Christopher P Salas-Wright
Biographic Data
| ID | 3794407 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christopher P Salas-Wright |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christopher P |
| FAMILY NAME | Salas-Wright |
| SIGNATURE | SALAS-WRIGHT C P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Boston College |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7934-8293 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 58 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 197 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 57 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Measuring trauma
This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the adapted Spanish version of the Hurricane-Related Traumatic Experiences (HURTE) scale among Puerto Rican adults (N = 312) who relocated to the U.S. mainland after Hurricane Maria. Using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Item Response Theory (IRT), the study assessed the scale’s reliability, validity, factor structure, and item characteristics. EFA revealed a two-factor structure aligning …
Integrating Interpersonal Aggression Content into Substance Use Prevention Programming
Optimism predicts future economic mobility among hurricane maria migrants
In the United States, the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters continue to rise, leading to increased displacement of individuals and families. Those forcibly displaced often face heightened uncertainty, vulnerability to mental and cultural stressors, and economic insecurity. Economic mobility during and after resettlement may, to some extent, be a function of migrant adaptation, mental health, and psychological functioning. Howeve…
How do pre-migration crisis exposures and post-migration cultural stressors shape mental health symptoms among Venezuelan youth in the United States and Colombia
Exploring the influence of cultural identity on mental health and cultural stress in Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria surviving families
Mental Health Consequences of Racism-Based Police Violence Exposure Among Black and Hispanic Emerging Adults
Pre- and Post-Migration Religiosity and Mental Health Among Puerto Rican “Maria Migrants” on the United States Mainland
The Importance of Motivations for Emigration in Understanding Post-Migration Mental Health Outcomes Among Diasporic Venezuelans in the United States and Colombia
Since 2015, over seven million Venezuelans have left their home country, with significant numbers resettling in the United States and Colombia. The aim of the present study was to examine the primary motivations for migration among Venezuelans relocating to these two countries, and to assess whether these motivations were associated with their destination choice. Additionally, we explored how migration motivations were linked to mental health out…
Optimism and language proficiency predict incidence of and remission from PTSD among climate migrants
We observed a rapid initial remission from positive PTSD screen for a substantial portion of the sample. Participants who are proficient in English language may be most likely to screen positive for PTSD over time and least likely to remit from a positive PTSD screen. Findings underscore the importance of optimism and higher English proficiency for both decreased incidence of and increased remission from PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 A…
Thriving amidst adversity
Something lost, something gained
in the lives of Puerto Rican migrants: As they departed their homeland, they exchanged social connections, support networks, and the vibrant social fabric of Puerto Rico for the promise of economic stability, reduced crime, and enhanced prospects for themselves and their children in the United States. This study represents a crucial contribution to the understanding of Puerto Ricans who have embarked on the challenging journey of relocating in th…
A new approach to exploring agency in migration research
Intrapersonal, Cultural, and Community Assets among Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria Survivors
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico and resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, the destruction of thousands of homes, and the mass migration of hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans to the U.S. mainland. Because of these events, Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria survivors on the U.S. mainland are at risk for depressive symptomatology. The purpose of this study was to examine sources of protection against depressive sympto…
Social vulnerability shapes the experiences of climate migrants displaced by Hurricane Maria
Climate change-related shocks and stresses are prompting the movement of hundreds of thousands. The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of climate change migrants, people displaced from these crises from the initial impacts of the hazard to their recent arrivals in a new location. To do so we draw on focus group discussions with Puerto Ricans in South and Central Florida displaced by 2017 hurricane Maria. We document the factor…
Opioid Misuse and Associated Health Risks among Adults on Probation and Parole
BACKGROUND: As state legislatures work to reduce prison populations and increase the use of community-based alternatives, limited knowledge exists about the service needs of those under criminal justice supervision in the community. Preliminary research indicates unusually high rates of disease, disability, and death. Health risks for this population include opioid misuse, a form of substance misuse that has reached epidemic proportions in the U.…
Cultural and Model Minority Stress
The impact of cultural stress on family functioning among Puerto Rican displaced families and the effect on mental health
Hurricane María caused significant devastation on the island of Puerto Rico, impacting thousands of lives. Puerto Rican crisis migrant families faced stress related to displacement and relocation (cultural stress), often exhibited mental health symptoms, and experienced distress at the family level. Although cultural stress has been examined as an individual experience, little work has focused on the experience as a family. To address this gap, w…
Social Protections and Climate Migration
As climate change continues to displace greater numbers of people, transnational ties are important sources of social protection for climate migrants. Migrants assemble unique configurations of formal and informal social protections depending on the resources available within their sending and receiving communities. However, the specific constellations of social protections that climate migrants use following disaster and displacement remain unde…
Cultural Stressors and Cultural Identity Styles Among Hispanic College Students
Research shows that cultural identity styles (CIS; i.e., hybrid identity style [HIS] vs. alternating identity style [AIS]) and cultural stressors (i.e., discrimination, negative context of reception, and bicultural stressors) are associated, but the directionality of this association remains unclear. Using a 2-wave, self-report dataset and a cross-lagged design, we examined the directionality of the associations between cultural stressors and CIS…
Hurricane stress, cultural stress, and mental health among hurricane Maria migrants in the U.S. mainland
Hurricane Maria (2017) caused great damage to Puerto Rico, undermining people's quality of life and forcing thousands to migrate to the U.S. mainland. Identifying individuals at elevated risk of suffering mental health problems as a function of being exposed to hurricane and cultural stress is crucial to reducing the burden of such health outcomes. The present study was conducted in 2020-2021 (3-4 years postdisaster) with 319 adult Hurricane Mari…
Validating the Negative Context of Reception Scale for Mainland Puerto Ricans
This study examined the extent to which the Negative Context of Reception Scale generates valid and reliable scores with Puerto Rican Hurricane Maria survivors. A sample of 319 adult Hurricane Maria survivors completed measures of the negative context of reception, discrimination, language stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms, optimism, and life satisfaction. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) indicated that the previously validated one-facto…
Mutual Help Group Participation for Alcohol and Drug Problems
Objective: This report aims to identify US mutual help group (MHG) participants’ psycho-socio-behavioral profiles. Method: We used data from the 2015–2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the sample included 1022 adults with past-year substance use disorders (SUD). We conducted a latent class analysis to identify subgroups of MHG participants and estimated multinomial logistic regression models to examine the associations between sociod…
Paths to Self-Sufficiency for Youth Served Through the Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Foster Care Program in the United States
Perceived discrimination and posttraumatic stress disorder among Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and the United States
Perceived discrimination is an important factor when considering mental health outcomes among Venezuelans in the United States and in Colombia. Further, our findings suggest the presence of gender differences in the relationship between discrimination and PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)
Trends of Substance Use among Individuals with Cardiovascular Disease in the United States, 2015–2019
Despite the adverse effects of substance use on health among individuals with preexisting cardiovascular disease (CVD), little is known about trends and correlates for substance use among individuals with CVD. We examined trends of use in tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis among US adults with heart disease. Using nationally representative data from the 2015-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 7339), we conducted survey-adjusted logistic…
Everyday discrimination and mood and substance use disorders
Religiosity Profiles of American Youth in Relation to Substance Use, Violence, and Delinquency
High School Dropouts in Emerging Adulthood
Experiences of ethnic discrimination among US Hispanics
Toward a Typology of Acculturative Stress
The objective of this study is to identify latent classes of Hispanic immigrants on the basis of acculturative stress and, in turn, examine the links between membership in acculturative stress classes and the prevalence of mental disorders. We use latent class analysis (LCA) and multinomial logistic regression with data from a population-based study of Hispanic immigrants in the United States ( n = 1,630). Classes were identified as “Low Accultur…
Truancy in the United States
Criminal epidemiology and the immigrant paradox
Who Are Truant Youth? Examining Distinctive Profiles of Truant Youth Using Latent Profile Analysis
Discrimination Trends and Mental Health Among Native- and Foreign-Born Latinos
Public or Private Religiosity
While it is well understood that adolescent religiosity is associated with the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances, few studies have revealed the pathways through which religiosity buffers youth against involvement in such behavior. The aim of this study is to examine the complexity of the relationships between religiosity, sensation seeking, injunctive norms, and adolescent substance use. Using a national sample of adolescents ( N = 18…
Laying the Foundations for Scientometric Research
Objective: Scientometric studies of social work have stagnated due to problems with the organization and structure of the disciplinary literature. This study utilized data science to produce a set of research tools to overcome these methodological challenges. Method: We constructed a comprehensive list of social work journals for a 25-year time period and searched for all available article records using 35 different databases. Customized software…
A Longitudinal Test of the Parent–Adolescent Family Functioning Discrepancy Hypothesis
Trends in Fighting and Violence Among Adolescents in the United States, 2002–2014
Objectives. To examine trends in and correlates of fighting and violence among youths from the 3 largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Methods. We derived race/ethnicity-specific prevalence estimates for fighting, group fighting, and attacks with intent to harm from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a population-based study of youths aged 12 to 17 years. Results. The prevalence of youth fighting and violence decreased signi…
Exploring the Variation in Drug Selling Among Adolescents in the United States
Racial and ethnic trends in illicit drug use and binge drinking among adolescent and young adult offenders in the United States
Ecodevelopmental trajectories of family functioning
We examined the effects of family functioning trajectories on sexual risk behaviors and STI in adolescents. A sample of 850 predominantly (80%) Black adolescents from Michigan, United States, was assessed at baseline, 12, 24, and 36 months postbaseline. Adolescents were from working-class families with a mean age of 14.9 years (SD = .64, Range = 13.9 to 16.9) at baseline. Participants completed measures of family functioning at each time point. A…
Do Adolescents Who Regularly Attend Religious Services Stay Out of Trouble? Results From a National Sample
The relationship between religious service attendance and adolescent externalizing behavior is well established in the aggregate, but little is known about what behavioral and psychosocial differences may or may not exist among adolescents who regularly attend religious services. Using a nationally representative sample of frequent religious service attending adolescents ( N = 26,765), latent class analysis and multinomial regression were used to…
Preventing Violence among Gang-Involved and High-Risk Youth in El Salvador
El Salvador, as a country of the Northern Triangle, exhibits significantly higher rates of crime and delinquency than the rest of the Latin American countries (World Bank 2011). Mass media portray transnational youth gangs in marginalized communities in Central American nations, such as El Salvador, as one of the main factors responsible for the high levels of violence. Few studies have empirically studied active youth gang members and high-risk …
A new approach to exploring agency in migration research
Cultural Stressors and Cultural Identity Styles Among Hispanic College Students
Research shows that cultural identity styles (CIS; i.e., hybrid identity style [HIS] vs. alternating identity style [AIS]) and cultural stressors (i.e., discrimination, negative context of reception, and bicultural stressors) are associated, but the directionality of this association remains unclear. Using a 2-wave, self-report dataset and a cross-lagged design, we examined the directionality of the associations between cultural stressors and CIS…
A Social Work Approach to Policy
The substantial disparities in health and poorer outcomes in the United States relative to peer nations suggest the need to refocus health policy. Through direct contact with the most vulnerable segments of the population, social workers have developed an approach to policy that recognizes the importance of the social environment, the value of social relationships, and the significance of value-driven policymaking. This approach could be used to …
Religiosity Profiles of American Youth in Relation to Substance Use, Violence, and Delinquency
Who Are Truant Youth? Examining Distinctive Profiles of Truant Youth Using Latent Profile Analysis
Exploring the Variation in Drug Selling Among Adolescents in the United States
Violence and Externalizing Behavior Among Youth in the United States
Despite research demonstrating that approximately 5% of study populations are composed of severely antisocial persons who account for a disproportionate share of problem behaviors, there have been no nationally representative studies assessing this phenomenon among adolescents. Using a large nationally representative sample ( N = 18,614), we identified a severe group (4.7% of respondents) characterized by involvement in varied and intensive exter…
Profiles of Religiosity and Their Association With Risk Behavior Among Emerging Adults in the United States
There exists significant variation in religious expression, and a growing body of research suggests the importance of examining this variation among emerging adults vis-à-vis involvement in antisocial and high-risk behaviors. Drawing from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH; N = 19,312) and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC; N = 2,721), latent profile analysis and multinomial regression are …
Criminal epidemiology and the immigrant paradox
High School Dropouts in Emerging Adulthood
Everyday discrimination and mood and substance use disorders
Acculturative heterogeneity among Asian/Pacific Islanders in the United States
Extant studies on the links between acculturation and mental and substance use disorders among Asian/Pacific Islanders have been based on the assumption that acculturation is a homogeneous construct. However, emerging evidence suggests that the various components of acculturation do not manifest independently, but rather cluster in ways that reflect distinct profiles. We employ data on Asian/Pacific Islanders from the National Epidemiologic Surve…
A Typology of Substance Use Among Pregnant Teens in the United States
Toward a Typology of Acculturative Stress
The objective of this study is to identify latent classes of Hispanic immigrants on the basis of acculturative stress and, in turn, examine the links between membership in acculturative stress classes and the prevalence of mental disorders. We use latent class analysis (LCA) and multinomial logistic regression with data from a population-based study of Hispanic immigrants in the United States ( n = 1,630). Classes were identified as “Low Accultur…
Preventing Violence among Gang-Involved and High-Risk Youth in El Salvador
El Salvador, as a country of the Northern Triangle, exhibits significantly higher rates of crime and delinquency than the rest of the Latin American countries (World Bank 2011). Mass media portray transnational youth gangs in marginalized communities in Central American nations, such as El Salvador, as one of the main factors responsible for the high levels of violence. Few studies have empirically studied active youth gang members and high-risk …
Laying the Foundations for Scientometric Research
Objective: Scientometric studies of social work have stagnated due to problems with the organization and structure of the disciplinary literature. This study utilized data science to produce a set of research tools to overcome these methodological challenges. Method: We constructed a comprehensive list of social work journals for a 25-year time period and searched for all available article records using 35 different databases. Customized software…
A Longitudinal Test of the Parent–Adolescent Family Functioning Discrepancy Hypothesis
Ecodevelopmental trajectories of family functioning
We examined the effects of family functioning trajectories on sexual risk behaviors and STI in adolescents. A sample of 850 predominantly (80%) Black adolescents from Michigan, United States, was assessed at baseline, 12, 24, and 36 months postbaseline. Adolescents were from working-class families with a mean age of 14.9 years (SD = .64, Range = 13.9 to 16.9) at baseline. Participants completed measures of family functioning at each time point. A…
Do Adolescents Who Regularly Attend Religious Services Stay Out of Trouble? Results From a National Sample
The relationship between religious service attendance and adolescent externalizing behavior is well established in the aggregate, but little is known about what behavioral and psychosocial differences may or may not exist among adolescents who regularly attend religious services. Using a nationally representative sample of frequent religious service attending adolescents ( N = 26,765), latent class analysis and multinomial regression were used to…
Trends in drug offers among adolescents in the United States, 2002–2014
BACKGROUND: Being offered illicit drugs is a critical factor leading to drug initiation and other psychosocial risk behaviors among adolescents in the United States. However, there exist few studies examining the recent trends in drug offers among adolescents, particularly across racial/ethnic subgroups. The present study examines trends and psychosocial/behavioral correlates of drug offers among adolescents of the three largest racial/ethnic gro…
Truancy in the United States
A Social Work Approach to Policy
The substantial disparities in health and poorer outcomes in the United States relative to peer nations suggest the need to refocus health policy. Through direct contact with the most vulnerable segments of the population, social workers have developed an approach to policy that recognizes the importance of the social environment, the value of social relationships, and the significance of value-driven policymaking. This approach could be used to …
Trends in Fighting and Violence Among Adolescents in the United States, 2002–2014
Objectives. To examine trends in and correlates of fighting and violence among youths from the 3 largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Methods. We derived race/ethnicity-specific prevalence estimates for fighting, group fighting, and attacks with intent to harm from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a population-based study of youths aged 12 to 17 years. Results. The prevalence of youth fighting and violence decreased signi…
The Rise of Co-Authorship in Social Work Scholarship
This study examined two issues critical to the social work research enterprise: (i) trends in authorship within disciplinary social work journals and (ii) the relationship between the number of authors and article quality, as measured via dissemination in high-impact journals. Data for the study were collected from original articles (N = 33,330) harvested from eighty disciplinary journals between 1989 and 2013. The results indicate the mean numbe…
Public or Private Religiosity
While it is well understood that adolescent religiosity is associated with the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances, few studies have revealed the pathways through which religiosity buffers youth against involvement in such behavior. The aim of this study is to examine the complexity of the relationships between religiosity, sensation seeking, injunctive norms, and adolescent substance use. Using a national sample of adolescents ( N = 18…
Advancing Alcohol and Other Drug Education among Social Work Faculty
This study is an educational evaluation of participants (N = 50) in a four-day immersion training program funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Using a pretest-posttest design, clinical social work faculty participants showed statistically significant (p < .001) improvement in overall alcohol and other drug-related knowledge (Baseline: Mean[SD] = 8.75 [2.44]; Post-Intervention: Mean[SD] = 13.88[1.96], Cohen's d = -2.16…
Introduction to the Special Issue
This Special Issue of Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions focuses on an emerging effort, the Alcohol and Other Drugs Education Program (ADEP), designed to advance social work faculty knowledge and teaching in the area of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. In June 2017, with grant support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the inaugural ADEP program provided in-depth, immersion-based training to 50 fu…
Integrating Alcohol and Other Drug Content in the Social Work Curriculum
This study provides up-to-date information on the practices and barriers faced by 50 clinical faculty from 29 Council on Social Work Education-accredited master’s in social work programs across the United States in the integration of alcohol and other drug (AOD) content into social work education. Faculty report that AOD-related content is covered only superficially in their instruction in an array of life course, social environmental, and health…
Psychology (44 works) · Medicine (30 works) · Psychiatry (25 works) · Clinical Psychology (21 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Demography (18 works) · Political science (18 works) · Social Psychology (18 works) · Clinical Psychology (16 works) · Developmental psychology (15 works)