Familismo neutralizes the effects of discrimination on suicide-related thoughts and behaviors in Latinx young adults.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in rates of suicide-related thoughts and behaviors among Latinx young adults. Given Latinx young adults are one of the fastest growing subgroups in the United States, this raises significant public health concern. Perceived discrimination has consistently been identified as a risk factor and has been positively associated with depressive symptoms, further exacerbating risk for the development of suicide-related thoughts and behaviors. Critical to understanding Latinx mental health is familismo, a core cultural value that entails connectedness, dedication, commitment, and loyalty to family. Moreover, it involves seeking family for advice and support. The current study sought to examine depressive symptoms as mediator for the relation between perceived discrimination and suicide-related thoughts and behaviors while investigating familismo as a moderator in attenuating these relations within a college aged Latinx sample (N = 1037, 75.3% female, Mage = 21, SD = 4.49). Across models, depressive symptoms explained the relation between perceived discrimination and suicide-related thoughts and behaviors (p ≤0.001-0.024) with familismo significantly acting as moderator (p = .009). In exploring the protective effects of an important Latinx cultural value on a growing public health disparity, the current study provides novel insight that may be used to tailor and adapt current intervention and prevention efforts for Latinx young adults at risk for suicide-related thoughts and behaviors.

Testing the role of inflammation in the relation of childhood maltreatment and suicidal ideation among young adults.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among young adults has been on the rise, with childhood maltreatment thought to partially explain this disparity. Systemic inflammation-a product of over-activation of the body's stress response system-has been hypothesized to play a predictive role in the development of suicidal ideation. Enduring childhood maltreatment can lead to systemic inflammation, possibly accounting for suicidal ideation's increased prevalence among young adults who have a history of childhood maltreatment. METHODS: The current study sought to investigate the importance of childhood maltreatment as a static risk factor for downstream suicidal ideation in young adulthood with the immunological response (i.e., systemic inflammation) to childhood maltreatment serving as a mediating factor. RESULTS: Systemic inflammation was found to be positively associated with suicidal ideation, supporting the unique role systemic inflammation may play in the pathogenesis of suicidal ideation, though hypotheses regarding childhood maltreatment were not supported. CONCLUSION: This study provides novel insight into a potential immunobiological model for suicidal ideation development in young adult populations.

Pilot Evaluation of a Tablet-Based Application to Improve Quality of Care in Child Mental Health Treatment.

Mental health systems need scalable solutions that can reduce the efficacy-effectiveness gap and improve mental health outcomes in community mental health service settings. Two major challenges to delivery of high-quality care are providers' fidelity to evidence-based treatment models and children's and caregivers' engagement in the treatment process. We developed a novel, tablet-based application designed to enhance via technology the quality of delivery of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). We piloted its use in four community mental health service organizations using a blocked randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility of implementing tablet-facilitated TF-CBT versus standard TF-CBT with 13 providers and 27 families. Provider fidelity and child engagement in treatment were observationally measured via session audio recording. Parent and child perceptions of the tablet application were assessed using structured interviews and mixed-method analyses. Providers actively and appropriately used tablet TF-CBT to facilitate treatment activities. Providers and families expressed high satisfaction with its use, demonstrating acceptability of this approach. Youth and caregivers in both conditions reported high alliance with their providers. Overall, we found that tablet-facilitated treatment is accepted by providers and families and may be integrated into mental health treatment with minimal training. Further study is needed to examine the extent to which technology-based applications may enhance the reach, quality, and clinical outcomes of mental health treatment delivered to children and families.