Publications by authors named "Melanie Domenech-Rodriguez"

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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Whether Latinx families use youth mental health services (MHS) depends on complex influences of barriers and facilitators within and outside of the home. This research sought to shed light on caregiver strain as part of the equation focused on parental identification and responses to youth mental health needs. We examined multiple dimensions of caregiver strain as potential mediators between youth mental health symptom severity and psychological counseling utilization.

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Caregiver strain or stress directly related to caring for a youth with emotional and/or behavioral problems may be an important and understudied cultural factor associated with mental health disparities among Latinx families. Caregiver strain is a highly relevant construct for research questions focused on the identification of youth's mental health needs, family-level impacts of youth mental health problems, and utilization of youth mental health services. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of research on measures of caregiver strain and the psychometric properties of existing measures in Latinx samples.

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E-cigarette use among adolescents is a national health epidemic spreading faster than researchers can amass evidence for risk and protective factors and long-term consequences associated with use. New technologies, such as machine learning, may assist prevention programs in identifying at risk youth and potential targets for intervention before adolescents enter developmental periods where e-cigarette use escalates. The present study utilized machine learning algorithms to explore a wide array of individual and socioecological variables in relation to patterns of lifetime e-cigarette use during early adolescence (i.

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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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A lack of validated measures to examine barriers to youth telepsychology services among Latinx families limits research that could identify targets for reducing mental health disparities. We developed and validated the Latinx Barriers to Accessing Telepsychology Services (Latinx BATS) questionnaire, a brief multidimensional measure for caregivers of youths. Participants included 511 Latinx caregivers of youths Ages 6-18 (English = 275, Spanish = 236) who completed the Latinx BATS and reported on telepsychology service utilization and youth mental health problems.

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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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Caregiver acceptance and rejection is crucial to the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. Research shows that caregivers are affected by having an LGBTQ child/family member, yet studies have neglected to capture the experiences of Latinx caregivers. We present the development and initial validation of the LGBTQ Caregiver Acceptance Scale (LCAS) with a Latinx sample.

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Latinx families face unique barriers to accessing traditional youth mental health services and may instead rely on a wide range of supports to meet youth emotional or behavioral concerns. Previous studies have typically focused on patterns of utilization for discrete services, classified by setting, specialization, or level of care (e.g.

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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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The dissemination of evidence-based parent training (PT) interventions remains extremely limited in Latin American countries. This is concerning when considering the high prevalence of child maltreatment associated with punitive parenting practices across countries in the region. Furthermore, efforts to disseminate PT interventions must be conducted by adhering to the core parenting components that have established effectiveness for such interventions, while ensuring contextual and cultural relevance for focus populations.

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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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Measuring cultural competence has been difficult for conceptual and practical reasons. Yet, professional guidelines and stated values call for training to improve cultural competence. To develop a strong evidence-base for training and improving cultural competence, professionals need reliable and valid measures to capture meaningful changes in cultural competence training.

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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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Undocumented Latinx immigrants (ULIs) comprise a large segment of the U.S. population, yet they remain at high risk for diminished health outcomes due to increased exposure to adverse experiences and context.

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Over the past decade, there has been increased attention to the benefits of an integrated health-care care model in which psychologists play a vital role collaborating with other health providers to deliver services in inpatient medical settings, such as emergency departments and acute care medical units. Psychologists working in inpatient medical settings can facilitate access to mental health services and referrals, reduce mental health stigma, improve health outcomes associated with insight into psychosocial factors that affect health and illness, improve communication between patients and providers, and increase sensitivity in addressing the health needs of diverse patients. Psychological services in inpatient medical units can be particularly valuable for marginalized populations, such as undocumented Latinx immigrants, who may not otherwise have access to services that can address the compounded effect that psychosocial stressors may have on their physical health.

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Living under chronic uncertainty, fear, and isolation is the experience of many undocumented immigrants particularly under the recent sociopolitical climate. Yet, despite facing chronic adversity and an uncertain future, undocumented immigrants are highly resilient. This paper draws upon the clinical and research expertise of leading Latinx psychologists working with diverse undocumented communities across the United States.

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Low-income Latina/o immigrants are very likely to experience intense contextual challenges in the USA, such as limited exposure to culturally relevant parent training (PT) prevention interventions. This prevention study consisted of an exploratory randomized controlled trial, aimed at empirically testing the implementation feasibility and initial efficacy of a culturally adapted version of the evidence-based PT intervention known as GenerationPMTO. The parenting intervention was adapted to overtly address immigration-related stressors, discrimination, and challenges associated with biculturalism.

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Background: Knowledge regarding barriers faced by Latina/o/x caregivers in accessing youth mental health services (MHS) have largely depended on resource intensive interview-based assessments.

Objective: We evaluated a questionnaire for Latina/o/x caregivers of youths that presents a briefer and more feasible alternative.

Method: We conducted a psychometric evaluation of the Barriers to Treatment Questionnaire - Latina/o/x Caregivers (BTQ-LC) with a sample of 598 Latina/o/x caregivers from across the United States.

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Adolescents with a history of child maltreatment experience increased risk for psychopathology that sets them on a trajectory towards a range of difficulties in adulthood. Various factors influence caregivers' decisions to seek mental health services (MHS) that could improve developmental outcomes. The present study applied a machine learning algorithm, elastic net, to a sample of 878 adolescent-caregiver dyads from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect.

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Purpose: The Idaho State University Physician Assistant (PA) program was one of the first PA programs in the country to incorporate medication-assisted treatment (MAT) into its curriculum. This manuscript documents the impact of the course.

Methods: In the spring and summer of 2018, 61 students and 12 local providers enrolled in an elective MAT course developed by Idaho State University.

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