Publications by authors named "Thania Galvan"

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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Although trauma exposure is common among youth in the United States, it is not evenly distributed. In fact, Latinx youth have higher rates of trauma exposure than their non-Latinx White counterparts with approximately 78% of Latinx youth experiencing one traumatic event by the time they are 18 years old. Despite this, the impact of trauma exposure on Latinx youth's mental health needs is not well-established.

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Objectives: Latinx immigrant youth are at greater risk for mental health (MH) concerns than their nonimmigrant Latinx peers. Efforts to address mental health disparities have resulted in the much-needed development of theoretical frameworks explaining mental health disparities in marginalized populations. A theoretical framework that is particularly relevant to mental health disparities among Latinx immigrant youth is the Cultural Stress Theory (CST); however, an expansion of this model is necessary to thoroughly describe and explain mental health risk in this population.

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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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In the face of harmful disparities and inequities, it is crucial for researchers to critically reflect on methodologies and research practices that can dismantle systems of oppression, accommodate pluralistic realities, and facilitate opportunities for all communities to thrive. Historically, knowledge production for the sciences has followed a colonial and colonizing approach that continues to silence and decontextualize the lived experiences of people of color. This article acknowledges the harm to people of color communities in the name of research and draws from decolonial and liberation frameworks to advance research practices and psychological science toward equity and social justice.

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Psychologists are positioned to help address societal and public health crises in beneficial ways, including collectively working with public sectors to serve marginalized communities. This article highlights the relevance of helping to address societal and public health crises with collectivistic psychological leadership approaches and uses Latinx psychology leaders for addressing the current immigrant needs among Latinx communities. We draw attention to the domains needed for collectivistic psychological leadership that are culturally nuanced and equity, diversity, and inclusion-focused to advance the well-being of historically marginalized immigrant communities.

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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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Article Synopsis
  • The study looked at how traumatic events affect mental health, like anxiety and depression, in undocumented Latinx immigrants, not just posttraumatic stress.
  • It involved 253 participants who shared their experiences with trauma and their mental health symptoms, showing that more trauma leads to higher anxiety and depression.
  • The researchers found that trauma happened at different times during immigration and highlighted the need for better care that understands these experiences.
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Unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs) are a fast-growing demographic in the United States, doubling in population since 2014. According to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a UIM is someone under the age of 18 years who enters the United States without lawful status and an accompanying guardian. Most UIMs in the United States originate from the Central American northern triangle (ie, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras), with violence, extreme poverty, and family re-unification as the top 3 reasons for migration.

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Immigrants are at greater risk for mental health concerns but are less likely to use mental health services than their U.S.-born counterparts.

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Objective: This study examined the association between immigration legal status and distress from the announcement of the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program among individuals affected by this potentially traumatic event (PTE), along with identifying relevant risk factors.

Method: Participants ( = 233) affected by the termination announcement provided cross-sectional self-reports on distress from the announcement that was measured using the Impact of Events Scale-Revised.

Results: Of the participants, 40.

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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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The demands and stressors associated with motherhood can increase a mother's risk for mental health concerns. Latina mothers are particularly vulnerable to the relation between motherhood-related stressors and maternal mental health given that they are at an increased risk for mental health concerns, that they are likely to have their mental health needs go unmet, and that traditional Latinx cultural values/gender roles emphasize women assuming the role of primary caregiver of the family's children. In an attempt to better understand how motherhood impacts Latina mother's mental health, this study explored the relations among parental self-efficacy, parenting stress, and maternal mental health.

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The mounting evidence highlighting the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in ethnic minority communities underscores the need to understand how distress and healthcare access impacts the well-being of undocumented Latino/a immigrants (ULIs), one of the most marginalized and vulnerable ethnic minority communities in the U.S. We used existing data from a cross sectional study (Proyecto Voces) of 252 ULIs to conduct path analyses that explored the relations among distress due to immigration legal status, healthcare access difficulties, and the health of ULIs.

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This paper assessed the effectiveness of Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) in recruiting undocumented Latinx immigrants for a prevalence health study at a time of heightened immigration enforcement. RDS was used to collect and analyze data from clinical interviews with 254 undocumented Latinx immigrant adults, enabling inference to a population of 22,000. 45% of the sample reported having a chronic medical condition.

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Latinx youth are less likely to receive mental health services (MHS) than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Disparities in MHS use have also been shown to vary by type of mental health problem and indices of caregiver culture even within Latinx samples, suggesting the need to go beyond cross-group racial/ethnic comparisons. However, much of the current research examining these within-group disparities has failed to directly measure the extent to which these differences are associated to specific culture.

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Objective: This study aimed to assess for the prevalence of interpersonal discrimination among undocumented Mexican immigrants residing in high-risk neighborhoods near the CaliforniaMexico border, identify relevant vulnerabilities, and determine its association with clinically significant psychological distress after controlling for socio-demographics, immigration characteristics, and history of trauma.

Method: Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) was used in this cross-sectional study to collect and analyze data from clinical interviews with 246 undocumented Mexican immigrants. The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-53) was used as the primary outcome measure to assess for clinically significant psychological distress.

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This study examined the association between transnational death and psychological distress among undocumented Mexican immigrants. The Minority Stress Model and a disenfranchised grief perspective were used as frameworks for this study. Respondent driven sampling (RDS) was used to collect data from clinical interviews with 248 undocumented Mexican immigrants residing near the US-Mexico border.

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Objective: This study aimed to: (a) provide population-based estimates for the prevalence of mental disorders, including substance use, among undocumented Mexican immigrants; (b) assess for relevant comorbidities; and (c) identify sociodemographic, immigration and contextual vulnerabilities associated with meeting criteria for a disorder.

Method: This cross-sectional study used Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to collect and analyze data from clinical interviews with 248 undocumented Mexican immigrants residing near the California-Mexico border. The M.

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Objective: Women's risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases substantially during and after the menopausal transition, when depression risk is also elevated, raising the possibility that estrogen withdrawal contributes to OSA vulnerability, in turn contributing to mood disturbance. We examined the association between estradiol levels and OSA in depressed peri- and postmenopausal women.

Methods: Thirty depressed peri-/postmenopausal women (mean body mass index [BMI] 30.

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Study Objectives: While women report sleep interruption secondary to nighttime hot flashes, the sleep disrupting impact of nocturnal hot flashes (HF) is not well characterized. We utilized a model of induced HF to investigate the relationship of nighttime HF to sleep architecture and sleep-stage transitions.

Methods: Twenty-eight healthy, premenopausal volunteers received the depot gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) leuprolide to rapidly induce menopause, manifesting with HF.

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Objective: This study aims to obtain preliminary data on the efficacy of armodafinil for improving menopause-related fatigue and quality of life.

Methods: Women (aged 40-65 y) experiencing menopause-related fatigue received open-label armodafinil therapy (up to 150 mg/d) for 4 weeks. Changes from baseline in Brief Fatigue Inventory score and Menopause-Specific Quality of Life (MENQOL) physical domain score were examined using the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

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