Dr. Meza’s research focuses on understanding the developmental pathways to self-injurious thoughts and behaviors (SITBs) among adolescents and emerging adults. In particular, her work focuses on understanding sociocultural risk and protective processes related to SITBs among justice impacted Latinx youth. Clinically, Dr. Meza also provides bilingual evidence-based care to youth that engage in SITBs. Dr. Meza is currently collaborating on several projects focusing on risk detection and interventions of SITBs for adolescents and young adults.
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most prevalent childhood mental health disorder... more Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most prevalent childhood mental health disorders and is extremely affected by family factors. However, limited studies have addressed the issue from the perspective of family systems. The current study examines the associations between multilevel family factors (i.e., family cohesion/ adaptability at system level, mother–child and father–child attachment at a dyadic level, and child self-esteem at an individual level) and emotional and behavioral problems among children with ODD in China. The participants were 256 Chinese children with ODD and their parents and class master teachers. A multiple-informant approach and structural equation model were used. The results revealed that system level factors (family cohesion/adaptability) were associated with child emotional and behavior problems indirectly through factors at the dyadic level (mother–child attachment) and the individual level (child self-esteem) in sequence. Mother–child, but...
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Despite the al... more Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Despite the already alarmingly high rates of suicide attempts among adolescents, youth involved in the juvenile legal system (JLS) are up to three times more likely to have suicide attempts than their peers not impacted by the JLS. This public health crisis is also a matter of health equity, knowing that ethnoracially minoritized youth, mainly Black and Latinx youth, have disproportionate contact with the JLS. In order to disrupt the current elevated rates of suicide among Black and Latinx youth involved in the JLS, there needs to be more concerted efforts to improve assessment and suicide prevention efforts in the JLS. There are various potential touch points of care for suicide prevention and the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM), which outlines community-based responses to the involvement of people with mental and substance use disorders in the criminal justice system, can be used as a strategic pla...
Objective: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college-age students in the U.S., w... more Objective: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college-age students in the U.S., with disparities in suicide ideation and attempts among Latinas. The current study aims to examine if depression severity predicts suicide ideation and attempts and to examine if caregiver intergeneration acculturation conflict (IAC) moderates this link. Participants: A sample of 246 Mexican-descent female college students. Methods: Self-reported measures for depression severity, male and female caregiver IAC, and suicide ideation and attempts in the previous 12-months were ascertained. Results: In our sample, 31.1% endorsed suicide ideation and 15.9% suicide attempts. Controlling for age, both male and female caregiver IAC moderated the relationship between depression severity and suicide ideation. A similar moderation pattern emerged for the suicide attempts outcome. Conclusions: Understanding this exacerbating contextual factor can help inform prevention/intervention efforts targeting Mexican-descent college students who are experiencing depressive symptoms by focusing on decreasing IAC with both caregivers.
Background African-American and Latinx youth are disproportionately exposed to neighborhood viole... more Background African-American and Latinx youth are disproportionately exposed to neighborhood violence and are overrepresented in the U.S. juvenile justice system. Perceived neighborhood violence is associated with negative health outcomes. Objective We examined associations between African-American and Latinx youths’ perceived neighborhood violence and health during reentry after juvenile incarceration. Methods Youth (n = 50) returning home after incarceration completed health questionnaires at one-month post-incarceration. A subset of participants (n = 25 youth) also participated in one-on-one, semi-structured longitudinal interviews. Results Twenty-eight (56%) participants reported neighborhood violence in quantitative surveys. Quantitative analyses revealed that perceived neighborhood violence was positively associated with reported asthma diagnosis, doctor recommendations for medical follow-up, perceived stress, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Perceived neighborhood vio...
Family-based interventions delivered via telehealth are a promising mode for overcoming barriers ... more Family-based interventions delivered via telehealth are a promising mode for overcoming barriers to behavioral health treatment among youth in foster care and their families. There is a dearth of research, however, regarding effectiveness of these interventions for youth in foster care, who commonly exhibit complex behavioral health treatment needs. Clinical research in this area directly relates to equity in service access and quality for these youth and families, with numerous barriers and enabling factors to consider in order to improve engagement in clinical trials and bolster the evidence base. We present a framework to better understand the multi-systemic factors impacting youth and family engagement in clinical research on family-based telehealth interventions, drawing on relevant theory, including the bioecological model and ecodevelopmental theory. We also draw on our experiences conducting technology-based clinical research through the Family Telehealth Project, an evaluat...
Black youth experience racial discrimination at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups in t... more Black youth experience racial discrimination at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. To identify how racism can simultaneously serve as a risk factor for adverse childhood experience (ACE) exposure, a discrete type of ACE and a post-ACE mental health risk factor among Black youth, The culturally informed adverse childhood experience (C-ACE) model describes how racism can simultaneously serve as a risk factor for ACE exposure, a discrete type of ACE and a post-ACE mental health risk factor among Black youth. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
OBJECTIVE To test the acculturation gap hypothesis by examining mother-youth value discrepancies ... more OBJECTIVE To test the acculturation gap hypothesis by examining mother-youth value discrepancies (both acculturative and enculturative) and their association with mother-youth acculturative conflict and youth mental health outcomes. METHOD Participants were 273 Mexican descent college students attending a large, public, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in West Texas (72% women). The participants' ages ranged 18-25 years (M = 19.33 years; SD = 1.54 years). RESULTS Three models assessed the relationship between mother-youth value discrepancies and mental health outcomes (suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and depressive symptoms) as mediated by mother-youth acculturative conflict. Consistently, Mexican heritage cultural values were related to mental health outcomes while American cultural values were not. CONCLUSIONS The study found that increased mother-youth discrepancies on Mexican cultural values were associated with increased negative mental health outcomes. Our findings suggest that adopting or learning new mainstream American values does not substitute for the Mexican cultural values that protect against negative outcomes.
In order to address persistent challenges that underrepresented minority students face in enterin... more In order to address persistent challenges that underrepresented minority students face in entering and succeeding in graduate school, University of California, Berkeley, academic advisers and concerned graduate students partnered to develop the Getting into Graduate School (GiGS) mentoring program. Unlike similar programs, GiGS was unique in that it did not select students on the basis of GPA or academic achievement. Program participants included 151 ethnically diverse undergraduates with average major and cumulative GPAs of 3.15 and 3.29, respectively. Participants were paired with 55 graduate student mentors based on academic interests. Mentees met regularly with mentors, attended informational workshops led by academic advisers, and participated in networking events. After program participation, students gained more knowledge related to graduate school preparation, demystification of graduate school, the graduate school application process, and post-graduation planning. 73% of me...
Background: Despite well-established Evidence-Based Treatments (EBTs) for Attention-Deficit/Hyper... more Background: Despite well-established Evidence-Based Treatments (EBTs) for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), many low-resource settings lack EBT access. Methods: We conducted a school-clustered randomized controlled pilot of CLS-FUERTE (a multicomponent behavioral EBT adapted for children in Mexico) with 58 students. We randomly assigned four schools to receive CLS-FUERTE and four to receive school services as usual. We compared groups post-treatment on parent- and teacher-rated ADHD/ODD symptoms and impairment. Results: CLS-FUERTE fidelity, attendance, engagement, and acceptability was high and students receiving CLS-FUERTE showed greater improvement in teacher-rated ADHD, ODD, and impairment, as well as parent-rated ADHD and impairment, compared to students receiving usual services. Conclusions: Pilot results suggest that psychosocial EBTs can be successfully implemented by School Mental Health Providers in Mexico.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with self-harm during adolescence a... more Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with self-harm during adolescence and young adulthood, especially among females. Yet little is known about the developmental trajectories or childhood predictors/moderators of self-harm in women with and without childhood histories of ADHD. We characterized lifetime risk for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal ideation (SI), and suicide attempts (SA), comparing female participants with (n = 140) and without (n = 88) childhood ADHD. We examined theory-informed childhood predictors and moderators of lifetime risk via baseline measures from childhood. First, regarding developmental patterns, most females with positive histories of lifetime self-harm engaged in such behaviors in adolescence yet desisted by adulthood. Females with positive histories of self-harm by late adolescence emanated largely from the ADHD-C group. Second, we found that predictors of NSSI were early externalizing symptoms, overall executive function...
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most prevalent childhood mental health disorder... more Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most prevalent childhood mental health disorders and is extremely affected by family factors. However, limited studies have addressed the issue from the perspective of family systems. The current study examines the associations between multilevel family factors (i.e., family cohesion/ adaptability at system level, mother–child and father–child attachment at a dyadic level, and child self-esteem at an individual level) and emotional and behavioral problems among children with ODD in China. The participants were 256 Chinese children with ODD and their parents and class master teachers. A multiple-informant approach and structural equation model were used. The results revealed that system level factors (family cohesion/adaptability) were associated with child emotional and behavior problems indirectly through factors at the dyadic level (mother–child attachment) and the individual level (child self-esteem) in sequence. Mother–child, but...
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Despite the al... more Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Despite the already alarmingly high rates of suicide attempts among adolescents, youth involved in the juvenile legal system (JLS) are up to three times more likely to have suicide attempts than their peers not impacted by the JLS. This public health crisis is also a matter of health equity, knowing that ethnoracially minoritized youth, mainly Black and Latinx youth, have disproportionate contact with the JLS. In order to disrupt the current elevated rates of suicide among Black and Latinx youth involved in the JLS, there needs to be more concerted efforts to improve assessment and suicide prevention efforts in the JLS. There are various potential touch points of care for suicide prevention and the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM), which outlines community-based responses to the involvement of people with mental and substance use disorders in the criminal justice system, can be used as a strategic pla...
Objective: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college-age students in the U.S., w... more Objective: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college-age students in the U.S., with disparities in suicide ideation and attempts among Latinas. The current study aims to examine if depression severity predicts suicide ideation and attempts and to examine if caregiver intergeneration acculturation conflict (IAC) moderates this link. Participants: A sample of 246 Mexican-descent female college students. Methods: Self-reported measures for depression severity, male and female caregiver IAC, and suicide ideation and attempts in the previous 12-months were ascertained. Results: In our sample, 31.1% endorsed suicide ideation and 15.9% suicide attempts. Controlling for age, both male and female caregiver IAC moderated the relationship between depression severity and suicide ideation. A similar moderation pattern emerged for the suicide attempts outcome. Conclusions: Understanding this exacerbating contextual factor can help inform prevention/intervention efforts targeting Mexican-descent college students who are experiencing depressive symptoms by focusing on decreasing IAC with both caregivers.
Background African-American and Latinx youth are disproportionately exposed to neighborhood viole... more Background African-American and Latinx youth are disproportionately exposed to neighborhood violence and are overrepresented in the U.S. juvenile justice system. Perceived neighborhood violence is associated with negative health outcomes. Objective We examined associations between African-American and Latinx youths’ perceived neighborhood violence and health during reentry after juvenile incarceration. Methods Youth (n = 50) returning home after incarceration completed health questionnaires at one-month post-incarceration. A subset of participants (n = 25 youth) also participated in one-on-one, semi-structured longitudinal interviews. Results Twenty-eight (56%) participants reported neighborhood violence in quantitative surveys. Quantitative analyses revealed that perceived neighborhood violence was positively associated with reported asthma diagnosis, doctor recommendations for medical follow-up, perceived stress, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Perceived neighborhood vio...
Family-based interventions delivered via telehealth are a promising mode for overcoming barriers ... more Family-based interventions delivered via telehealth are a promising mode for overcoming barriers to behavioral health treatment among youth in foster care and their families. There is a dearth of research, however, regarding effectiveness of these interventions for youth in foster care, who commonly exhibit complex behavioral health treatment needs. Clinical research in this area directly relates to equity in service access and quality for these youth and families, with numerous barriers and enabling factors to consider in order to improve engagement in clinical trials and bolster the evidence base. We present a framework to better understand the multi-systemic factors impacting youth and family engagement in clinical research on family-based telehealth interventions, drawing on relevant theory, including the bioecological model and ecodevelopmental theory. We also draw on our experiences conducting technology-based clinical research through the Family Telehealth Project, an evaluat...
Black youth experience racial discrimination at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups in t... more Black youth experience racial discrimination at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. To identify how racism can simultaneously serve as a risk factor for adverse childhood experience (ACE) exposure, a discrete type of ACE and a post-ACE mental health risk factor among Black youth, The culturally informed adverse childhood experience (C-ACE) model describes how racism can simultaneously serve as a risk factor for ACE exposure, a discrete type of ACE and a post-ACE mental health risk factor among Black youth. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
OBJECTIVE To test the acculturation gap hypothesis by examining mother-youth value discrepancies ... more OBJECTIVE To test the acculturation gap hypothesis by examining mother-youth value discrepancies (both acculturative and enculturative) and their association with mother-youth acculturative conflict and youth mental health outcomes. METHOD Participants were 273 Mexican descent college students attending a large, public, Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in West Texas (72% women). The participants' ages ranged 18-25 years (M = 19.33 years; SD = 1.54 years). RESULTS Three models assessed the relationship between mother-youth value discrepancies and mental health outcomes (suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, and depressive symptoms) as mediated by mother-youth acculturative conflict. Consistently, Mexican heritage cultural values were related to mental health outcomes while American cultural values were not. CONCLUSIONS The study found that increased mother-youth discrepancies on Mexican cultural values were associated with increased negative mental health outcomes. Our findings suggest that adopting or learning new mainstream American values does not substitute for the Mexican cultural values that protect against negative outcomes.
In order to address persistent challenges that underrepresented minority students face in enterin... more In order to address persistent challenges that underrepresented minority students face in entering and succeeding in graduate school, University of California, Berkeley, academic advisers and concerned graduate students partnered to develop the Getting into Graduate School (GiGS) mentoring program. Unlike similar programs, GiGS was unique in that it did not select students on the basis of GPA or academic achievement. Program participants included 151 ethnically diverse undergraduates with average major and cumulative GPAs of 3.15 and 3.29, respectively. Participants were paired with 55 graduate student mentors based on academic interests. Mentees met regularly with mentors, attended informational workshops led by academic advisers, and participated in networking events. After program participation, students gained more knowledge related to graduate school preparation, demystification of graduate school, the graduate school application process, and post-graduation planning. 73% of me...
Background: Despite well-established Evidence-Based Treatments (EBTs) for Attention-Deficit/Hyper... more Background: Despite well-established Evidence-Based Treatments (EBTs) for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), many low-resource settings lack EBT access. Methods: We conducted a school-clustered randomized controlled pilot of CLS-FUERTE (a multicomponent behavioral EBT adapted for children in Mexico) with 58 students. We randomly assigned four schools to receive CLS-FUERTE and four to receive school services as usual. We compared groups post-treatment on parent- and teacher-rated ADHD/ODD symptoms and impairment. Results: CLS-FUERTE fidelity, attendance, engagement, and acceptability was high and students receiving CLS-FUERTE showed greater improvement in teacher-rated ADHD, ODD, and impairment, as well as parent-rated ADHD and impairment, compared to students receiving usual services. Conclusions: Pilot results suggest that psychosocial EBTs can be successfully implemented by School Mental Health Providers in Mexico.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with self-harm during adolescence a... more Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with self-harm during adolescence and young adulthood, especially among females. Yet little is known about the developmental trajectories or childhood predictors/moderators of self-harm in women with and without childhood histories of ADHD. We characterized lifetime risk for nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal ideation (SI), and suicide attempts (SA), comparing female participants with (n = 140) and without (n = 88) childhood ADHD. We examined theory-informed childhood predictors and moderators of lifetime risk via baseline measures from childhood. First, regarding developmental patterns, most females with positive histories of lifetime self-harm engaged in such behaviors in adolescence yet desisted by adulthood. Females with positive histories of self-harm by late adolescence emanated largely from the ADHD-C group. Second, we found that predictors of NSSI were early externalizing symptoms, overall executive function...
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