G J Melendez-Torres
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 338222 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | G J Melendez-Torres |
| NOMBRES | G J |
| APELLIDO | Melendez-Torres |
| FIRMA | MELENDEZ-TORRES G J |
| AFILIACIONES | University of Exeter |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9823-4790 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 115 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 73 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 115 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2015 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 5 |
A Realist Evaluation of a Behavior Change Program for Domestic Abuse Perpetrators in the United Kingdom
The Behavior Change Independent Domestic Violence Advisor Program is a Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Program operating in England. This evaluation drew upon semistructured interviews with program professionals ( n = 7), perpetrators ( n = 7) and victims/survivors ( n = 5) to develop a realist model of how perpetrator behavior change is thought to be enabled through this program. Key contextual factors were identified which moderate program delivery …
Cost-Effectiveness of a Digital Parenting Intervention for Reducing Violence and Related Health Burden Among Adolescents in Tanzania
Sexual Health Promotion and Dating and Relationship Violence Prevention in Further Education Settings
The association of positive educational experiences with adolescents’ depressive symptoms
Introduction The school environment influences adolescent health through both individual experiences, such as one’s own engagement with school, and broader school-level factors, such as aggregate student levels of engagement, affecting all students. For mental-health outcomes, existing evidence more consistently supports individual-level influences than school-level effects. In relation to depression, negative student-level educational experience…
How might we improve the mental health and well-being of care-experienced children and young people? Review and map of intervention theories
This article presents a review and map of program theories used in mental health and well-being interventions tested with care-experienced children and young people (foster care, kinship care, residential care). Program theories are important in knowing how interventions should bring about change, how they might be implemented, and how they will be influenced by contextual factors. Currently, we do not fully understand if and how interventions ar…
System Failures in Care Continuity and Coordination for People with Multiple Long-Term Conditions
Background The growing number of patients with multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) presents major challenges for continuity and coordination of care across patients, carers, professionals, and healthcare systems. Objectives To identify and contrast key problem areas in continuity and coordination of care from the perspectives of patients, carers, and healthcare professionals (HCPs), and define requirements for a system design toolbox to address…
Have parenting programs for disruptive child behavior become less effective
BACKGROUND: Behavioral parenting programs have been exhaustively studied over the past five decades. We used this wealth of research to examine how estimates of parenting program effects have evolved over time, and if any time trends in effect estimates can be explained by trial, sample, or intervention characteristics. METHODS: We based our meta-analysis on a systematic search of 22 international and regional databases, gray literature, and 4 tr…
Where next for school climate? A commentary on Moore (2026)
In a contribution to this year's Annual Research Review , Graham Moore ( Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 2026) presents a thought‐provoking consideration of school climate. Highlighting the contestations in this concept, he describes how school climate might (or might not) impact child and adolescent mental health; how interventions to improve school climate might (or might not) improve child and adolescent mental health; and how sch…
Feasibility of THINK Again, a programme to prevent dating and relationship violence and gender-based violence in English secondary schools
Objective: Dating and relationship violence (DRV) and gender-based violence (GBV) are reported to be common among adolescents internationally and can have significant adverse long-term consequences, including widening gender inequalities in health outcomes. There is evidence that while school-based curriculum programmes can be effective in preventing DRV, whole-school elements such as student/staff action groups are important for preventing GBV. …
A Scoping Review and Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence Reporting Stakeholders’ Conceptualization of Child to Parent Violence and Abuse
Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (CAPVA) is a significant social issue, but to date, there is limited understanding of how it is conceptualized by different stakeholders. This scoping review and qualitative synthesis aimed to: (a) Map the concepts used by stakeholders to describe CAPVA and (b) Generate a theoretical model to explain how stakeholders conceptualize CAPVA in terms of context, conditions, mechanisms, and outcomes. Se…
Exploring perspectives of knowledge users about reporting on health equity in observational studies
BACKGROUND: Health inequities arising from systemic factors and contextual conditions result in avoidable and unjust differences in health outcomes, with profound social and economic implications. Health inequities can frequently go unreported in observational studies. Observational studies can uniquely inform how we understand and address persisting health inequities through collecting, reporting and analyzing health equity factors using 'inclus…
Sexual literacy and parents’ confidence to discuss sex and relationships with children and adolescents in Australia
Parents play a fundamental role in educating their children, including younger children and teenagers, about sex and relationships. These conversations often involve complex and sensitive topics, which many parents find challenging due to limited knowledge, low confidence, or discomfort. This study investigated whether parents with higher sexual literacy – defined as the ability to seek and assess information to support sexual wellbeing and commu…
Factors affecting the implementation of a whole-school relationships and sexual health intervention
Whole-school relationships and sexual health interventions represent promising approaches to promoting healthy sexual development. However, data from a randomised controlled trial of the Positive Choices whole-school intervention demonstrate these may be challenging to implement in English secondary schools. We draw on qualitative data to examine staff perspectives on the implementation of the intervention and the factors affecting delivery. Inte…
Understanding the limited effectiveness of a whole-school relationships and sexual-health programme
Previous trials of whole-school relationships and sexual-health programmes have not reported on fidelity, reach or acceptability, despite the importance of these factors for interpreting outcomes. Our trial of the Positive Choices whole-school relationships and sexual-health programme found limited effectiveness in secondary schools in England. We aimed to understand whether sub-optimal fidelity, reach or acceptability might explain the results. …
Understanding how voluntary and community sector resources impact the mental health and wellbeing of young people living in context of disadvantage
Mental health is an escalating problem for young people. Open access community services may offer ‘safe spaces’ and a sense of belonging. However, the function and impact of voluntary and community sector (VCS) resources, such as youth clubs and community sports initiatives, in supporting young people’s mental health is not currently well documented or understood. A realist review was conducted in line with RAMESES quality and reporting standards…
Health Action in ScHools for a Thriving Adolescent Generation (HASHTAG)
Schools play a crucial role in supporting adolescent mental health, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where young people face structural and societal challenges. This study explores the feasibility and acceptability of the Health Action in Schools for a Thriving Adolescent Generation (HASHTAG), a multilevel intervention for at-risk adolescents aged 13–14 in South Africa. HASHTAG includes two components: thriving environment …
Mejorar la comunicación sobre la equidad en la salud en la investigación observacional (STROBE Equidad)
Melhorando a apresentação de informações sobre equidade em saúde em pesquisas observacionais (STROBE-Equity)
Preliminary Outcomes of a Hybrid-Digital Parenting Intervention in Routine Services in Malaysia
Purpose: This paper examined pre-post changes in child maltreatment and associated outcomes among caregivers of children ages 2–6 years who participated in a hybrid-digital parenting intervention delivered by civil society organizations (CSOs) in Malaysia. Methods: Data were collected by five CSOs between January and April 2024 in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. The intervention included a parenting support chatbot, WhatsApp groups, and two in-person …
Effects of a whole-school relationships and sexual health intervention on non-competent sexual debut
BACKGROUND: Relationships and sex education (RSE) impacts some sexual behaviours but could be strengthened by incorporating whole-school approaches (eg, building engagement, providing contraception). These can prevent pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections but are unevaluated in UK schools. METHODS: A cluster-randomised trial of 'Positive Choices' compared it with usual practice in English secondary schools. Intervention comprised: RSE, …
What Mental Health and Wellbeing Interventions Work for Which Children and Young People in Care? Systematic Review of Potential Outcome Inequities
Children and young people with care-experience (e.g. foster, kinship and residential care) report poorer mental health and wellbeing than the general population. Despite an emerging evidence-base for intervention, it is not clear if current approaches create, exacerbate or mitigate outcome inequities between different types of participants. We conducted a systematic review of international interventions targeting mental health, subjective wellbei…
A Longitudinal Analysis Comparing the Mental Health of Children By Level of Young Carer Status
INTRODUCTION: Young carers research has predominantly focused on the experiences of children who often provide substantial levels of care for family members, and the impacts of this caring on their lives. While quantitative studies of prevalence have increased, there have been increasing calls for cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of young carers relative to children without caring responsibilities, to strengthen and challenge the existing…
Parenting on the border
There is currently a lack of evidence-based interventions with a dual focus on improving parenting and caregiver mental health in conflict and humanitarian settings. To address this gap, we co-designed a trauma-informed, edutainment-enhanced intervention to improve both parenting and mental health outcomes among migrant and displaced caregivers on the Thailand-Myanmar border. This paper outlines the study protocol for a pragmatic, community-based…
What Are the Mechanisms Underpinning Intergenerational Transmission of Violence Perpetration? A Realist Review
Successive generations are more likely to carry out acts of violence in households where an individual has either perpetrated or been subjected to violence. While research to date has mostly concentrated on direct associations between violence experience or perpetration in generation 1 and violence perpetration in generation 2, there is limited evidence regarding the underlying mechanisms of the transmission of intergenerational violence perpetra…
The implementation of compulsory relationships and sex education in English secondary schools
The quality of sex education varies. In England from 2020, the government attempted to improve provision by making lessons a statutory requirement. We assessed implementation in 25 secondary schools in 2022–23, framed by May’s general theory of implementation. This identifies processes of sense-making, cognitive participation, collective action and reflexive monitoring, influenced by an intervention’s capability, stakeholder potential (individual…
From complex social interventions to interventions in complex social systems
Complex systems approaches to social intervention research are increasingly advocated. However, there have been few attempts to consider how models of intervention science, such as the UK's Medical Research Council complex interventions framework, might be reframed through a complex systems lens. This article identifies some key areas in which this framework might be reconceptualized, and a number of priority areas where further development is ne…
Dark logic’
Although it might be assumed that most public health programmes involving social or behavioural rather than clinical interventions are unlikely to be iatrogenic, it is well established that they can sometimes cause serious harms. However, the assessment of adverse effects remains a neglected topic in evaluations of public health interventions. In this paper, we first argue for the importance of evaluations of public health interventions not only …
Methodological reflections on using qualitative research to explore the causal mechanisms of complex health interventions
We reflect on how qualitative research can be used to develop or refine theories about how the mechanisms triggered by intervention enactment might generate outcomes, referring to examples from a ‘realist trial’ of a whole-school health intervention. Qualitative research can explore mechanisms directly, by asking participants how they think interventions work, or indirectly, by exploring participant experiences of intervention-related actions to …
Alcohol advertising and public health
Background Alcohol consumption is influenced by a complex causal system of interconnected psychological, behavioural, social, economic, legal and environmental factors. These factors are shaped by governments (eg, licensing laws and taxation), by consumers (eg, patterns of alcohol consumption drive demand) and by alcohol industry practices, such as advertising. The marketing and advertising of alcoholic products contributes to an ‘alcogenic envir…
Socioeconomic status, mental wellbeing and transition to secondary school
Young people's wellbeing is often lowest where they assume a relatively low position within their school's socioeconomic hierarchy, for example, among poorer children attending more affluent schools. Transition to secondary school is a period during which young people typically enter an environment which is more socioeconomically diverse than their primary school. Young people joining a school with a higher socioeconomic status intake relative to…
Demographic predictors of experiences of homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender-diverse and queer-identifying (LGBTIQ) young people in Australia
Homelessness among young lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, gender-diverse and queer-identifying (LGBTQ+) persons is highly prevalent and constitutes a structural risk to health and future life chances. However, the distribution of homelessness burden is among different LGBTQ+ subgroups is poorly understood. An Australia-wide cross-sectional online survey was conducted involving 6,481 LGBTQ+ participants aged 14–21 years during 2019. Single-predictor…
Mental health and wellbeing interventions for care-experienced children and young people
The mental health and well-being of care-experienced children and young people remains a concern. Despite a range of interventions, the existing evidence base is limited in scope, with a reliance on standalone outcome evaluations which limits understanding of how contextual factors influence implementation and acceptability. The Care-experienced cHildren and young people’s Interventions to improve Mental health and wEll-being outcomes Systematic …
Enacting whole‐school relationships and sexuality education in England
Evidence from intervention evaluations suggests that achieving meaningful and lasting social, behavioural and attitudinal change from relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) in schools requires more than just a curriculum. Whole‐school approaches appear particularly promising since they work at multiple levels. For instance, they may: engage with carers, communities and local services; address iniquitous cultures and norms; change school p…
One Size Fits All? The Validity of a Composite Poverty Index Across Urban and Rural Households in South Africa
Effects of a whole-school relationships and sexual health intervention on non-competent sexual debut
BACKGROUND: Relationships and sex education (RSE) impacts some sexual behaviours but could be strengthened by incorporating whole-school approaches (eg, building engagement, providing contraception). These can prevent pregnancies and sexually-transmitted infections but are unevaluated in UK schools. METHODS: A cluster-randomised trial of 'Positive Choices' compared it with usual practice in English secondary schools. Intervention comprised: RSE, …
Psychological distress mediates the link between bullying and truancy in Australian LGBQ+ adolescents with experiences of homelessness
Homelessness is a high prevalence experience among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ+) youth, and potentiates both significant morbidity and future homelessness. While educational attainment is cited as a structural solution to homelessness, limited research exists on homeless LGBQ+ youths' schooling experiences. A nationwide, cross-sectional survey involving 4,370 cisgender LGBQ+ participants aged 14–21 was conducted to address this gap. R…
Moderated mediation analyses to assess intervention mechanisms for impacts on victimisation, psycho-social problems and mental wellbeing
Nested Event-Level Case–Control Study of Drug Use and Sexual Outcomes in Multipartner Encounters Reported by Men Who Have Sex with Men
Dark logic’
Although it might be assumed that most public health programmes involving social or behavioural rather than clinical interventions are unlikely to be iatrogenic, it is well established that they can sometimes cause serious harms. However, the assessment of adverse effects remains a neglected topic in evaluations of public health interventions. In this paper, we first argue for the importance of evaluations of public health interventions not only …
Relationships between poverty and Aids Illness in South Africa
The association between poverty and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa remains contested. A better understanding of the relationship between the prevalence of poverty and the disease is essential for addressing prevention, treatment, and care. The present study interrogates this relationship, using a cross-sectional survey of 2477 households in urban and rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Structural equation modelling was employed to estimate the cor…
A systematic review and metasynthesis of barriers and facilitators to negotiating consistent condom use among sex workers in Asia
Positive youth development programmes to reduce substance use in young people
Predictors of crystal methamphetamine use in a community-based sample of UK men who have sex with men
Background. Crystal methamphetamine ('crystal meth') use by men who have sex with men is an ongoing public health issue in the UK. We conducted a descriptive epidemiological study to characterise demographic and socio-sexual risk factors for crystal meth use in a national sample of UK MSM recruited in late 2014
Systematic review and meta-analysis of effects of community-delivered positive youth development interventions on violence outcomes
One Size Fits All? The Validity of a Composite Poverty Index Across Urban and Rural Households in South Africa
Improving the health and welfare of people who live in slums
The history, geography, and sociology of slums and the health problems of people who live in slums
A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Risk and Protective Factors and Correlates for Posttraumatic Stress and Its Natural History in Forcibly Displaced Children
Littoral Spaces of Performance
Alcohol advertising and public health
Background Alcohol consumption is influenced by a complex causal system of interconnected psychological, behavioural, social, economic, legal and environmental factors. These factors are shaped by governments (eg, licensing laws and taxation), by consumers (eg, patterns of alcohol consumption drive demand) and by alcohol industry practices, such as advertising. The marketing and advertising of alcoholic products contributes to an ‘alcogenic envir…
Weight management programmes
The importance of service‐users’ perspectives
Typology of drug use in United Kingdom men who have sex with men and associations with socio-sexual characteristics
The potential role for sociologists in designing RCTs and of RCTs in refining sociological theory
Do prospective payment systems (PPSs) lead to desirable providers’ incentives and patients’ outcomes? A systematic review of evidence from developing countries
Risk and Protective Factors for Intimate Partner Violence Against Women
Background. The estimated lifetime prevalence of physical or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) is 30% among women worldwide. Understanding risk and protective factors is essential for designing effective prevention strategies. Objectives. To quantify the associations between prospective–longitudinal risk and protective factors and IPV and identify evidence gaps. Search methods. We conducted systematic searches in 16 databases including MEDLI…
From complex social interventions to interventions in complex social systems
Complex systems approaches to social intervention research are increasingly advocated. However, there have been few attempts to consider how models of intervention science, such as the UK's Medical Research Council complex interventions framework, might be reframed through a complex systems lens. This article identifies some key areas in which this framework might be reconceptualized, and a number of priority areas where further development is ne…
Women’s and girls’ experiences of menstruation in low- and middle-income countries
Meta-Analyses
Socio-Economic Inequalities in Adolescent Summer Holiday Experiences, and Mental Wellbeing on Return to School
The socioeconomic inequalities found in child and adolescent mental wellbeing are increasingly acknowledged. Although interventions increasingly focus on school holidays as a critical period for intervention to reduce inequalities, no studies have modelled the role of summer holiday experiences in explaining socioeconomic inequalities in wellbeing. For this study, we analysed survey data of 103,971 adolescents from 193 secondary schools in Wales,…
Infancy weight gain, parental socioeconomic position, and childhood overweight and obesity
Both rapid and very rapid weight gain were associated with substantially higher risks of COO but these associations were not modified by SEP. This indicates that promotion of healthy weight gain should take place in all population groups irrespective of their SEP
Shared Picture Book Reading Interventions for Child Language Development
Interventions that train parents to share picture books with children are seen as a strategy for supporting child language development. We conducted meta-analyses using robust variance estimation modeling on results from 19 RCTs (Ntotal = 2,594; Mchildage = 1–6 years). Overall, book-sharing interventions had a small sized effect on both expressive language (d = 0.41) and receptive language (d = 0.26). They had a large effect on caregiver book-sha…
Medicine (59 obras) · Psychology (52 obras) · Psychiatry (30 obras) · Psychological intervention (30 obras) · Sociology (28 obras) · Mental health (27 obras) · Political science (25 obras) · Nursing (22 obras) · Clinical Psychology (19 obras) · Public health (19 obras)