A P Villatoro
Biographic Data
| ID | 69013 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A P Villatoro |
| GIVEN NAMES | A P |
| FAMILY NAME | Villatoro |
| SIGNATURE | VILLATORO A P |
| AFFILIATIONS | Santa Clara University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4865-4084 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 18 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 27 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Comparing government-sponsored and community-based safety-nets for health and wellbeing among Latiné adults in California
OBJECTIVES: Latiné populations in the United States face a persistent health and mental health burden, in part driven by stressors associated with social determinants of health. In response, it is critical to develop a nuanced understanding of Latiné communities' perceptions of government- and community-based social safety-net services, both as distinct and interacting systems, designed to support health and social needs of Latiné adults. DESIGN:…
Stigma affects how parents respond to their children’s mental health, but does child gender complicate the story
Parents are influential gatekeepers to mental health services for children struggling with mental health issues, and their stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors towards mental illness may hinder help-seeking. Parents' gendered expectations throughout the help-seeking process may influence whether they pursue formal or informal support for their children. We advance stigma research by examining how stigma affects a parent's decision to seek formal …
Alcohol Advertising Across Spanish and English Television and Radio Networks in New York City
Latinx residents in New York City experience greater disparities in alcohol use behaviors, chronic liver disease mortality, and other health and legal consequences from high-risk alcohol use compared to non-Latinx White residents. As media-based advertising of alcohol can influence health behaviors, this study aimed to take an "upstream" approach by analyzing rates of alcohol advertising across primetime English- and Spanish-language television n…
Latiné Emerging Adults’ Insights on Expanding Mental Health Supports That Go Beyond Access to Care
Structural and social determinants of health (DOH) significantly impact the mental wellbeing of Latiné communities. This study explores how structural and social DOH shape the perceived needs for mental health supports that extend beyond traditional services among first- and second-generation Latiné emerging adults. Incorporating their perspectives is essential, as they are underrepresented populations in mental health research and navigate compl…
Persistent invisibility and stereotyping as forms of mental illness stigma
Familial transmission of mental health help-seeking
Familial transmission of mental illnesses and health behaviors is well established. However, little research has examined familial transmission of mental health help-seeking behaviors despite social science theoretical traditions that support its occurrence including social learning theory and the network episode model. Among parent-adolescent dyads, extant literature supports consideration of adolescent-autonomy versus parent-gatekeeping accordi…
Emotional Wellbeing of Asylum-Seeking Children After Release From Immigration Detention
Families seeking asylum in the United States are often placed in detention centers after fleeing crime, violence, and government ineffectiveness in their countries. Migration brings more hardship, terror, and trauma. The cumulative psychological and social effects from detention need to be better understood. This exploratory study examines the effects of detention and family separation on immigrant children’s psychosocial wellbeing after released…
Mechanisms of mental illness anti-stigma messaging matter
It was really painful to watch
Latinxs in the United States have been targeted by racialized immigration policies that threaten the well-being of not only those directly affected but also those who witness the hardship brought about by these events. This study explored Latinx young adults’ experiences of witnessing hardship brought to others both personally and among the collective. Data from 21 individual interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Analyses revealed fou…
Mental Health Needs and Services Utilization among Undergraduate and Graduate Students in Texas during the Covid-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 created a global crisis, exacerbating disparities in social determinants of health (SDOH) and mental health (MH). Research on pandemic-related MH and help-seeking is scarce, especially among high-risk populations such as college/university students. We examined self-rated MH and psychological distress, the perceived need for MH services/support, and the use of MH services across the SDOH among college/university students during the start…
Emotional wellbeing and coping among Latinx young adults in the time of Covid‐19
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the wellbeing of the general US population, but even more so among Latinx young adults. The current study provides a detailed picture of the emotional wellbeing and coping of Latinx young adults during the first summer of the pandemic. Six virtual focus groups (n = 21) were conducted between May and August of 2020 with a community-based sample of Latinx young adults to explore (1) how the pandemic affected well…
Anticipating Stress During the Covid-19 Pandemic
We examined the association of anticipatory negative consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Latinx young adults. Data are from a community-based study with first- and second-generation immigrant, Latinx young adults (18–26 years old). Participants completed an online survey about mental health and anticipated personal and family-related consequences due to the pandemic. Regression models examined the effects of anti…
Media-Based Health Information Seeking Behaviors Among Latinx Populations in the United States
To inform health communication efforts for Latinx communities, we assessed health information seeking behaviors to media sources, healthcare providers, and family/friends among a purposive sample of Latinx adults in 2021 using recruitment quotas by ethnic origin and age. Participants ( N = 1,574) self-completed an online cross-sectional survey using their own digital devices. The survey assessed mental and physical health information scanning and…
Me” versus “them”
Mental illness stigma is a significant barrier to utilizing mental health services for young populations. Few studies have evaluated how specific stigma dimensions relate to help-seeking and recommendations among adolescents. We examined how the stigma dimensions of labeling, stereotypes, and separation/discrimination influenced self-reported help-seeking behaviors of adolescents and recommendations for hypothetical peers with a mental health pro…
Inequities gone or enduring? Evaluating the effects of a school-based antistigma intervention on race/ethnic and gender intersectional disparities in mental illness stigma
While significant mental illness stigma disparities across race/ethnicity and gender exist, little is known about the efficacy of anti-stigma interventions in reducing these intersectional disparities. We examine the two-year effects of school-based anti-stigma interventions on race/ethnic and gender intersectional stigma disparities among adolescents. An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sixth grade sample ( N = 302) self-completed survey…
Contextualizing the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Educational Experiences and Outcomes of Latinx College Students in Texas
The transition to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic is feared to have widened the achievement gap previously experienced by students from low socioeconomic and minority backgrounds. We utilized data from the COVID-19 Texas College Student Experiences Survey to assess the impact of the pandemic on Latinx students’ (n = 231) educational experiences and outcomes, including perceptions about institutional resources, coursework outcomes an…
The intersection of immigration policy impacts and Covid‐19 for Latinx young adults
For many Latinx young adults, COVID‐19 has exposed exclusionary policies that heighten risk for contracting the virus and that leave them and their parents unprotected. This study has a dual purpose; first, to quantitatively examine immigration policy impacts of discrimination, isolation, threats to family, and vulnerability, and their association to economic consequences experienced by Latinx young adults in Central Texas during the initial mont…
Occupational Stress and Mental Health Among Healthcare Workers Serving Socially Vulnerable Populations During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The purpose of this study was to analyze occupational and personal stressors, mental health indicators, perceived discrimination and help-seeking behaviors among healthcare workers and providers (HCWPs) serving socially vulnerable groups such as immigrants, refugees, farmworkers, homeless individuals, people living in poverty, and other disadvantaged populations in the United States (U.S.) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a cross-sectional des…
School Mental Health Curriculum Effects on Peer Violence Victimization and Perpetration
BACKGROUND: Addressing school violence is an important public health goal. To assess the role of school mental health curricula in violence prevention, we evaluated effects of an anti-stigma curriculum on violence victimization/perpetration. METHODS: An ethnically/socioeconomically diverse sample of 751 sixth-graders (mean age 11.5 years) across 14 schools in Texas were block-randomized by school (2011-2012) to receive singly or in combination: (…
Economic and social consequences of Covid-19 and mental health burden among Latinx young adults during the 2020 pandemic
Latinx young adults 18-25 years old face unique challenges that disproportionately put them at high risk of experiencing health as well as economic and social burden due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The present study examined how economic and psychosocial consequences as a result of the pandemic were associated with mental health issues among a community sample of Latinx young adults ( N = 83) from Central Texas. Participants c…
Estimating School Race/Ethnic Enrollment Effects on Student Mental Health
Greater NL-White density increases mental health risk for NL-Black and low-stress Latinx students, while school diversity lowers risk for high-stress Latinx students. These findings demonstrate how educational settings may produce or lessen minority stress
Adolescent views of mental illness stigma
667; mean age = 11.5) self-completed assessments of their MI-related knowledge, positive attitudes, and behaviors toward peers with MI and adolescent vignettes described as experiencing bipolar (Julia) and social anxiety (David) symptoms. Self-reported race, ethnicity, and gender were combined to generate 6 intersectional composite variables: Latino boys, Latina girls, non-Latina/o (NL) Black boys, NL-Black girls, NL-White boys, and NL-White girl…
Newcomers and Old Timers
Based on the premise that treatment changes people in ways that are consequential for subsequent treatment-seeking, we question the validity of an unrecognized and apparently inadvertent assumption in mental health services research conducted within a psychiatric epidemiology paradigm. This homogeneity assumption statistically constrains the effects of potential determinants of recent treatment to be identical for former patients and previously u…
Perceived Need for Mental Health Care
Racial/ethnic minority populations underutilize mental health services, even relative to psychiatric disorder, and differences in perceived need may contribute to these disparities. Using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys, we assessed how the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status affect perceived need. We analyzed a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (18years or older; N= 14,906), includin…
Parental recognition of preadolescent mental health problems
Contextualizing the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Educational Experiences and Outcomes of Latinx College Students in Texas
The transition to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic is feared to have widened the achievement gap previously experienced by students from low socioeconomic and minority backgrounds. We utilized data from the COVID-19 Texas College Student Experiences Survey to assess the impact of the pandemic on Latinx students’ (n = 231) educational experiences and outcomes, including perceptions about institutional resources, coursework outcomes an…
The intersection of immigration policy impacts and Covid‐19 for Latinx young adults
For many Latinx young adults, COVID‐19 has exposed exclusionary policies that heighten risk for contracting the virus and that leave them and their parents unprotected. This study has a dual purpose; first, to quantitatively examine immigration policy impacts of discrimination, isolation, threats to family, and vulnerability, and their association to economic consequences experienced by Latinx young adults in Central Texas during the initial mont…
Parental recognition of preadolescent mental health problems
Family Influences on the Use of Mental Health Services among African Americans
We examine how families influence mental health service (MHS) utilization among African Americans by drawing on the concept of family ambivalence, which encompasses both family support and stress, and by placing utilization within the context of family histories of psychiatric disorder and treatment. Data are from the 2001-2003 National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African American adults ( n = 3,149), including …
Newcomers and Old Timers
Based on the premise that treatment changes people in ways that are consequential for subsequent treatment-seeking, we question the validity of an unrecognized and apparently inadvertent assumption in mental health services research conducted within a psychiatric epidemiology paradigm. This homogeneity assumption statistically constrains the effects of potential determinants of recent treatment to be identical for former patients and previously u…
Emotional Wellbeing of Asylum-Seeking Children After Release From Immigration Detention
Families seeking asylum in the United States are often placed in detention centers after fleeing crime, violence, and government ineffectiveness in their countries. Migration brings more hardship, terror, and trauma. The cumulative psychological and social effects from detention need to be better understood. This exploratory study examines the effects of detention and family separation on immigrant children’s psychosocial wellbeing after released…
Family culture in mental health help-seeking and utilization in a nationally representative sample of Latinos in the United States
Considering the central role of familismo in Latino culture, it is important to assess the extent to which familismo affects mental health help-seeking. This study examined the role of behavioral familismo, the level of perceived family support, in the use of mental health services of Latinos in the United States. Data come from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS), a representative household survey examining the prevalence of men…
Family Influences on the Use of Mental Health Services among African Americans
We examine how families influence mental health service (MHS) utilization among African Americans by drawing on the concept of family ambivalence, which encompasses both family support and stress, and by placing utilization within the context of family histories of psychiatric disorder and treatment. Data are from the 2001-2003 National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African American adults ( n = 3,149), including …
Perceived Need for Mental Health Care
Racial/ethnic minority populations underutilize mental health services, even relative to psychiatric disorder, and differences in perceived need may contribute to these disparities. Using the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys, we assessed how the intersections of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status affect perceived need. We analyzed a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (18years or older; N= 14,906), includin…
Parental recognition of preadolescent mental health problems
Newcomers and Old Timers
Based on the premise that treatment changes people in ways that are consequential for subsequent treatment-seeking, we question the validity of an unrecognized and apparently inadvertent assumption in mental health services research conducted within a psychiatric epidemiology paradigm. This homogeneity assumption statistically constrains the effects of potential determinants of recent treatment to be identical for former patients and previously u…
Adolescent views of mental illness stigma
667; mean age = 11.5) self-completed assessments of their MI-related knowledge, positive attitudes, and behaviors toward peers with MI and adolescent vignettes described as experiencing bipolar (Julia) and social anxiety (David) symptoms. Self-reported race, ethnicity, and gender were combined to generate 6 intersectional composite variables: Latino boys, Latina girls, non-Latina/o (NL) Black boys, NL-Black girls, NL-White boys, and NL-White girl…
Occupational Stress and Mental Health Among Healthcare Workers Serving Socially Vulnerable Populations During the Covid-19 Pandemic
The purpose of this study was to analyze occupational and personal stressors, mental health indicators, perceived discrimination and help-seeking behaviors among healthcare workers and providers (HCWPs) serving socially vulnerable groups such as immigrants, refugees, farmworkers, homeless individuals, people living in poverty, and other disadvantaged populations in the United States (U.S.) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a cross-sectional des…
School Mental Health Curriculum Effects on Peer Violence Victimization and Perpetration
BACKGROUND: Addressing school violence is an important public health goal. To assess the role of school mental health curricula in violence prevention, we evaluated effects of an anti-stigma curriculum on violence victimization/perpetration. METHODS: An ethnically/socioeconomically diverse sample of 751 sixth-graders (mean age 11.5 years) across 14 schools in Texas were block-randomized by school (2011-2012) to receive singly or in combination: (…
Economic and social consequences of Covid-19 and mental health burden among Latinx young adults during the 2020 pandemic
Latinx young adults 18-25 years old face unique challenges that disproportionately put them at high risk of experiencing health as well as economic and social burden due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The present study examined how economic and psychosocial consequences as a result of the pandemic were associated with mental health issues among a community sample of Latinx young adults ( N = 83) from Central Texas. Participants c…
Estimating School Race/Ethnic Enrollment Effects on Student Mental Health
Greater NL-White density increases mental health risk for NL-Black and low-stress Latinx students, while school diversity lowers risk for high-stress Latinx students. These findings demonstrate how educational settings may produce or lessen minority stress
Me” versus “them”
Mental illness stigma is a significant barrier to utilizing mental health services for young populations. Few studies have evaluated how specific stigma dimensions relate to help-seeking and recommendations among adolescents. We examined how the stigma dimensions of labeling, stereotypes, and separation/discrimination influenced self-reported help-seeking behaviors of adolescents and recommendations for hypothetical peers with a mental health pro…
Inequities gone or enduring? Evaluating the effects of a school-based antistigma intervention on race/ethnic and gender intersectional disparities in mental illness stigma
While significant mental illness stigma disparities across race/ethnicity and gender exist, little is known about the efficacy of anti-stigma interventions in reducing these intersectional disparities. We examine the two-year effects of school-based anti-stigma interventions on race/ethnic and gender intersectional stigma disparities among adolescents. An ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sixth grade sample ( N = 302) self-completed survey…
Contextualizing the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Educational Experiences and Outcomes of Latinx College Students in Texas
The transition to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic is feared to have widened the achievement gap previously experienced by students from low socioeconomic and minority backgrounds. We utilized data from the COVID-19 Texas College Student Experiences Survey to assess the impact of the pandemic on Latinx students’ (n = 231) educational experiences and outcomes, including perceptions about institutional resources, coursework outcomes an…
The intersection of immigration policy impacts and Covid‐19 for Latinx young adults
For many Latinx young adults, COVID‐19 has exposed exclusionary policies that heighten risk for contracting the virus and that leave them and their parents unprotected. This study has a dual purpose; first, to quantitatively examine immigration policy impacts of discrimination, isolation, threats to family, and vulnerability, and their association to economic consequences experienced by Latinx young adults in Central Texas during the initial mont…
It was really painful to watch
Latinxs in the United States have been targeted by racialized immigration policies that threaten the well-being of not only those directly affected but also those who witness the hardship brought about by these events. This study explored Latinx young adults’ experiences of witnessing hardship brought to others both personally and among the collective. Data from 21 individual interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Analyses revealed fou…
Mental Health Needs and Services Utilization among Undergraduate and Graduate Students in Texas during the Covid-19 Pandemic
COVID-19 created a global crisis, exacerbating disparities in social determinants of health (SDOH) and mental health (MH). Research on pandemic-related MH and help-seeking is scarce, especially among high-risk populations such as college/university students. We examined self-rated MH and psychological distress, the perceived need for MH services/support, and the use of MH services across the SDOH among college/university students during the start…
Emotional wellbeing and coping among Latinx young adults in the time of Covid‐19
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the wellbeing of the general US population, but even more so among Latinx young adults. The current study provides a detailed picture of the emotional wellbeing and coping of Latinx young adults during the first summer of the pandemic. Six virtual focus groups (n = 21) were conducted between May and August of 2020 with a community-based sample of Latinx young adults to explore (1) how the pandemic affected well…
Anticipating Stress During the Covid-19 Pandemic
We examined the association of anticipatory negative consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Latinx young adults. Data are from a community-based study with first- and second-generation immigrant, Latinx young adults (18–26 years old). Participants completed an online survey about mental health and anticipated personal and family-related consequences due to the pandemic. Regression models examined the effects of anti…
Media-Based Health Information Seeking Behaviors Among Latinx Populations in the United States
To inform health communication efforts for Latinx communities, we assessed health information seeking behaviors to media sources, healthcare providers, and family/friends among a purposive sample of Latinx adults in 2021 using recruitment quotas by ethnic origin and age. Participants ( N = 1,574) self-completed an online cross-sectional survey using their own digital devices. The survey assessed mental and physical health information scanning and…
Persistent invisibility and stereotyping as forms of mental illness stigma
Familial transmission of mental health help-seeking
Familial transmission of mental illnesses and health behaviors is well established. However, little research has examined familial transmission of mental health help-seeking behaviors despite social science theoretical traditions that support its occurrence including social learning theory and the network episode model. Among parent-adolescent dyads, extant literature supports consideration of adolescent-autonomy versus parent-gatekeeping accordi…
Emotional Wellbeing of Asylum-Seeking Children After Release From Immigration Detention
Families seeking asylum in the United States are often placed in detention centers after fleeing crime, violence, and government ineffectiveness in their countries. Migration brings more hardship, terror, and trauma. The cumulative psychological and social effects from detention need to be better understood. This exploratory study examines the effects of detention and family separation on immigrant children’s psychosocial wellbeing after released…
Mechanisms of mental illness anti-stigma messaging matter
Stigma affects how parents respond to their children’s mental health, but does child gender complicate the story
Parents are influential gatekeepers to mental health services for children struggling with mental health issues, and their stigmatizing attitudes and behaviors towards mental illness may hinder help-seeking. Parents' gendered expectations throughout the help-seeking process may influence whether they pursue formal or informal support for their children. We advance stigma research by examining how stigma affects a parent's decision to seek formal …
Alcohol Advertising Across Spanish and English Television and Radio Networks in New York City
Latinx residents in New York City experience greater disparities in alcohol use behaviors, chronic liver disease mortality, and other health and legal consequences from high-risk alcohol use compared to non-Latinx White residents. As media-based advertising of alcohol can influence health behaviors, this study aimed to take an "upstream" approach by analyzing rates of alcohol advertising across primetime English- and Spanish-language television n…
Psychology (26 works) · Mental health (22 works) · Psychiatry (22 works) · Medicine (18 works) · Clinical Psychology (14 works) · Mental Health Treatment and Access (13 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Ethnic group (8 works) · Political science (8 works)