial and ethnic immigrants who tend to be least able to afford adequate health insurance coverage. Ethnic immigrants sometimes seek out traditional healers as unconventional providers of health care services to overcome barriers in accessing the conventional health care delivery system. The purpose of this work is to provide insight into the practices of Picuristes or Haitian "lay injectionists" in their role as alternative, unconventional providers of health care services among Haitian immigrants in South Florida.

Correlates of picuriste use in a sample of health-seeking Haitian immigrants and adult children of immigrants in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Objectives: We explored covariates of the use of picuristes (traditional health workers with no formal medical training who provide intramuscular, subcutaneous, and intravenous injections, typically with nonsterile needles) in the Haitian community of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Methods: We surveyed a community-based sample of 205 Haitian immigrants and adult children of Haitian immigrants. Through logistic regression analysis, we sought to corroborate the correlates of picuriste use identified in previous qualitative interviews of picuristes and their clients.

The relationship among cardiovascular risk factors, diet patterns, alcohol consumption, and ethnicity among women aged 50 years and older.

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women of all races and ethnicities. The risk of developing the disease is greater in postmenopausal women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to use cluster analysis to examine diet patterns and to examine the association between diet patterns and the presence of major cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Cultural adaptations in data collection: field experiences.

We assessed the data collection phase of a study that examines the substance using and other health behaviors of a cohort of 160 dyads of Latino mothers and daughters living in South Florida (N=320), by conducting a focus group with the study's interviewers. The objective of the focus group was to assess the appropriateness of the questionnaire utilized in the Latino Women's Study, and identify potential barriers and challenges that may be encountered when conducting research with Latino women in the United States. The results from this focus provide useful insight into the practice of cultural adaptations in research studies, and illustrate the need for employing culturally-informed interviewers and for devising well-adapted questionnaires in studies with Latino women.