Silvia M. Bigatti

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https://hdl.handle.net/1805/11481

Improving the mental health of Latino youth

Professor Silvia Bigatti is concerned about the high rate of depression among Latino adolescents in Indianapolis who endure the stress of straddling two cultures. In 2012, she started a partnership with the Latino Health Organization and received funding from the Indiana Minority Health Coalition to pursue a pilot research project that investigated the stress and depressive outcomes in this population. The study revealed that nearly 60 percent of participants had some form of depressive symptoms—and that they were seven times more likely to have depression if they suffered from moderate levels of acculturative stress. Based on the ¬findings, the research team developed a program, “Your Life. Your Story.” The YLYS program begins with a one-week summer day camp that builds resilience and develops self-identities and future goals. In the second phase of the YLYS program, a monthly meeting cements components from the camp. Data suggest that one week of the YLYS camp has a statistically significant impact on participants, who showed an increase in resilience and a decrease in depressive symptoms. These differences were maintained at a six-month follow-up. YLYS has the potential to create a large and lasting impact on the Indianapolis community. While the program has been focused on Latino youth, it can be applied and tailored to any group of youth. Professor Bigatti’s work to improve the mental health of Latino youth in Indianapolis is another example of how IUPUI faculty are TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.

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    4. Getting A Grip On My Depression: A Grounded Theory Explaining How Latina Adolescents Experience, Self-Manage, And Seek Treatment For Depressive Symptoms
    (Journal of Adolescent Health, 2019) McCord Stafford, Allison; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Oruche, Ukamaka M.; Burke Draucker, Claire
    Latina adolescents are more likely to experience depressive symptoms and less likely to receive mental health services than White peers. Although evidence-based treatments exist to treat adolescent depression, few treatments have been modified to meet the cultural needs of this population. In order to develop culturally sensitive strategies for preventing, identifying, and treating depressive symptoms in Latina adolescents, it is necessary to understand how they experience, self-manage, and seek treatment for their depressive symptoms over time from their own perspective. The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretical framework that explains how Latina adolescents experience, self-manage, and seek treatment for their depressive symptoms.
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    (506) The complex relationship between pain intensity and physical functioning in fibromyalgia: the mediating role of depression
    (The Journal of Pain, 2016) Steiner, Jennifer L.; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Slaven, James E.; Ang, Dennis C.
    Fibromyalgia (FM) is typically associated with the experience of diffuse pain and physical impairment. Depression also commonly co-exists in patients with FM, and it has been correlated with pain intensity and physical functioning. Previous research suggests an association between pain intensity and physical functioning; however, the direct causal relationship between improvements in pain intensity and in functioning is not observed in many FM patients. This may suggest that another factor such as depression is mediating this relationship. The present work examined the possibility of a mediating role of depression in the relationship between pain intensity and functioning over the course of time. 216 patients with FM completed self-report measures of pain intensity, depression, and physical impairment as part of a larger longitudinal study which investigated interventions to increase physical activity among FM patients. Assessments were completed at baseline, 12 weeks, 24 weeks, and 36 weeks. Longitudinal mediational analyses indicated that depression is a statistically significant partial mediator of the relationship between pain intensity and self-reported physical functioning at all four assessment points. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explicitly examine this relationship in a sample of FM patients, as well as the first to do so using a longitudinal design; this may significantly add to our understanding of the complexities behind creating improvements in physical functioning in this population. Clinical implication for these findings include focusing on depression and psychological correlates of depression as first line therapeutic targets in improving physical functioning of patients with FM, and treating co-morbid depression in patients with fibromyalgia earlier in the course of treatment to prevent engagement in and the perpetuation of the cycle of disability. This work was a secondary data analysis from a study funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
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    A Community-Engaged Strengths-Based Approach to Fostering Wellbeing in Latinx Communities
    (Center for Translating Research Into Practice, IU Indianapolis, 2021-09-24) Bigatti, Silvia
    In this presentation, Professor Silvia Bigatti describes her approach to community-based research. This approach allows her to learn from the Latinx community about its culture, strengths, assets, and how these can all be used to foster wellbeing. She also share data from her studies, and describes interventions with the Latinx community that were based on this approach.
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    Abstract B69: The effects of patient-physician relationships on perceptions of breast cancer treatment in African American women
    (Molecular Cancer Research, 2018) Lauray, Alexandria N.; Bigatti, Silvia
    According to Indiana.gov, 4,400 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in Indiana annually. “During 2008 to 2012, the mortality rates of African American breast cancer patients were almost 40% higher than Caucasian Americans” (Cancer.org), which sheds light on the health disparities African Americans face in the United States. Disparities among cancer patients have not only led to African American women (AAW) being diagnosed in later stages of this disease than their counterparts and thus raising their mortality rates, but AAW tend to be diagnosed with more aggressive forms of cancer such as triple-negative breast cancer, which occurs in 10% to 20% of patients. AAW face many barriers today: limited access to screening services, lack of quality screening equipment, limited access to treatment services, and an unspoken distrust of health care providers. Research indicates that during their breast cancer treatment trajectory, AAW experience delay in initiating chemotherapy after surgery, less satisfaction with treatment, increased symptoms, and lower participation in clinical trials (Mcarthy). Despite this, there is no study that has followed and assessed AAW during the treatment sessions to examine challenges in their lives and their impact. Studies of AAW who have survived breast cancer suggest the need to look not only at factors within the medical care system, but well beyond it into the everyday lives of these women and the resources available to them through social networks and other means to overcome challenges. This project explores themes in the baseline and exit interviews of 38 participants. In their initial interview, we asked questions related to support system, their views of treatment going into the process, and the quality of care that they feel they have received. At the end of treatments, we ask about patient-physician relationships and how the women perceived their care. Women in the study reported the need to readdress concerns with physicians. Patient-physician relationships among AAW diagnosed with breast cancer have been strained and have had a negative impact on patient satisfaction with care.
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    Acceptability and Feasibility of a Meaning-Based Intervention for Patients With Advanced Cancer and Their Spouses A Pilot Study
    (Sage, 2016) Wagner, Christina D.; Johns, Shelley; Brown, Linda F.; Hanna, Nasser; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Background: Constructing meaning in cancer leads to improved psychosocial outcomes for patients and survivors. Aim: We tested the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a meaning-based intervention for couples. Design: The single-arm pilot study tested a 4-session, tailored, activities-based couple’s intervention. Setting/Participants: Twelve adults with incurable cancer and their partners participated either in a university office or at the couple’s home. Results: The study showed good feasibility. One of the two patients depressed at baseline was no longer depressed at postintervention. Patients’ threat appraisals decreased and transcendence increased. In partners, depression, anxiety, and challenge appraisal decreased; threat and secondary appraisals and peace with illness increased. Conclusions: Our findings suggest feasibility and efficacy, and further research and continued evaluation of this intervention are warranted.
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    An Assessment of the Fidelity of Two Different Interventions to Improve Adherence to Glaucoma Treatment in Patients of African Descent
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2015-04-17) Idowu, Eniola; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Racette, Lyne
    Glaucoma is a chronic eye disease, which is asymptomatic and can slowly lead to blindness if left untreated. Glaucoma is caused by damage to the optic nerve and can lead to irreversible loss of sight. The overall objective of this MURI study was to determine the impact of two different interventions on compliance to glaucoma medication in patients of African descent with open-angle glaucoma. Two types of intervention were used – Education and Motivational Interviewing (MI). The educational intervention involved sharing knowledge with patients about glaucoma, its causes, and its treatments, to help patients better understand glaucoma and the importance of adhering to the daily medication regimen. The MI intervention involved communicating with the patients and encouraging them to identify strategies that would help them better adhere to their medications. These sessions were video-recorded and the content of each video was transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were then scored to assess the fidelity of each session with the intervention type that was given; this was done to ensure that each patient in the MI group received intervention consistent with MI, and that each patient in the Education group received an intervention free of MI. The standard Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity 3.0 coding sheet was used to code the MI and Education sessions. Global ratings were given for empathy, direction, collaboration, evocation and autonomy/support on a scale ranging from 1 (Low) to 5 (High). The following behaviors were counted within each transcript: giving information, MI adherent (asking permission, affirm, emphasize control, support), MI Non-adherent (advise, confront, direct), questions (closed questions, open questions), and reflections (simple, complex). We expect that the MI interventions would have significantly higher scores on MI adherent behaviors and significantly lower on MI-non-adherent behaviors compared to the Education session.
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    The Binational/Crosscultural Health Enhancement Center
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2010-04-09) Bergman, Alicia April; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Clark Jr., Charles M.; Everetts, David R.; Kahn, Hilary E.; Lorant, Diane Estella; Maupome, Gerardo; Mays, Rose M.; Riner, Mary E.; Snodgrass, Michael David; Soto, Armando; Stelzner, Sarah M.; Whitehead, Dawn Michele; Wilson, Gregory A.; Yoder, Karen M.
    The Binational/Cross-Cultural Health Enhancement Center (BiCCHEC) fosters multidisciplinary research collaborations that address the biological, cultural, historical, legal, behavioral and demographic issues that impact the health status of communities where Latinos are born and where they live in Indiana. Since its inception, BiCCHEC projects have been multidisciplinary, 80% of the projects involve two or more IUPUI schools. BiCCHEC projects are also collaborative, 70% of the projects have one or more community partners. BiCCHEC researchers have also established a strong commitment to teaching and service, actively involving students in research (25% of current projects are student led) and servicelearning activities, developing exchange programs through our partnerships and providing direct health services in community organized events. Signature center funds have been utilized to fund internal pilot projects. The current poster will highlight four of those projects that have received pilot funding from signature center funds and have resulted in external grant applications or have already received funding, or have resulted in peer reviewed-publications. These projects are considered representative of BiCCHEC’s activities, because of their collaborative, multidisciplinary and community-based nature and include: • Study on oral health disparities using community-based participatory research • Study on the attitudes regarding children with disabilities, beliefs regarding death, coping skills and supports used during bereavement in communities in Indiana and rural Mexico • Building of a bi-national research partnership for healthful eating and diabetes prevention among Mexican and Mexican-American children • Study on emigration and return migration in 20th Century Mexico: Across the border and back again • Study on the effects of migrants' acculturation on oral health and diet in Indianapolis and Tala, Jaliscco using social network theory
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    Burnout in Individuals with Type D Personality: Relations to Age and Gender
    (2019) Kelly, Carla A.; Bigatti, Silvia M.; Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health
    Objective: The purpose of this research was to examine the severity and prevalence of burnout in working adults with Type D personality (TDP) in comparison to those without TDP. TDP is defined by the presence of specific levels of both negative affectivity and social inhibition. Burnout is an extended response to chronic stressors characterized by three dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Methods: Online surveys were used to gather responses from 333 participants to the Type D Scale-14, the standard for measure for assessing TDP, and the Burnout Measure, Short Version. Quantitative analyses included the use of t-tests, chi square tests, and regression analysis to determine: a) if there are differences in the severity and prevalence of burnout in individuals with and without TDP, and b) whether age, gender, or both moderate the relationship between burnout and TDP. Results: There were differences in the prevalence and severity of burnout between groups. Individuals with TDP were more likely to have, and to have more severe, burnout than those without TDP. Age moderated the relationship between burnout severity but not burnout prevalence and TDP. Severity of burnout worsened with age in individuals with TDP. Gender did not moderate the relationship. Conclusion: It is important to better understand TDP and its role in burnout. The results presented here highlight the importance of considering TDP in the development of interventions and preventative measures in settings where employee burnout is high.
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    Cancer Screening in the United States and Europe
    (2012) Cronan, Terry A.; Santoro, Maya; Van Liew, Charles; Bigatti, Silvia M.