Azara Santiago Rivera, PhD - Felician University

Latino Adults and Depression: Assessment Challenges (55 min.) LEARNING OBJECTIVES: 1. Describe some of the broad issues with respect to culture, language and gender. 2. Identify some of the challenges associated with measurement equivalence. 3.Explain the four step model proposed by Fernandez (2007) for identifying and selecting translated psychological measures. 4. Discuss ethical considerations and future directions. ABSTRACT: One of the major challenges often faced by clinicians is identifying the appropriate measure to accurately assess depression in Latino adults. There are a number of reasons for this difficulty. The diversity within the Latino population makes it difficult to establish measurement equivalence because there are cultural differences in the meaning and expression of the symptoms of depression. For instance, research explored which Spanish language terms better described depressed mood and found that the term desanimado [discouraged] rather than the term deprimido which is considered the literal translation of "depressed" in English was preferred. These findings suggest that accurately screening for depression must take into consideration the specific meaning of words in the Spanish language. Efforts to investigate measurement equivalence have yielded promising results but there is still much more research needed in this area. Th is intermediate-level presentation will: 1) describe some of the broad issues with respect to culture, language and gender, 2) address some of the challenges associated with measurement equivalence, 3) highlight a proposed four step model for identifying and selecting translated psychological measures, and 4) discuss future directions. BIOGRAPHY: Azara Santiago Rivera, PhD. is the Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology at Felician University. She is Emeritus Professor and was the Director of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate program at Merrimack College. Her publications and research interests include multicultural issues in the counseling profession, bilingual therapy, Latinos and depression, and the impact of environmental contamination on the bio-psychosocial well-being of Native Americans. More recent research interests center on issues regarding the assessment of depression in Latino adults, including older adults with dementia. Dr. Santiago Rivera has presented on these topics at major conferences and has published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Journal of Counseling and Development, the Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Environment of Psychology, and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training. She is a past- President of the National Latino/a Psychological Association, an American Psychological Association (APA) affiliated association. She is the Founding Editor of the Journal of Latina/o Psychology (APA journal) and is a Fellow of Divisions 45 and 17 of APA. In 2014, Dr. Santiago Rivera received the APA Presidential Citation for outstanding contribution to the profession. USER RATINGS: 3.3 out of 5 STARS (3) American Psychological Association (APA) Buros Center for Testing is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Buros Center for Testing maintains responsibility for this program and its content. National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Buros Center for Testing is approved by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Buros Center for Testing maintains responsibility for this program and its content. There is no known commercial support for this program. INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPLEMENTS PROVIDED WHEN PURCHASED FOR A COURSE: PowerPoint slides References/additional readings Comprehension quiz with answer key Discussion questions Timestamps for presentation content For a brief preview of this video, click link below.