A Multi-Site Study of Traumatic Brain Injury in Mexico and Colombia: Longitudinal Mediational and Cross-Lagged Models of Family Dynamics, Coping, and Health-Related Quality of Life.

Latin America has high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet reduced mental and physical health outcomes due to limited rehabilitation services. To understand the psychosocial adjustment process in TBI patients in Latin America, the incorporation of cultural values including family-based variables is imperative. The current study examined relations among healthy family dynamics, coping, and mental and physical health related quality of life (HRQL) among a sample of TBI patients across three sites and two countries over the first 4 months post-injury.

Relationship Satisfaction and Depression After Traumatic Brain Injury: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Patients and Caregivers in Mexico and Colombia.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury represents a major public health concern, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like in Latin America. Family members are often caregivers for individuals with traumatic brain injury, which can result in significant stress. Research is needed to examine depression and quality of the caregiving relationship in these dyads.

Predictors of longitudinal depression trajectories after traumatic brain injury in Latin America: A multi-site study.

Background: Latin America has exceptionally high rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI), but very little research has been conducted on longitudinal TBI outcomes in this global region.

Objective: This study examined whether cognitive dysfunction and social disadaptation in individuals with TBI in Latin America at hospital discharge predict longitudinal trajectories of depression at baseline, 2 months, and 4 months.

Methods: A sample of 109 people with a new TBI was recruited from three hospitals: Mexico City, Mexico, Cali, Colombia and Neiva, Colombia.

Depressive and anxiety symptoms and social support are independently associated with disease-specific quality of life in Colombian patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To examine the relationship between disease-specific Quality of Life (QOL) and socio-demographic, medical, and psychosocial factors in Colombian patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).

Methods: One hundred and three RA patients recruited from ambulatory centers in Neiva, Colombia were administered the Disease Activity Scale 28 (DAS-28), QOL-RA, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Interpersonal Support Evaluation List-12 (ISEL-12), and Symptom Checklist-90 Revised (SCL-90R).

Results: Lower QOL-RA was associated with lower socio-economic status (SES; r=0.

Psychological Functioning in Youth With Spina Bifida Living in Colombia, South America.

Objective: No studies have examined psychological functioning among youth with spina bifida (SB) living in a developing country where access to mental health resources is often scarce. This study compared self-reported psychological functioning between youth with SB living in Colombia, South America, and a demographically matched comparison group of healthy Colombian children.

Methods: 22 children with SB and 22 comparison children completed assessments of depression and anxiety.

Family dynamics and psychosocial functioning in children with SCI/D from Colombia, South America.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the connections between family dynamics and the psychosocial functioning of children with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D).

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Participants were recruited from communities in Neiva, Colombia.

Factor analysis of the Spanish Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons with Disabilities.

Purpose/objective: To study the psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS) and examine its factor structure using confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses on data from a Colombian collegiate sample.

Research Method/design: Five hundred students from Sur Colombia University in Neiva, Colombia, completed the Multidimensional Attitudes toward People with Disability scale. Forty-eight percent were male, and the average age for the entire sample was 21.