Projects
Understanding Access to Mental Health Care for Mixed-Status Families in South Texas
PIs: Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Ph.D., & Bianca Villalobos Ph.D. (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
Undocumented and mixed-status families are more likely to experience disparities in access to care and may not trust health institutions because of previous negative experiences or fear of their privacy being breached. The goal of this study is to help mental health providers identify facilitators and barriers to mental health service use by giving voice to the experiences of mixed-status families in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).
Experiences of LGBTQ+ Latinx Individuals with Mental Health Services in South Texas
PIs: Luis Alvarez-Hernandez, Ph.D., Bianca Villalobos Ph.D., and Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Ph.D. (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
This study seeks to 1) understand the experiences of adult LGBTQ+ Latinx individuals with mental health services in South Texas, 2) understand the experiences of mental health providers with providing mental health services to LGBTQ+ Latinx individuals in South Texas, and 3) inform mental health care delivery with LGBTQ+ Latinx individuals in South Texas from a community-informed perspective. This study will uses qualitative research methods to learn about the experiences of LGBTQ+ Latinx individuals and mental health providers in South Texas.
REACH for Graduate School in Psychology
PI: Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Ph.D. (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
Applying to graduate school can be confusing and stressful. Many students do not know where to access information and support, which makes the process even more difficult. Our mission is to provide guidance and point students to resources REACH for Graduate School in Psychology achieves this through developing resources, hosting informational sessions, workshops, and providing feedback to prospective graduate students. The REACH for Graduate School in Psychology website serves to provide valuable resources in one easy-to-locate place, find us at: https://sites.google.com/view/reach-for-graduate-school/home
COVID-19 Studies
Parenting During COVID-19
PIs: Samantha Gregus, Ph.D. (Wichita State University), Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Ph.D., (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), and Melissa Faith, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital)
The study is designed to explore how COVID-19 is impacting families with school-aged children (7-17). Our specific aims are to 1) understand the prevalence and demographic trends of clinically significant fear of COVID-19 among parents and their children, 2) evaluate the links between parent/child beliefs, attitudes, and responses to COVID-19 on parenting behavior and children's adjustment, 3) evaluate the quality of family relationships (e.g., parent-child, sibling, marital) on children's adjustment, 4) evaluate the quality of peer relationships on children's adjustment, and 5) evaluate how access to resources relates to parenting behaviors and children's adjustment during COVID-19.
Vaccination Decision-Making Among Latinx College Students
PIs: Bianca Villalobos, Ph.D. (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), Kimmy Kee-Rose, Ph.D., Nancy Chen, Ph.D., and HyeSun Lee, Ph.D. (California State University Channel Islands)
The goal of this project is to explore factors that either motivate or hinder the intention to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among Latinx university students. Vaccination is an effective tool to protect the health and safety of college students, faculty and staff, as well as members living in the surrounding communities. However, there is insufficient understanding about how trust in sources of information and cultural factors motivate or prevent Latinx college students from getting vaccinated against COVID-19.
Impact of COVID-19 on Latinx Mental Health
PIs: Bianca Villalobos, Ph.D. and Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Ph.D., (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley)
COVID-19 is a novel virus that has impacted the United States and the world in unprecedented ways. Preliminary data from several states suggests that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting African-Americans and Latinxs in the United States. Existing literature has shown Latinx individuals underutilize mental health services for several reasons including language barriers, lack of health insurance, lack of transportation, and limited availability of services (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009). This study aimed to examine how the mental health of Latinxs has been impacted by the socio-economic effects of COVID-19 and whether changes in mental health have led more Latinx individuals to consider obtaining mental health services via telehealth.