2008 — 2011 |
Rodriguez, Erin M. |
F31Activity Code Description: To provide predoctoral individuals with supervised research training in specified health and health-related areas leading toward the research degree (e.g., Ph.D.). |
Communication, Coping, and Executive Function in Children With Cancer
[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cancer are major stressors that interrupt daily life and lead to distress for children diagnosed with the disease and their parents. Factors such as parent-child communication about the cancer and the child's level of cognitive development may influence how children cope with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in several ways. The proposed research will examine how children's cognitive development, specifically their level of executive function, is related to their coping and communication about their illness. Further, the proposed project will examine the relation between parental communication style and child's level of executive function. Specifically, the proposed research will examine the degree to which parents tailor their communication to their child's level of executive function when discussing the child's cancer. This proposal focuses on working memory and cognitive flexibility, domains of executive function that are important in understanding and managing complex information and solving problems. Using cognitive assessments, direct observations, and self-report measures, we will assess executive functioning, parent-child communication, and child coping and emotional distress in 120 children ages 8-17 diagnosed with cancer. The relations between child executive function, parent-child communication, and child coping and distress will be examined. Lay summary: This project examines how parents and children communicate about cancer when a child is diagnosed with cancer. Specifically, we will examine the relation between children's coping and mental development in relation to parent-child communication about cancer. Findings from this study will contribute to better ways to help children and their parents cope with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]
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1 |
2016 — 2017 |
Rodriguez, Erin M. |
R03Activity Code Description: To provide research support specifically limited in time and amount for studies in categorical program areas. Small grants provide flexibility for initiating studies which are generally for preliminary short-term projects and are non-renewable. |
Bilingualism and Resilience in Latino Youth @ University of Texas, Austin
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Latino adolescents have among the highest rates of functionally impairing depressive symptoms, including the highest rates of suicidal behavior. A significant and growing percentage of Latino youth live in poverty, which further increases their risk for depressive symptoms. Although coping skills programs have proven beneficial for preventing or reducing risk for depressive symptoms, low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) Latino youth have among the lowest rates of utilization of conventional mental health services, greatly limiting the effectiveness of these coping programs for this population. Thus, these youth could benefit from alternative approaches to prevention and intervention. A key first step in improving prevention efforts involves the identification of indigenous, accessible, and culturally acceptable processes that support coping and reduce risk for depressive symptoms. Bilingual language development is one such factor that is highly prevalent, but occurs at varying levels of exposure, usage, and proficiency, in low-SES Latino youth. Bilingualism supports the development of executive function (EF), and higher EF has been linked to more adaptive coping and lower levels of depressive symptoms. However, no research has examined associations between bilingualism and depressive symptoms in Latino youth. Therefore, the purpose of the current R03 is to examine the link between degree of bilingualism and the development of depressive symptoms, as well as the potential mediators (EF and coping) of this link, in a sample of low-SES Latino adolescents. We will assess degree of bilingualism, EF, coping and depressive symptoms at baseline and 12 months later in 80 bilingual Latino youth ages 10-13 years old. We focus on this age range because levels of depressive symptoms spike by middle adolescence, making early adolescence a crucial period for prevention and early intervention. Assessments will include youth and parent reports of all variables as well as testing of youth language proficiency and EF. The Specific Aims of the proposed project are to 1) determine the prospective association between degree of bilingualism and development of depressive symptoms over one year in low-SES Latino youth, and 2) assess executive function and coping as potential mediators of the association between bilingualism and development of depressive symptoms over one year. The successful completion of this project will lead to a multi-wave, multi-site R01 proposal to identify pathways from bilingual language development to mental health outcomes in a diverse population of youth. The long-term goal of this line of research is to reduce disparities in depressive symptoms and their health consequences affecting low-SES Latino adolescents and similar high-risk, underserved youth populations.
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0.948 |
2021 |
Rodriguez, Erin M. |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
A Coping Skills Intervention For Low-Ses Latino Families of Children With Asthma @ University of Texas, Austin
PROJECT SUMMARY Latino children experience disparities in asthma control and have worse functional outcomes related to poorly controlled asthma compared to non-Latino White children, including more school absences, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for asthma. These disparities persist despite the benefits of asthma self- management interventions. A significant and growing percentage of Latino children live in poverty, which further increases their risk for uncontrolled asthma. For low-SES Latino children, psychosocial stress is an unaddressed factor in asthma disparities. Existing interventions rarely target psychosocial processes to address the role of stress in asthma control. However, research on coping offers insight into potential intervention approaches that would buffer the effects of stress and reduce asthma disparities for low-SES Latino children. Coping is a key modifiable factor that lies ?midstream? between upstream social determinants of health and downstream disparities in health outcomes. In particular, secondary control coping (i.e., efforts to accommodate/adapt to stressors, such as acceptance and cognitive restructuring) has been linked to better asthma control for children in low-SES contexts. Therefore, the purpose of the current R01 proposal is to test the effectiveness and mediators of Adapt 2 Asthma (A2A), a bilingual family-based coping skills + asthma management intervention tailored to the stressors, strengths, and cultural beliefs of low-SES Latino families. 280 low-SES Latino families of children ages 9-13 years old with asthma will be identified and enrolled from community primary care clinics and randomly assigned to either A2A or a standard asthma self-management (AM) control arm. We will assess children?s asthma control, quality of life, lung function, school absences, and emergency department visits as the outcomes of the intervention. We will also examine child mediational pathways (child coping and mood and behavior symptoms) and parent mediational pathways (parent coping and depressive symptoms) of the intervention. Assessments will occur at pre- and post-intervention and at 6 and 12-month follow-up timepoints using child and parent report, spirometry, and school records. The successful completion of this R01 would provide evidence of the effectiveness and mediators of A2A for low-SES Latino children, a population underserved by current intervention approaches. Our results are expected to lead to a subsequent multi-site implementation trial of A2A in primary care. The long-term goal of this line of research is to reduce disparities in asthma control and its health consequences affecting low-SES Latino children and similar underserved youth populations. The knowledge gained would improve the health of low-SES Latino children and reduce the public health burden related to pediatric asthma, a condition with a significant cost to society.
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0.948 |