Depression in ethnically diverse women: Implications for treatment in primary care settings.

What do health care practitioners need to know about providing adequate care for depressed minority women? This article examined the prevalence of depressive symptoms and clinical depression in ethnic minorities, the extent to which current health service utilization is congruent with needs, and the effectiveness of treatments provided to ethnic minorities in the primary care setting. The impact of ethnic minority women's sociocultural context on symptom expression and help-seeking behavior is also discussed. Finally, the clinical implications for accurate assessment and treatment of ethnic minority women by both medical and mental health practitioners working in the primary care sector are addressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stage-environment fit during adolescence: Trajectories of family relations and adolescent outcomes.

Within the framework of stage-environment fit theory, the authors examined the contribution of family relations to adolescent outcomes concurrently and longitudinally, as well as the moderating effects of gender and ethnicity in these associations. Data came from a longitudinal study of European American and African American families from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Results demonstrated that gender and ethnicity influenced both the level and rate of change in family relations and adolescent outcomes. Family relations contributed either concurrently or longitudinally to at least 1 of the adolescent outcomes. The effects of gender and ethnic moderation differed according to both the time frame and the outcome assessed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demystifying the concept of ethnicity for psychotherapy researchers.

At a time when ethnic minority populations are increasing in the United States, few psychotherapy studies are including minorities in their samples. To include ethnic minorities in psychotherapy studies, the complex construct of ethnicity must be carefully measured. In this article, practical advice is offered for conceptualizing, measuring, and interpreting ethnic factors in psychotherapy studies. Also discussed are identifying pathways from ethnicity to psychotherapy outcomes. Pathways that may influence ethnic differences in psychotherapy outcome include cultural factors, minority status, socioeconomic status, acculturation, and immigration experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awards for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest.

Discusses the contributions of Hortensia Amaro and Florence L. Denmark, the 1992 recipients of the Awards for Distinguished Contribution to Psychology in the Public Interest awarded by the American Psychological Association. Amaro is recognized for research and public policy leadership on behalf of ethnic minority communities and for advancement of issues confronting ethnic minority, particularly Hispanic, women. She is founder of the Latino Health Council, the Latino Health Network, and the Multicultural AIDS Coalition. Denmark is recognized for scholarship on the psychology of women; advocacy on behalf of ethnic minorities, children, persons with disabilities, the elderly, and gay men and lesbians; and writing on the pedagogical issues involved in integrating new scholarship on gender, race, ethnicity, and feminist and multicultural perspectives into psychology courses. Biographies of recipients are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Training in counseling ethnic minorities and race-based availability of graduate school resources.

Psychology interns were surveyed concerning their perceptions of training received on ethnic minority issues and the availability of resources during graduate training. Respondents reported mediocre preparation for counseling ethnic minority clients. Few had courses on counseling ethnic minorities and these issues were not incorporated into most core courses. The majority reported both encouragement to examine their biases regarding ethnicity (as defined by J. M. Casas, 1984) and the presence of experts in these issues during training. A few program type and internship setting differences were found. In terms of resources, both White students and students of other races reported having support for their dissertations and access to role models and mentors, with a few differences emerging in source of mentoring. Differences in funding between White students and students of other races were also identified. Implications for training programs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methodological issues in assessment research with ethnic minorities.

Assessment research on ethnic minorities presents multiple methodological and conceptual challenges. This article addresses the difficulties in defining and examining ethnicity as a variable in psychological research. The authors assert that many of the problems stem from not making explicit the assumptions underlying the use of ethnicity as an explanatory variable and from inadequately describing cultural and contextual characteristics of ethnic minority samples. Also raised are common methodological problems encountered in examining race, ethnicity, and culture in assessment research, such as decisions regarding which populations to study, sampling methodologies, measure selection, method of assessment, and interpretation of results. Finally, some guidelines are offered for tackling some of the methodological dilemmas in assessment research with ethnic minorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

White therapist and female minority clients: Gender and culture issues.

Discusses ramifications of a White female therapist working with female minority clients. The personality of the therapist and the meaning of White and minority to him/her appear to be important variables for success with minority clients. It is argued that therapy with minorities must always be viewed in the context of one's own political perspective, attitudes, and biases and that racial homogeneity for client and therapist is less important than interpersonal trust in a situation of gender likeness and equality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Integrating Culturally Based Approaches With Existing Interventions for Hispanic/Latino Families Coping With Schizophrenia.

Evidence suggests that schizophrenia is highly responsive to the sociocultural and emotional atmosphere of the family. Therapies have shown an improvement in schizophrenia symptoms following family-oriented interventions. However, most programs are developed and offered in English only, and few are culturally informed. Existing programs may fail to meet the needs of minorities, particularly Hispanics/Latinos, the largest minority group in the United States. In this article, a broad literature is reviewed, which strongly supports the integration of culturally based treatment approaches with existing psychoeducational family-focused interventions to enhance treatment programs for Hispanic/Latino patients and families coping with schizophrenia. On the basis of this conceptual integration, an intervention titled "culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia" is described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The future of psychotherapy with ethnic minorities.

Discusses stages in the development of psychotherapy with ethnic minorities. Currently, psychotherapy with ethnic minorities is in a stage of revisionism, one which moves beyond the question of effectiveness and examines process variables such as race, ethnicity, and culture in psychotherapy. The immediate future will involve an integrative and comprehensive framework addressing the everyday reality of ethnic minority individuals. The more distant future will emphasize pluralism in diagnosis and treatment. Mainstream assumptions of normal behavior, psychological healthiness, and relationships will be infused by the norms of people of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical Issues in Working With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients.

This article discusses some of the key clinical issues for therapists to consider when working with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients. After a discussion of the biases that can influence psychotherapy, guidelines are given for conducting LGB-affirmative therapy that avoids these biases. Issues that therapists need to be familiar with in working with LGB clients include LGB identity development; couple relationships and parenting; LGB individuals as members of families; the unique stressors faced by individuals who are underrepresented in the LGB research literature (e.g., older LGB individuals, ethnic minorities, religious LGB individuals, bisexual individuals); and legal and workplace issues. An examination of the published literature is offered with particular emphasis given to the available empirical research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Depression: The Roles of Social Support and Meeting Basic Needs.

The current work examined the depressive symptoms and prevalence of major depression among members of ethnic and racial minorities and White people from a large random sample. Minority group members experienced more depressive symptoms and a marginally higher prevalence of major depression than did White participants. These effects were mediated by participants' problems meeting their basic needs. Specifically, minority group members reported more problems meeting their basic needs, and these problems were associated with an increased risk for depression and depressive symptoms. Minority group members also reported a higher quality of interpersonal functioning than White participants did, which appeared to suppress the relationship between ethnicity and depression. The implications of the findings for treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Families of handicapped persons: Research, programs, and policy issues.

Reviews the book, Families of handicapped persons: Research, programs, and policy issues by James J. Gallagher and Peter M. Vietze (1986). This edited volume consists of a collection of papers presented at the Conference on Families with Mentally Retarded Children sponsored by the Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in cooperation with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The purpose of the conference was to stimulate leaders in the field to both review current trends and project future research directions regarding issues relevant to families having members with mental retardation. The main text of the book is composed of sixteen chapters covering a variety of topics, such as the development of typologies for classifying families, adaptation to stress, the impact of the family life cycle on family adaptation, the role of the father in the family, sibling relationships, mentally retarded parents, behavioral parent training, and social policy issues. A major strength of the book is that a number of the authors advocated four perspectives that reflect a positive shift in philosophical approaches to the study of families having a child with mental retardation. The present reviewer found Wickler's chapter applying Hill's ABCX Stress Model to the study of family adaptation to be the most useful presentation among those advocating a systems/transactional approach to research on families having a disabled member. Unlike Wickler, other chapters focusing on family systems/stress issues tended to present vague connections between popular theoretical approaches (e.g., family systems theories, stress theories, Samaroff s transactional model) and the needs of families having a member with mental retardation (although Farren, Metzger, & Sparling is an exception here). In summary, this book presents some interesting ideas regarding areas that should be investigated by further research. Selected chapters within the book are very well conceptualized and clearly written. Although the remaining chapters present interesting ideas, they tend to be repetitive and somewhat vague with respect to specific research suggestions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Skin color and the therapeutic relationship.

Although issues pertinent to psychotherapy with ethnic minorities have been attended to increasingly over the past two decades, the issue of skin color has more or less been neglected in the psychotherapy literature. The idealization of light skin color in mainstream White and ethnic minority communities in the United States has impacted a wide range of societal and individual perceptions ranging from physical attractiveness to intellectual and social competence. The relevance of this impact in the psychotherapeutic relationship is explored in this article. Skin color is addressed within an historical context, and its influence on intrapsychic and interpersonal processes in the lives of clients and therapists are discussed. Clinical vignettes are presented to illustrate the dynamics of skin color in the therapeutic relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Continuity & change in marriage & the family.

Reviews the book, Continuity & change in marriage & the family edited by Jean E. Veevers (1991). Dr. Veevers perceived a need for "competent empirical works specifically applicable to the task of describing and understanding Canadian family life." She has filled that need with Continuity & Change in Marriage & the Family, a collection of readings. The book is intended for students in sociology of marriage and family classes as a supplement to textbooks with a theoretical emphasis. Continuity & Change in Marriage & the Family offers the insights of Canadian (and other) scholars about, as Dr. Veevers states, "issues that are directly relevant to the study of marriage and the family in Canada." Because the articles illuminate the condition of families in all post-modern societies, the book has relevance outside Canada. The message of the book is that change, both social and familial, and the acceptance of a variety of family arrangements, has resulted in families that are created by those who live in them. Thus, students should know how to be creative in building and maintaining their personal relationships. It provides students with ideas to consider as they develop as family members. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender, power, and violence: Assessing the family stereotypes of the children of batterers.

Two hundred twenty one children, ages 6 to 12 years, in families with varying levels of domestic violence rated how much they agreed with 40 items concerning stereotyped beliefs about power and violence in the family. Varimax analyses yielded 4 factors; Male Power, Female Power, Violence Privilege, and Family Autonomy. Internal reliability and construct validity for the Family Stereotypes Card Sort were evaluated. Significant positive associations were found among physical violence and emotional abuse reported by the mother and family role stereotyping in the child. Family role stereotyping and beliefs in the acceptability of family violence differed by gender and ethnic minority status and varied by age and income but not by the level of adjustment problems in the child. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Language, society and identity.

Reviews the book, Language, society and identity by John R. Edwards (1985). This book attempts to bring together the main lines of thought on ethnic identity, nationalism, language maintenance, and bilingualism. The book is divided into seven chapters which discuss: the definitions of such concepts as ethnic identity, ethnicity, nationalism, language, and dialect; consideration of language and nationalism; language maintenance and shift; issues of "ethnic revival" and the "new ethnicity; education; language attitudes, behaviour, and research and; the separation of language maintenance from ethnic maintenance. Despite what seem to be numerous reservations, I find that this book has many good features. It does take us a lot closer to an interdisciplinary view on language and ethnicity; it reminds us about the variety of social settings in which language contact (and conflict) plays a role; it brings out many controversial points and supplies arguments from different perspectives for such controversies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A survey of ethnic and sociocultural issues in medical school education

A survey of 113 medical schools was conducted to determine whether sociocultural issues in the treatment of minority group patients were dealt with in their curricula. The inclusion of factors such as different value systems, attitudes, early experiences, and economic and ethnic backgrounds and their influence upon the delivery of health care services to minority groups was found to be minimal. The variables which appeared to facilitate ethnic and sociocultural courses in medical education are contrasted with those which result in exclusion of this information from the curricula. These findings emphasize the need for a greater commitment to offering such courses.     

Review of Clinical guidelines in cross-cultural mental health.

Reviews the book, Clinical guidelines in cross-cultural mental health edited by Lillian Comas-Diaz and Ezra E. H. Griffith (see record 1988-97772-000). This volume represents the latest work on psychotherapy with ethnic/racial minority populations, and was intended for mental health practitioners as well as academicians. The book is divided into three parts. The first section has six chapters addressing the role of "ethnosociocultural" factors such as ethnicity, family values, language, religion, politics, and race in the cross-cultural delivery of psychotherapeutic care. The second section focuses on clinical practice with specific ethnic/racial groups including Afro-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Southeast Asian refugees, and West Indians. A final section of one chapter by Comas-Diaz discusses the "state of the art" in cross-cultural mental health. Three factors set this book apart from previous ones on this topic: 1) devotion of an entire section to core ethnosociocultural factors; 2) use of case vignettes to illustrate important cross-cultural issues in mental health; and 3) provision of specific recommendations for the practitioner. Unfortunately, the effort falls short due to the strong academic approach to clinical issues evident throughout the book. Moreover, there was substantial variability in contributors' use of case material and provision of specific recommendations. This uneven coverage, one of the prime drawbacks of many edited volumes, may limit its appeal to practitioners. This book is an improvement over previous texts in this area, but it is by no means a clinician's guide to cross-cultural mental health because of the pervasive academic influence throughout. Consequently, there is an imbalance in favor of didactic over pragmatic approaches to cross-cultural mental health. Thus this book seems more suitable for clinicians in training than for clinicians in practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early childhood socialization in Hispanic families: Context, culture, and practice implications.

Research on early childhood socialization suggests that Hispanic parents differ from parents of other ethnic groups in their child rearing values and the interpersonal behavior they want their children to display at home and school. In this article, the influence of context and culture on child rearing is shown through a review of conceptual frameworks for understanding child socialization in both minority and nonminority families and research on infant–mother attachment and parental beliefs about young children's behavior. This review indicates that parent and child behaviors are a result of different socialization processes that encompass specific cultural values. Implications for professional practice are drawn for child assessment and psychotherapy, family therapy, and parenting skills programs conducted with Hispanics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Ethnicity and family therapy.

Reviews the book, Ethnicity and family therapy edited by Monica McGoldrick, Joe Giordano, and John Pearce (see record 1996-98534-000). This book addresses the subject of ethnicity and how it affects one's perceptions and lifestyle as a patient and a therapist. It offers therapists comprehensive tools and information to utilize when thinking about their own ethnicity and the backgrounds of their patients. The cultural histories and views of 19 different European groups and Latino, Asian, African, and Arab cultures are explored. In addition, population statistics are offered and cultural migration histories are explored. In sum, Ethnicity and Family Therapy explores how different cultures view and utilize psychotherapy. The reviewer found this book to be clearly written and well organized and recommends that therapists read this book and then keep it as a reference to explore ethnicity in a thorough manner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)