Browsing by Subject "self-mastery"

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    The Impact of a Resilience-Building Intervention with Indianapolis Latino Teenagers
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Gonzalez, Manuela Roa; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Conrad, Katrina
    Background and Objectives: Data shows that Indiana Latino high school students face a 65 percent higher rate of suicide attempts and a 24 percent higher rate of depression than their non-Hispanic white peers. Together with the help of the Latino Health Organization, a team of researchers performed a pilot study to investigate this and from the findings developed a one-year resilience-building intervention called Your Life. Your Story. This program aims to increase self-mastery and resilience, as well as decrease rates of depression. This is accomplished through evidence-based, interdisciplinary components such as art, physical activity, and a resilience-building curriculum. In the summer of 2014, 30 Latino teens, ages 12 to 17, became the first to participate in the Your Life. Your Story pilot program. Methods: To evaluate the effectiveness of the program on increasing resilience and decreasing depression at the program’s six-month mark, participants completed surveys. The Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS) was utilized to measure depression, and the Resilience, Attitudes, and Skills Profile (RASP) was utilized to measure resilience. Paired samples t-tests were utilized to measure changes over time, from the data collected prior to the program start. Results: At the program’s six-month mark, depression levels (M=4.16, SD=4.018) continue to have decreased significantly, t(17)=2.270, p=0.037, and a significant increase in resilience (M=114.88, SD=14), has also been sustained, t(22)=-2.221, p=0.037. Conclusions: Results suggest that the Your Life. Your Story. Program is creating a significant impact on the Latino teen participants in regards to depression and resilience levels. More data will be collected at the end of the program (June 2016) and will be analyzed to evaluate the overall impact of the program.
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    A Mixed-Methods, Community-Based Study To Identify Predictors Of Depression In Latino Adolescents By Gender
    (2019) Bigatti, Silvia M.; Diaz, Virna; Conrad, Katrina K.; Ramirez, Michelle; Weathers, Tess D.; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    Latino adolescent depressive symptoms are a growing problem, of interest to both the community and academic partner who are reporting the present study. In this mixed-method, community-based participatory research study we quantitatively examined predictors of depression known to impact adolescent mental health that are amenable to interventions. Concurrently, we qualitatively assessed parents’ perceptions of mental health problems in children, their causes and potential solutions. The data from parents (n = 108) was obtained in focus groups led in Spanish, and the data from adolescents (n = 86) was obtained in English language surveys. Among the adolescents there was an even representation of males (47.7%) and females (52.3%), Mage = 15.24 (SD = 1.97). Nearly half (47.7%) of the adolescents were experiencing minor depression and one in ten (10.5%) were experiencing major depression according to their scores on the PHQ-9. Adolescent participants reported low acculturative stress, average social support, and high mastery, as well as highly functional families. Males reported higher self-mastery than females and lower acculturative stress. Predictors of depression differed by gender. For males, self-mastery predicted depressive symptoms; for females acculturative stress predicted depressive symptoms. The focus groups with parents supported and expanded quantitative findings. The parents demonstrated a keen awareness of depression in teens and their own contributions to the problem, including their efforts to maintain their culture of origin which prevents integration of their children into the majority culture. Parents also reported difficulties knowing what steps to take and finding resources. The additional dimension of parental voice is often missing from studies of adolescents, and here it clarified many of the issues identified in the teens. These findings suggest the need to focus on mental health in this population, potentially developing differential interventions by gender and taking a family systems approach.