La Tonya Noël

Overall health and health care utilization among Latino American men in the United States.

Although the Latino American male population is increasing, the subgroup Latino men’s health remains underinvestigated. This study examined the overall pattern of Latino male health and health care utilization in major subgroups, using a nationally representative sample (N = 1,127) from the National Latino and Asian American Study. The authors evaluated rates of chronic, behavioral, and mental health service utilization in this first nationally representative survey. The results identified significant cross-subgroup differences in most physical and chronic conditions with Puerto Rican American men having high rates in 8 of 15 physical ailments, including life-altering conditions such as cardiovascular diseases. Despite differences in racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, Cuban American men shared similar rates of heart diseases and cancer with Puerto Rican American men. In addition, Puerto Rican American men had higher rates of substance abuse than other Latinos. For health providers, the authors’ findings encourage awareness of subgroup differences regarding overall health issues of Latino American men to provide culturally appropriate care.

An Ethnic/Racial Comparison of Causal Beliefs and Treatment Preferences for the Symptoms of Depression Among Patients with Diabetes

PURPOSE The purpose of the study was to explore African American, Latino, and Non-Hispanic White adult patients with type 2 diabetes cultural perceptions of symptoms of depression and factors that predict depression care treatment preferences between these groups. METHODS A community sample of African Americans, Latinos, and White diabetic adults receiving services in 1 of 2 central Austin, Texas facilities participated in the study. Each participant was given a survey, which consisted of the following 5 components: (1) illness screener questions, (2) demographic questions, (3) Patient Health Questionnaire, (4) Depression Treatment Questionnaire, and (5) Illness Perception Questionnaire. A binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between cultural perceptions of symptoms and the predictor variables. A multinomial logistic regression analyses was used to examine the relationship between treatment and provider preferences for the symptoms of depression and ethnicity. RESULTS The first research question addressed whether there were differences across ethnicity in how symptoms of depression are attributed among patients with diabetes. There were 7 causal beliefs that were associated with differences in cultural endorsements of the causes of depressive symptoms. In addition, culture was associated with treatment preferences but not with provider preferences. CONCLUSIONS The utility of assessing a patients understanding of symptoms of depression to determine how personal illness models impact treatment preferences and clinical implications of how knowledge of patients causal attributions can aid medical and behavioral health providers working in collaborative management of diabetes and depression are discussed.PurposeThe purpose of the study was to explore African American, Latino, and Non-Hispanic White adult patients with type 2 diabetes cultural perceptions of symptoms of depression and factors that predict depression care treatment preferences between these groups.MethodsA community sample of African Americans, Latinos, and White diabetic adults receiving services in 1 of 2 central Austin, Texas facilities participated in the study. Each participant was given a survey, which consisted of the following 5 components: (1) illness screener questions, (2) demographic questions, (3) Patient Health Questionnaire, (4) Depression Treatment Questionnaire, and (5) Illness Perception Questionnaire. A binary logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between cultural perceptions of symptoms and the predictor variables. A multinomial logistic regression analyses was used to examine the relationship between treatment and provider preferences for the symptoms of depression and ethnicity.ResultsThe first resea...

The Effects of Risk and Protective Factors on Juvenile Delinquency in South Korea

This study focused on the influence of risk and protective factors on juvenile delinquency in South Korea. The study also investigated the relationship between risk and protective factors. The first wave of data in the Korea Youth Panel Survey included 3,449 adolescents. Data analysis included exploratory factor analysis, regression analysis, and analysis of variance. Analysis revealed that parental monitoring and teacher attachment as protective factors were both associated with lower levels of delinquency. Moreover, delinquent peers and poor parenting as risk factors were associated with high levels of delinquency. The relationships between parent attachment and delinquency and between academic performance and delinquency were found to be nonsignificant. Finally, protective factors mitigated risk factor effects on delinquency levels.

Post disaster resilience

The present analyses examined the differential risks of and protective factors against depressive symptoms of African American and Non-Hispanic White American student volunteers, respectively after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (H-KR). A total sample of 554 student volunteers were recruited from mental health professional programs at five universities located in the Deep South, namely areas severely impacted by H-KR during fall semester 2005. The response rate was 91% (n = 505). African American respondents (n = 299) and Non-Hispanic White Americans (n = 206) completed the survey questionnaires. Respondents retrospectively provided information on peritraumatic emotional reactions and previous trauma that were recalled by H-KR and H-KR stressors. African American respondents reported higher levels of depressive symptoms (65.2%) than their Non-Hispanic White counterparts (34.8%). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that disaster related stressors affected African Americans (p < 0.001), but not Non-Hispanic Whites. However, African Americans who experienced peritraumatic positive emotions had lower depression levels. Lower rates of recollection of prior traumas during H-KR were reported by African American respondents, whereas previous trauma recollections predicted symptoms among Non-Hispanic White Americans (p < 0.05). Exhibiting more optimism had lower depression levels among Non-Hispanic White Americans. Peritraumatic negative emotion was the only shared risk for depressive symptoms of both groups. Findings underscore racially different levels of depressive symptoms that may contribute to varying degrees of resilience among student volunteers. Future research and practice may address these racial differences by understanding the risk factors for depressive symptoms to develop appropriate interventions for racial groups, and cultivating the protective factors that contribute to resilience from traumatic experiences.