Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploratory Study Of Healing Circles As A Strategy To Facilitate Resilience In An Undocumented Community, Frances Morales, José Manuel González Vera, Michelle A. Silva, German Cadenas, Jenifer García Mendoza, Luz M. Garcini, Manuel Paris, Amanda Venta, Melanie M. Domenech Rodriguez, Alfonso Mercado

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Within the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted critical inequalities affecting undocumented communities and resulting in particularly heightened stress for members of these communities. In addition to the stress associated with COVID-19, immigrants in the United States were more than ever subjected to a hostile antiimmigrant climate under Trump’s administration. Given this compounded stress, the impact of the pandemic on mental health is likely to be disproportionately experienced by undocumented immigrants. In response, a group of psychologists partnered with a leading immigrant rights advocacy organization and formed a reciprocal collaboration to support undocumented communities. A major focus of the collaboration …

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms In Response To Covid-19–Related Adverse Events In Hispanic Individuals, Michiyo Hirai, Laura L. Vernon

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The current study examined the effects of COVID-19 death and infection stressors on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and the moderating role of resilience and coping in the association between the COVID-19 stressors and PTSS in Hispanic young adults. On average, COVID-19 death led to higher PTSS than COVID-19 infection. Among participants with relatively high resilience, higher engagement coping, or lower disengagement coping, the magnitudes of the impacts of COVID-19 death and infection on PTSS were similar, suggesting the buffering role of resilience and coping. Resilience and engagement coping may protect Hispanic individuals from elevated PTSS in response to traumatic experiences.

Study Protocol Of An Investigation Of Attention And Prediction Error As Mechanisms Of Action For Latent Inhibition Of Dental Fear In Humans, Laura D. Seligman, Andrew L. Geers, Lauren Kramer, Kelly S. Clemens, Keenan A. Pituch, Ben Colagiuri, Hilary A. Marusak, Christine A. Rabinak, Natalie Turner, Michael Nedley

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Evidence suggests that dental anxiety and phobia are frequently the result of direct associative fear conditioning but that pre-exposure to dental stimuli prior to conditioning results in latent inhibition of fear learning. The mechanisms underlying the pre-exposure effect in humans, however, are poorly understood. Moreover, pain sensitivity has been linked to dental fear conditioning in correlational investigations and theory suggests it may moderate the latent inhibition effect, but this hypothesis has not been directly tested. These gaps in our understanding are a barrier to the development of evidence-based dental phobia prevention efforts.

Methods

Healthy volunteers between the ages of …

Age Of Autism Diagnosis In Latin American And Caribbean Countries, Cecilia Montiel-Nava, María Cecilia Montenegro, Ana C. Ramirez, Daniel Valdez, Analía Rosoli, Ricardo Garcia, Gabriela Garrido, Sebastián Cukier, Alexia Rattazzi, Cristiane Silvestre Paula

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

An earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder might lead to an earlier intervention, yet knowledge and awareness of autism spectrum disorder in Latin America and Caribbean Countries are limited. A later autism spectrum disorder diagnosis has been associated with negative consequences, as it might imply later access to services. This study aims to identify factors associated with the age of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis as reported by 2520 caregivers of autistic children from six Latin America and Caribbean Countries. Results indicate that on average, caregivers were concerned about their child’s development by 22 months of age; however, the diagnosis was …

Estrés Postraumático Y Covid-19 En América Latina: Un Llamado A La Acción/Posttraumatic Stress And Covid-19 In Latin American: A Call To Action, Alfonso Mercado, Andy Torres, Amanda Palomin, Frances Morales, Cecilia Colunga-Rodríguez, Mario Angel Gonzalez, Luis E. Sarabia-López, Gabriel Davalos-Picazo, Diemen Delgado-García, Daniel Duclos

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental wellbeing of the entire globe. However, Latin American countries’ systemic and environmental challenges hindered the ability of many nations in the region to serve the mental health needs of its habitants. Compared to other mental health symptoms, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms (PTSS) were particularly higher among this geographical region. Nonetheless, there is scarcity of research identifying the unique symptom profile of PTSS. Given that the typology of PTSS is multidimensional and appears to be contingent on the type of stressor, this study (as part of larger international study) aimed to identify differences in PTSS …

Daily Heterosexist Experiences In Lgbtq+ Adults From Spain: Measurement, Prevalence, And Clinical Implications, Román Ronzón-Tirado, Ruby Charak, Ines Cano-Gonzalez

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals face unique stressors related to their sexual and gender identities that have a detrimental impact on their mental health. Nonetheless, studies have not yet investigated these minority stressors among LGBTQ+ individuals from Spain. The limited availability of standardized tools/instruments to measure minority stressors in Spanish makes it challenging to explore these experiences among Spanish speaking individuals. The present study aimed to examine the factor structure of the Daily Heterosexist Experiences Questionnaire (DHEQ) among LGBTQ+ adults from Spain, compare rates of minority stressors across diverse gender and sexual orientations, and examine the impact …

Temporal Associations Between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms And Depression In Response To Online Expressive Writing Interventions In A Hispanic Sample, Michiyo Hirai, Serkan Dolma, Laura L. Vernon, George A. Clum

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Some expressive writing (EW) interventions targeting posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) may reduce both PTSS and comorbid depression symptoms. The temporal associations between PTSS and depression symptom levels in response to EW interventions are unknown. This study examined the directionality of PTSS and depression symptom levels from baseline to 1-week, 1-month, and 3-month follow-ups of two online EW interventions in a Hispanic sample with diverse trauma experiences. Participants (n = 70) completed either emotion-focused or fact-focused writing for 3 consecutive days online. A manifest autoregressive model with cross-lagged effects and treatment condition was analyzed. All but one first-order autoregressive path …

Differences Among Perpetrators Of Intimate Partner Violence Utilizing Proactive Versus Reactive Aggression, Gabriela Ontiveros, Arturo L. Cantos, K. Daniel O'Leary

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This research aimed to categorize perpetrator’s aggression as reactive or proactive regarding intimate partner violence and explore the relationship with relevant variables. Victim statements in police reports of 60 predominantly Hispanic male adult perpetrators on probation in South Texas were rated, categorizing statements as reactive or proactive. It was hypothesized that more men would display reactive aggression and it would be associated with severe violence, emotion regulation difficulties, state anger, and impulsivity. The study further suggested that emotion regulation, state anger, and impulsivity would moderate the relationship between severity of violence and reactive/proactive classification, and impulsivity would mediate the relationship …

Perceived Discrimination Enhances The Association Between Distress And Impact Related To The Murder Of George Floyd And Unhealthy Alcohol Use In A Survey Sample Of U.S. Veterans Who Report Drinking, Monique T. Cano, Jill V. Reavis, David L. Pennington

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer leading to increased social justice and antiracism movements (SJARM) across the United States. Vicarious exposure to racism and perceived discrimination are salient sources of distress which may lead to increased alcohol use as means of coping. The primary aim of the current study was to examine how perceived discrimination and the subjective impact and personal distress related to the SJARM following the George Floyd murder interact and relate to unhealthy alcohol use among U.S. Veterans.

Methods

286 Veterans were assessed for unhealthy alcohol use (AUDIT-10), perceived …

Factor Structure Of The International Trauma Questionnaire In Trauma Exposed Lgbtq Plus Adults: Role Of Cumulative Traumatic Events And Minority Stress Heterosexist Experiences, Ruby Charak, Ines Cano-Gonzalez, Roman Ronzón-Tirado, Julian D. Ford, Brianna M. Byllesby, Mark Shevlin, Thanos Karatzias, Philip Hyland, Marylene Cloitre

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Exposure to prolonged and/or multiple types of psychological trauma and stressors has been shown to be more strongly associated with ICD-11 complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) than posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans- and queer adults (LGBTQ+) are at a heightened risk of exposure to traumatic events, and minority stressors including harassment, discrimination, rejection by family, and isolation. Objective: To examine the factor structure of the international trauma questionnaire (ITQ), a self-report measure of PTSD and CPTSD, and the associations of cumulative lifetime trauma exposure assessed via the life events checklist and minority stress assessed via the daily …

Alpha Band Prefrontal Asymmetry Does Not Underlie Pain Approach-Avoidance: Results From Two Eeg Studies, Tracy W. Brown, Kayli N. Colpitts, Cristian M. Botello, Abby K. Hartman, Kathryn P. Seymour

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pain research is often focused on escape from pain or approach of relief, yet individuals with chronic pain make complex choices to face their pain to satiate other drives (approach-avoidance conflicts). An abundance of research has indicated that prefrontal alpha band asymmetry (PFA) underlies approach-avoidance in general, but there is limited information about whether PFA underlies pain approach-avoidance conflicts. Electroencephalogram activity was recorded while 70 participants with chronic pain (n=33) and without chronic pain (n=37) approached/avoided stimuli containing simultaneous pain (low-high) and monetary reward (low-high). Findings from both studies revealed that approach-avoidance for pain stimuli is not accompanied by prefrontal …