Publications by authors named "M Alegria"

Objectives: Although racially and ethnically minoritized youth are more likely to experience adverse effects of substance use, and substance use before age 14 is strongly associated with an elevated risk of later substance use disorders, there is limited research identifying risk factors for early substance use. The study examined the role of experiencing ethnic discrimination from teachers, other adults outside of school, and other students in predicting early substance use (measured with hair toxicology reports).

Methods: The study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

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Background And Objectives: Limited English proficiency (LEP) impairs health access-including outpatient specialty care-and quality care, i.e., inappropriate use of diagnostic tests.

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Background: While studies have observed mental health inequities across aggregated Asian and Latine populations, a critical gap exists in our understanding of inequities within and across Asian and Latine subpopulations.

Objective: We examined the prevalence of mental health symptoms and variations in mental health service use across Black and White populations and Asian and Latine subpopulations at a more granular level.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the 2016-2021 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

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Importance: Although racial and ethnic disparities are well documented in children's mean levels of sleep, particularly duration, evidence is mixed for sleep variability, an important sleep dimension of growing interest. Most research has also focused on comparisons of Black and White children, with limited attention to sleep variability disparities among other racially and ethnically minoritized groups such as Asian, Latinx, and multiracial children.

Objective: To investigate racial and ethnic disparities in children's mean levels of sleep and variability of sleep across multiple dimensions and diverse racial and ethnic groups using actigraphy data.

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The effects of the intergenerational continuity of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on youth outcomes have been documented, particularly among mother-child dyads. Most literature has focused on the continuity of family-level ACEs (Traditional ACEs [T-ACEs]) and not community-level ACEs (Expanded ACEs [E-ACEs]) that disproportionately impact minoritized individuals. We aimed to (a) examine the effect of mothers' and fathers' T-ACEs and E-ACEs on youth's T-ACEs and E-ACEs, respectively, and on youth's depressive and anxiety symptoms; (b) examine whether youth's own ACE exposure explains the link between parental ACEs and youth depressive and anxiety symptoms; and (c) explore differential risks by mothers versus fathers.

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