Search Results (240)

Background/Objectives: The effects of online physical activity (PA) interventions on executive function (EF) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms are promising; nonetheless, their benefits for Latinx youth remain unclear. Methods: This study explores levels of adherence, cognitive and behavioral outcomes and acceptability of an online PA intervention, Zing Performance, among a Latinx youth sample; only a few of the participants completed their condition (n = 6). Results: There was wide variability in adherence levels at mid-treatment (n = 5) and high-level adherence at post-treatment (n = 2). A Mann–Whitney test yielded a statistically significant (p = 0.004) improvement in the treatment group’s inattention symptoms at mid-treatment (n = 5), compared to the Waitlist Control; (WLC; n = 6). EF and hyperactivity/impulsivity were not significantly different. Further, pre-, mid- and post-participant trajectory data revealed that one participant benefited significantly from treatment, one participant demonstrated little to no response to treatment, and most of the WLC participants remained in the severity ranges throughout the 12 weeks. The parents of the two children who completed treatment reported high levels of acceptability informally and on the quantitative measure. Conclusions: Exploratory findings support further investigation of Zing among Latinx families with cultural consideration to study procedures. The lessons learned from this study are valuable for future research procedures and interventions with this marginalized population. Full article

Background: Cardiometabolic risk (CMR), including obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and impaired glucose regulation, disproportionately affects Hispanic/Latinx adults in the United States (U.S.). Although plant-forward dietary patterns are established as cardioprotective, less is known about how dietary patterns within Hispanic/Latinx subgroups relate to CMR. Methods: A narrative review was conducted of observational studies among U.S. Hispanic/Latinx adults (≥18 years) examining defined dietary patterns (a priori, a posteriori, or hybrid) in relation to CMR outcomes (e.g., BMI, waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose, lipids). Risk of bias was assessed using an adapted version of the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Results: Ten studies met the inclusion criteria, including Seventh-day Adventist Latinx, Puerto Rican adults, Mexican American adults, Hispanic women, and a national Hispanic cohort. Plant-forward dietary patterns were associated with lower BMI and waist circumference, lower triglycerides and fasting glucose, and higher HDL-C. In contrast, energy-dense patterns characterized by refined grains, added sugars, processed meats, fried foods, solid fats, and sugar-sweetened beverages were associated with greater adiposity, poorer lipid profiles, and higher blood pressure. Traditional rice-and-beans–based patterns observed in Puerto Rican and Mexican American groups were associated with central adiposity and higher metabolic syndrome prevalence, despite modestly higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, and fiber. Study quality ranged from good (n = 4) to very good (n = 6). Conclusions: Across Hispanic/Latinx subgroups, plant-forward dietary patterns were associated with favorable cardiometabolic profiles, whereas refined and animal-based patterns aligned with higher CMR. Given the predominance of cross-sectional evidence, these findings should be interpreted as associative rather than causal. Culturally grounded dietary counseling, along with additional longitudinal and intervention studies, is needed to support cardiometabolic health in these populations. Full article

Background: Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) has proven effective in promoting health research in hard-to-recruit and underserved populations. Tai Chi Prime is a National Council on Aging-certified fall prevention program. However, it has not been widely disseminated in African American (AA)/Black and Latinx communities. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), this study examined the process of working with a community advisory board (CAB) to adapt and disseminate Tai Chi Prime within these communities, as well as facilitators and barriers to CAB success. Methods: Eight CAB members met with researchers monthly virtually over a two-year period. Meetings focused on reviewing Tai Chi Prime materials, discussing cultural adaptations, and identifying dissemination strategies relevant to AA/Black and Latinx communities. Detailed notes from 24 meetings were compiled. In addition, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five CAB members and two researchers to capture individual reflections on their experiences, roles, and perceived impact. Data was analyzed using directed content analysis. Results: CFIR constructs helped illuminate how CAB members’ embedded community expertise, organizational partnerships, available resources, shared vision and transparent communication influenced the cultural adaptation and dissemination of Tai Chi Prime. Study findings also highlight important areas that extend beyond CFIR, particularly the cultural knowledge and power-sharing responsibilities undertaken by CAB members as co-researchers. These insights underscore the need to integrate equity-focused and community-engaged research principles into implementation frameworks when working with communities of color. Conclusions: Findings highlight the value of leveraging existing academic–community partnerships. Community-engaged researchers can use the lessons learned from this CAB to build a replicable model of sustainable partnerships with their AA/Black and Latinx community partners, as can others involved in health services research and policy. Full article

The Brief Religious Coping Scale (B-RCOPE) is a widely recognized instrument for assessing how individuals draw upon religious coping strategies in response to life stressors. Religious coping is particularly salient among many in the Latinx community; however, shifting settlement patterns and increasing sociodemographic diversity among Latinx immigrants in the United States (U.S.) necessitate a more nuanced approach to its measurement; (2) Methods: This cross-sectional study examined the religious coping of a growing but understudied population—Latinx emerging adults (ages 18–29; N = 150)—and conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the English-language B-RCOPE within this group; (3) Results: Findings revealed that participants in our sample made only modest use of religious coping to manage life challenges. Analyses supported the original two-dimensional factor structure (i.e., positive and negative religious coping) of the English B-RCOPE, while also indicating that a more parsimonious 12-item version performs comparably to the full 14 items; (4) Conclusions: This study documents the usability and appropriateness of the abbreviated version and offers practitioners a culturally relevant and efficient tool for examining religious coping practices and trends among Latinx emerging adults. Full article

Courts have the capacity to structure juries’ decision making through the use of general verdicts with answers to written questions, special verdicts, and, in some countries, the requirement that juries provide reasons for their verdicts. Little empirical research has explored the impact of special verdicts or a reasoning requirement on juror decision making in comparison to other verdict procedures. In Experiment 1, mock jurors (N = 267) read a summary detailing a case of alleged defamation of a White or Black plaintiff and rendered a verdict (general verdict vs. special verdict vs. two variations of a general verdict procedure with a reasoning requirement). In Experiment 2, mock jurors (N = 292) heard a mock trial while viewing photos of a White or Latinx plaintiff and rendered a verdict (general verdict vs. special verdict with a reasoning requirement) after deliberating as a group. In Experiments 1 and 2, mock jurors who rendered a verdict using a general verdict form were more likely to find for the plaintiff compared to those using a special verdict form (Experiment 1) or a modified special verdict form with reason-giving (Experiment 2). Full article

Dual Language Learners (DLLs) who become English proficient earlier experience better academic outcomes, but longitudinal research on the relationship between the timing of DLLs acquiring English proficiency and later academic outcomes while accounting for relevant factors is rare. We examined how the year in school in which DLL students (N = 14,852; 47% female; 85% in poverty; 88% Latinx, 8% Black, and 3% White/Asian/Other) acquired English proficiency (according to school system criteria) correlates with their later middle school (sixth–eighth grade) academic outcomes (GPA, standardized test scores, and grade retention), controlling for relevant factors. Earlier acquisition of English predicted better middle school outcomes and a lower likelihood of being retained in middle school. Some relations between the timing of English acquisition and outcomes were stronger for students not experiencing poverty. Implications for the education of DLL students in the U.S. and future research are discussed. Full article

Objectives: Latinx Americans represent the largest ethnic minority group (nearly 19% of the U.S. population). Their behavioral health has received increasing attention as they exhibit elevated prevalence rates of anxiety (ANX), depression (DEP), and substance use disorders (SUDs). The National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) is the first national population-based mental health study of Latinx Americans and is the most comprehensive resource for understanding their behavioral health. This systematic review aims to synthesize peer-reviewed publications using the NLAAS dataset to identify psychosocial determinants of the three key outcomes. Method: We followed PRISMA to search for English peer-reviewed articles published in EBSCO, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and PubMed. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) Latinx in the NLAAS database; (2) ANX, DEP, or SUD; (3) risk or protective factors; and (4) peer-reviewed publications in English. Search terms such as Latino, Latina, anxiety, depressive symptoms, substance abuse, and NLAAS were used to search for relevant articles. Two authors screened the articles independently and extracted data from each study. Results: Thirty-two studies published between 2007 and 2024 were included in our final review. Among them, 12 studies investigated ANX, and 17 studies examined DEP and SUD, respectively. Sixteen studies assessed protective factors. Ten articles assessed multiple key outcomes. All risk factors were grouped into three categories: Trauma and negative relationships (e.g., childhood maltreatment, negative family relationship, traumatic life experience), acculturation- and immigration-related factors (e.g., nativity, acculturation experience, English proficiency, discrimination), and sociodemographic and social participation factors (e.g., gender, education, income level). Protective factors such as family cohesion, religious activity, gender, and education were also identified. Conclusion: This first systematic review provided comprehensive NLAAS findings on multifaceted cultural, social, and intrapersonal factors that were either negatively or positively associated with three behavioral health outcomes within the U.S. Latinx population. Potential mechanisms by which risk and protective factors influence their mental health, as well as limitations of this review, were discussed. Findings of this review can inform culturally responsive prevention strategies and interventions to reduce behavioral health disparities and to improve mental health outcomes among Latinx Americans. Full article

In this article, I build on liminal legality to highlight how 1.5-generation Latinx immigrant young adults who benefited from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) confronted an additional dimension of uncertainty, which I describe as temporal liminality. Temporal liminality captures the way time itself––through bureaucratic cycles, political threats, and temporary protections––was moralized and weaponized, producing waiting, deferral, and arrested development. Drawing on interviews with DACA recipients in North Carolina and Massachusetts, I show how temporal liminality shaped three central domains: work and career, family and intimate relationships, and travel and mobility. These findings reveal how the state’s regulation of time foreclosed opportunities, reordered life trajectories, and deepened the strains of precarious legality. By centering temporality, this article advances scholarship on immigrant incorporation by demonstrating how moralized timelines, stolen opportunities, and bureaucratic timelines structured the everyday lives and futures of immigrants with uncertain legal status. Full article

Background: African American (AA)/Black and Latinx communities have limited access to evidence-based fall prevention programs such as Tai Chi Prime (TCP). Community-led interventions that incorporate peer support are cost-effective and sustainable. Using the Treatment Fidelity Framework (TFF) and a mixed-methods research approach, we evaluated the training and support given to trainees during the TCP leader training pathway process and their subsequent fidelity in delivering six culturally tailored community courses. Methods: Trainees completed feedback forms after each TCP leader training pathway course. Using a fidelity checklist, a TCP master trainer rated six community TCP classes led by race- and language-concordant leaders. Trainees were invited to participate in virtual one-on-one semi-structured interviews to share their perspectives on the appropriateness and relevance of the TCP leader training pathway and their experience leading community TCP classes. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics on Microsoft Excel. Three study team members coded qualitative data using directed content analysis approach. Results: Twenty-five candidates enrolled in the TCP leader training. Forty-eight percent identified as AA/Black while 52% identified as Latinx. Eleven trainees (six AA/Black and five Latinx) completed the entire TCP leader training pathway to become certified TCP leaders. Trainees rated the training process as highly satisfactory and appropriate. Leaders from both communities received high fidelity scores for community course delivery. Conclusions: Findings contribute to the existing literature, particularly regarding how to effectively disseminate and evaluate a culturally tailored TCP leader training and certification process for culturally diverse communities while maintaining fidelity to the curriculum. Full article

This study advances Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) pedagogy by investigating the integration of Critically Oriented Sociolinguistic Topics (COST) in the heritage language curriculum. Thirteen self-identified SHL students from three courses (Intermediate, Advanced I, and Advanced II) at two universities in the Washington, D.C. metro area participated in semi-structured Zoom interviews exploring their motivations for enrolling in an SHL class, their perceptions of Spanish, and the impact of COST. Analysis identified recurring themes about underlying language ideologies and enrollment motivations, such as improving academic Spanish and grammar, career preparation, and connecting with course topics. Dominant ideologies, including essentialist, standard language, deficit, and commodification, were evident in students’ perceptions of Spanish and Latinx communities in the U.S. and abroad. Findings showed that students developed critical awareness of language variation that supported validation of their HL practices and the emergence of student agency. Some students moved from reproducing to contesting deficit and standard ideologies, asserting legitimacy for their own bilingual repertoires. These findings underscore the need for integrating COST in SHL courses to promote student agency, foster positive attitudes, and strengthen students’ linguistic confidence. Full article

This study applies psychological network analysis to explore the structure and dynamics of parental stress, offering a novel perspective beyond traditional latent variable approaches. Rather than treating parental stress as a unidimensional construct, network analysis conceptualizes it as a system of interrelated emotional, behavioral, and contextual symptoms. Using cross-sectional data from Latinx parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), we compared and identified key central and bridge stress symptoms of Latinx parents of children with autism versus other disabilities that hold influential positions within the stress network. These findings suggest that certain stressors may act as hubs, reinforcing other stress components and potentially serving as high-impact targets for intervention. Network analysis also highlights how symptom relationships vary by types of disabilities, offering insight into tailored support strategies. Overall, this approach provides a dynamic and clinically actionable framework for understanding parental stress, with implications for assessment, early intervention, and personalized mental health care for parents. Full article

This study examined the psychometric properties of the Family Empowerment Scale (FES) among Latinx parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), a population historically underrepresented in empowerment research. Given the cultural and contextual factors that may shape empowerment experiences, Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) was utilized to assess the scale’s structural validity. ESEM supports a four-factor model that aligns with, but also refines, the original structure of the FES. The lack of loading for several items indicates the need for revisions that better reflect the lived experiences of Latinx parents. ESEM provided a more nuanced view of the scale’s dimensional structure, reinforcing the value of culturally informed psychometric evaluation. These results underscore the importance of validating empowerment measures within diverse populations to inform equitable family-centered practices. Full article

This essay is an analysis of poetry written by Latinx Undocupoets in the United States. It focuses on three contemporary poets—Javier O. Huerta, Yosimar Reyes, and Javier Zamora. The author examines the way these poets navigate borderland identities by cultivating cultural mestizaje to advance a political project, where consciousness-raising and advocating for those who cross or are crossed by borders are the priorities. The author argues that three common themes related to transformation appear in the work of Undocupoets: rebirth, shapeshifting, and activism. These poets transform themselves and their communities by engaging in differential movement and relocating marginalized individuals and communities to positive social locations while portraying them in their full complexity—a postnationalist perspective that manifests itself in a borderlands framework. The author demonstrates how these writers formulate decolonial imaginaries and differential consciousness to relocate migrants and undocumented people to social locations that transcend the negative stereotypes that have historically shaped their identities and lived experiences. Through rebirth, shapeshifting, and activism, Undocupoets enact a form of agency and present new ways of seeing and understanding the migrant experience. Full article

Background/Objectives: This paper presents cranial MMS data for an American Indian (AI) sample from New Mexico. We compare these data to other population reference samples to understand biological distance and classification patterns. Methods: Cranial MMS data was collected from CT scans of AI individuals (n = 839) in the New Mexico Decedent Image Database. We used 12 traits following a published protocol for CT data and excluded nasal bone contour. The AI sample is compared to other samples of African American or Black, Asian, Hispanic, and White individuals to assess biological distance and classification accuracy. Results: Biological distance analysis indicated similarity among the AI, Hispanic, and Black samples, but dissimilarity among the Asian and White samples to the AI sample. Classification accuracy was low for the overall model, with Hispanic and Black individuals frequently misclassifying as AI. Conclusions: As is true everywhere, ideas about identity are complex in New Mexico. AI and Hispanic individuals in NM self-ascribe to one or both social groups. We found that biological data cannot meaningfully differentiate between these social groups, as crania are morphologically similar when examining cranial MMS traits. These results, coupled with New Mexican identity and genetics, contributes to the difficulty in group attribution in forensic casework. Nevertheless, the reference data for AI presented here can provide more robust statistics that support the likelihood of AI and Hispanic affinity in population affinity analysis. We underscore the need for an understanding of regional population history and structure and reference samples while assessing population affinity in forensic casework. Full article

Hispanic populations in the U.S. have a high prevalence of type 2 diabetes and its complications. It has been proposed that interventions targeting multiple levels and domains of influence are needed to address health disparities, but more evidence is needed regarding the most effective approaches. We aimed to review the effects of non-pharmacological interventions on glycemic control among Hispanic persons with diabetes, overall and by level and domain of intervention. A systematic review (PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, CINAHL; 1985–2019) identified randomized trials reporting HbA1c outcomes for Hispanic populations. Article review, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were completed by independent reviewers. Level and domain of intervention were assigned based on the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework. Random-effects meta-analyses estimated pooled effect sizes. Quality of evidence was rated based on the GRADE framework. Forty-eight trials met inclusion criteria, representing various Hispanic populations (n = 18 Mexican, n = 5 Puerto Rican, n = 1 Dominican, n = 4 multiple, n = 20 unspecified) and enrolling 9185 total participants. Overall, interventions decreased HbA1c by −0.32% (95% CI: −0.44% to −0.20%, I² = 68%, strength of evidence: moderate). Multi-level, multi-domain interventions decreased HbA1c by −0.41% (−0.61% to −0.21%, I² = 74%, strength of evidence: moderate). Few interventions addressed community (n = 3), society (n = 0), or physical/built environment (n = 1). Non-pharmacological interventions have modestly decreased HbA1c among Hispanic persons with diabetes. Multi-level, multi-domain interventions are promising, but more research is needed on interventions that target social and environmental structures. Full article