Publications by authors named "Oscar F Rojas Perez"

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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Background: To promote equitable recruitment for studies conducted in the inpatient hospital setting, we sought to characterize reasons why individuals, both from historically minoritized racial and ethnic groups and the broader patient population, refuse participation in clinical trials within inpatient settings.

Methods: An exhaustive search of the literature was conducted in Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to find relevant articles published from the inception of each database to April 30, 2023. Studies recruiting patients during their inpatient stay and reporting reasons for refusing participation in clinical trials met the inclusion criteria.

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Objective: This study aimed to describe initial experiences and lessons learned conducting a trial focused on recruiting racially and ethnically diverse hospitalized patients with untreated alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Methods: The parent trial is comparing the effectiveness of strategies including Brief Negotiation Interview (BNI), facilitated initiation of medications for AUD, and computer-based training for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT4CBT) on AUD treatment engagement post-hospitalization. Guided by the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications-Enhanced, we catalogued protocol changes and evaluated outcomes using study and electronic medical record data during the first 18 months of recruitment.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the effectiveness of a culturally-adapted digital cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program for Spanish-speaking Hispanic adults struggling with substance use disorder (SUD).
  • It involved 85 participants who were either given standard treatment or standard treatment plus the Spanish CBT4CBT program, with assessments conducted over 6 months.
  • Results showed that those who engaged in the supplemental program improved their coping skills more than those who received standard treatment alone, and better coping skills were linked to reduced substance use.
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Mental health concerns among juvenile-justice-involved youth (JJIY) continue to be a major health crisis in the United States (US). While scholarship has explored mental health concerns among JJIY, and the link to negative life outcomes, there are gaps in the existing research, particularly in effective interventions and models aimed at addressing both the mental health concerns and criminogenic risk contributing to recidivism and other negative life outcomes of this population. In this paper, we present Justice-Based Interdisciplinary Collective Care (JBICC), an innovative framework to address both the mental health needs and delinquent behavior of youth offenders.

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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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Latinx individuals are the largest ethnic minoritized group in the United States (US) at 19% of the population. However, they remain underrepresented in clinical research, accounting for less than 8% of clinical trial participants. Consideration of cultural values could help overcome barriers to inclusion in clinical trials and result in better recruitment and retention of Latinx individuals.

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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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Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly causes hospitalization, particularly for individuals disproportionately impacted by structural racism and other forms of marginalization. The optimal approach for engaging hospitalized patients with AUD in treatment post-hospital discharge is unknown. We describe the rationale, aims, and protocol for Project ENHANCE (ENhancing Hospital-initiated Alcohol TreatmeNt to InCrease Engagement), a clinical trial testing increasingly intensive approaches using a hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation approach.

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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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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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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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We sought to evaluate the psychometric properties of two resilience scales; the Resilience Inventory (IRES) and the 14-item Resilience Scale (RS-14) among Peruvian postpartum adolescent mothers. This cross-sectional study included 785 adolescent mothers who delivered at a maternity hospital in Lima, Peru. The Spanish versions of IRES and RS-14 were used to evaluate the properties of the measures.

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Mental illness is one of the largest contributors to the global disease burden. The importance of valid and reliable mental health measures is crucial in order to accurately measure said burden, to capture symptom improvement, and to ensure that symptoms are appropriately identified and quantified. This is of particular importance in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where the burden of mental illness is relatively high, and there is heterogeneity in linguistic, racial, and ethnic groups.

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