Exploring the role of Natural Helpers in efforts to address disparities for children with conduct problems.

The incorporation of natural helpers into services has been suggested as an innovative strategy to address disparities for historically underserved children with conduct problems. In order to inform incorporation efforts, this study examined the perceptions of natural helpers serving one U.S. Latina/o community regarding need for services for children with conduct problems, their reactions to a specific parent training intervention, and the training and support needed to deliver this intervention successfully. Participants identified a need for culturally-responsive services for children with conduct problems, and felt that parent training would be appropriate for the families they serve. Participants further identified specific training and support that they would require in order to deliver parent training with fidelity and effectiveness. Findings support the suggestion that natural helpers have the potential to address service disparities among Latina/o children with conduct problems. Recommendations from natural helpers should guide the development of culturally-adapted preventive interventions that help address existing service disparities.

Working together to solve disparities: Latina/o parents' contributions to the adaptation of a preventive intervention for childhood conduct problems.

Left untreated, conduct problems can have significant and long-lasting negative effects on children's development. Despite the existence of many effective interventions, U.S. Latina/o children are less likely to access or receive evidence-based services. Seeking to build the foundation to address these service disparities, the current study used a Community-Based Participatory Research approach to examine U.S. Latina/o parents' perceptions of the need for interventions to prevent childhood disruptive behaviors in their community in general, and of an existing evidence-based intervention-parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT)-in particular. Results suggest that parents recognize a need for prevention resources in their community and value most of the core features of PCIT. Nevertheless, important directions for potential adaptation and expansion of PCIT into a prevention approach were identified. Results point to several goals for future study with the potential to ameliorate the unmet mental health needs experienced by U.S. Latina/o families with young children at risk for developing conduct problems.

Coping style as a mediator of the relationship between depressive symptoms and deliberate self-harm.

BACKGROUND: Deliberate self-harm (DSH) occurs with high frequency among clinical and nonclinical youth populations. Although depression has been consistently linked with the behavior, not all depressed individuals engage in DSH. AIMS: The current study examined maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., self-blame, distancing, and self-isolation) as mediators between depression and DSH among undergraduate students. METHODS: 202 students from undergraduate psychology courses at a private university in Southern California (77.7% women) completed anonymous self-report measures. RESULTS: A hierarchical regression model found no differences in DSH history across demographic variables. Among coping variables, self-isolation alone was significantly related to DSH. A full meditational model was supported: Depressive symptoms were significantly related to DSH, but adding self-isolation to the model rendered the relationship nonsignificant. LIMITATIONS: The cross-sectional study design prevents determination of whether a casual relation exists between self-isolation and DSH, and obscures the direction of that relationship. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest targeting self-isolation as a means of DSH prevention and intervention among nonclinical, youth populations.