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High rates of under-assessed trauma and psychiatric disorders, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been reported among Hispanic immigrants, especially as related to immigration trauma. Multiple studies have shown group cognitive processing therapy (CPT) to be an effective evidence-based practice (EBP) for treatment of PTSD across a number of clinical populations. To date, however, no studies have examined important competency and practice issues in linguistic, cultural, and ethical areas that group CPT providers should consider when delivering group CPT to Hispanic immigrants. This paper aims to outline these and provide future directions for research.

African American and Hispanic adolescent experience more violence exposure relative to White youth. The present study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), delinquency, earlier victimization, and familial and neighborhood factors in disparities in future victimization. The study utilized data from the National Survey of Adolescents-Replication (N = 3,312), which consists of three waves of data collected approximately 1 year apart. A series of path models, tested polyvictimization, PTSS, delinquency, familial socioeconomic factors, and neighborhood safety as mediators of disparities in new polyvictimization. All cross-lagged and autoregressive paths positively predicted past-year polyvictimization and mediated longitudinal disparities. Familial socioeconomic variables and neighborhood safety mediated initial violence exposure disparities. Overall, results indicate that prior violence exposure, related mental health symptoms, and familial and neighborhood factors account for significant portions of disparities in new violence exposure across adolescence.

Purpose: The aims of the study were to evaluate the orthogonality of acculturation for Latinos., Design: Regression analyses were used to examine acculturation in two Latino samples (N = 77; N = 40). In a third study (N = 673), confirmatory factor analyses compared unidimensional and bidimensional models., Method: Acculturation was assessed with the ARSMA-II (Studies 1 and 2), and language proficiency items from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (Study 3)., Results: In Studies 1 and 2, the bidimensional model accounted for slightly more variance (R (2)Study 1 = .11; R (2)Study 2 = .21) than the unidimensional model (R (2)Study 1 = .10; R (2)Study 2 = .19). In Study 3, the bidimensional model evidenced better fit (Akaike information criterion = 167.36) than the unidimensional model (Akaike information criterion = 1204.92)., Discussion: Acculturation is multidimensional., Implications: Care providers should examine acculturation as a bidimensional construct.

Purpose: This study assessed mental health needs and service utilization patterns in a convenience sample of Hispanic immigrants., Design: A total of 84 adult Hispanic participants completed a structured diagnostic interview and a semistructured service utilization interview with trained bilingual research assistants., Results: In the sample, 36% met diagnostic criteria for at least one mental disorder. Although 42% of the sample saw a physician in the prior year, mental health services were being rendered primarily by religious leaders. The most common barriers to service utilization were cost (59%), lack of health insurance (35%), and language (31%). Although more women than men met criteria for a disorder, service utilization rates were comparable. Participants with a mental disorder were significantly more likely to have sought medical, but not psychiatric, services in the prior year and faced significantly more cost barriers than participants without a mental disorder., Conclusions: Findings suggest that Hispanic immigrants, particularly those with a mental illness, need to access services but face numerous systemic barriers. The authors recommend specific ways to make services more affordable and linguistically accessible.