A Cepeda
Biographic Data
| ID | 45692 |
|---|---|
| NAME | A Cepeda |
| GIVEN NAMES | A |
| FAMILY NAME | Cepeda |
| SIGNATURE | CEPEDA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Southern California |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2517-4141 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 49 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Engaging Hispanic Men in HIV Prevention and Care Through Father-Son Initiatives
Hispanic men in the United States, especially recent immigrants, are disproportionately affected by HIV and less likely to be reached by preventive interventions. This pilot study assessed: (a) the acceptability of engaging these men in the HIV Prevention and Care Continuum through father-son initiatives; and (b) their HIV prevention and mental health needs. Ethnographic methods identified high-HIV-incidence areas in Miami, focusing on venues fre…
HIV prevention and crack harm reduction using projection mapping in Mexico City
Objective: Crack cocaine use has increased rapidly throughout Mexico, along with rising HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among vulnerable groups. The Tirando Esquina: Interviniendo Muros de Salud (TE:IMS) project uses projection-mapping technology and is the first of its kind to reach and provide health education at an individual and community level to at-risk crack smoking populations in Mexico City. Setting: This intervention project …
Correlates of Current Methamphetamine Use and Opioid Co-Use Among Latina Women in a Low-Income Community
Using data from Proyecto SALTO, a 15-year follow-up study of a cohort of Mexican American women in a low-income community in San Antonio, Texas, this study examines emerging patterns of current methamphetamine (MA) use, including opioid co-use, among this understudied population. A bivariate analysis compared individuals with and without current MA use and identified sociodemographic correlates and co-occurring mental health and substance use. A …
Characterizing prescription opioid, heroin, and fentanyl initiation trajectories
Ethnic discrimination and self-rated health among Hispanic emerging adults
Syndemic Profiles for HIV, Hepatitis C, and Sextually Transmitted Infections Among Mexican American Women Formerly Affiliated with Youth Street Gangs
Incarceration Trajectories of Women Who Are Mothers
Despite growing research on women’s offending trajectories, knowledge on the imprisonment experiences of women who are mothers is limited. This study used a nationally representative dataset of state and federal prisoners to identify and characterize subgroups of mothers based on incarceration histories. Group-based trajectory modeling identified four groups with distinct incarceration trajectories: stable escalating group, moderate declining gro…
Incarceration Trajectories and Mental Health Problems Among Mothers Imprisoned in State and Federal Correctional Facilities
Crack cocaine use among aging Mexican American men with heroin use histories
Background Knowledge about the motivations for crack cocaine use and the long-term effects among people who inject heroin is limited. This study aims to understand motivations associated with this co-use drug pattern among aging men entrenched in established intergenerational heroin subcultures. Methods: A sample of 60 men with diverse injecting heroin use histories was recruited from low-income Mexican American urban communities for semi-structu…
Maternal incarceration trajectories and the intergenerational transmission of imprisonment
Interpersonal Partner Relationships, Bonds to Children, and Informal Social Control among Persistent Male Offenders
This qualitative study applied a life course framework to characterize the nature of interpersonal partner relationships of Mexican American young adult men affiliated with street gangs during their adolescence. Data come from a 15-year longitudinal mixed-method cohort study conducted in San Antonio, Texas. We analyzed semi-structured interviews conducted with a subsample (n = 40) during the course of three face-to-face sessions to explore the me…
Behavioral, Psychological, Gender, and Health Service Correlates to Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection among Young Adult Mexican-American Women Living in a Disadvantaged Community
Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections in the United States. Despite this, there has been limited research on the correlates to HSV-2 among disadvantaged and marginalized women, particularly among Latinas. Data for the present analysis include 125 young adult Mexican-American women enrolled in a longitudinal study in a disadvantaged urban community in San Antonio, Texas. The current rate of…
HIV and STI knowledge, testing, and risk among adult crack users in Mexico city
Recent research has documented crack cocaine's increasing spread in Mexico, which is likely to contribute to the rapid transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In Mexico, crack use is increasing most rapidly in vulnerable, hard-to-reach populations, where little is known about risk behaviors. This report aims to present baseline data regarding HIV and STI knowledge and testing prevalence from an innovative projection …
Un Jalón, Un Volteón, y Otra Vez
During the past decade, crack smoking has increased in Mexico among poor urban populations. Despite this increasing prevalence, little is known about the types of paraphernalia used and related sharing practices and physical harms. Data come from in-depth semi-structured interviews and observations with 156 current crack smokers in Mexico City. Findings reveal a complex, crack-smoking process in Mexico City that represents an interconnected struc…
Injecting Drug Use Among Mexican Female Sex Workers on the US-Mexico Border
Both injecting drug users (IDU) and sex workers are at great risk of contracting and transmitting HIV. Therefore, IDU sex workers could be at especially high risk. The recent increase of HIV infection in Mexico has caused increased attention to sex work. We identify the correlates of injecting drug use including socio-demographic, work history, and sexual and non-injecting drug use risk behaviors among Mexican female sex workers. There is a high …
Emerging patterns of crack use in Mexico City
Growing Old Behind Bars
This study demonstrates the complexity of health for elderly inmates. Prison health should continue to be monitored to aid correctional and community health programs in understanding clinical risks, exposures, and health care needs for this population
Trajectories of Aging Long-Term Mexican American Heroin Injectors
Results highlight the implications for the intersection of heroin-related conditions, natural age-related impairments, and cognitive functioning that make this population increasingly susceptible to adverse health consequences
A Border Context of Violence
Female sex workers (FSW) represent a population confronted with an array of intersecting social problems. We explore the case of FSW in Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez to understand the everyday violence associated with sex work within the unique context of Mexico. Life history interviews were conducted with 109 FSW revealing violent acts by clients and other sex industry employees (bar owners, police, other FSW). The risk of violence by different…
An Adapted Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Gang-Affiliated Mexican American Adolescents
Objective: This study assessed the effectiveness of an adapted Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) intervention for gang-affiliated Mexican American adolescents and their parents. Methods: A total of 200 adolescents and their family caregivers were randomized to either a treatment or a control condition. Outcomes included adolescent substance use, conflict resolution, gang identification, parent substance use knowledge, gang awareness, family c…
The Relationship Between Trajectories of Family/Cultural Stressors and Depression and Suicidal Ideation Among Substance Using Mexican‐American Adults
We used an intersectional minority stress perspective to examine the association between family/cultural stress and mental health among substance‐using Mexican‐Americans. Employing a unique longitudinal sample of 239 socioeconomically disadvantaged, non‐injecting heroin‐using Mexican‐Americans from San Antonio, Texas, we examined how culturally relevant stressors are related to depression and suicidal ideation. First, we identified depression and…
Crime Victimization Among Immigrant Latino Day Laborers in Post-Katrina New Orleans
Reports indicate that the criminal victimization of Latino immigrants in the United States has been increasing yet is often underreported. This may be especially true in new immigrant settlement cities that lack an established Latino community to provide support and feelings of security. New Orleans is an important context to investigate criminal victimization as it has experienced a large demographic shift in Latino composition post–Hurricane Ka…
Drug-scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence among residents in a rural farming community in Baja California, Mexico
We examined drug-scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence among residents of a migrant farming community in rural Baja California, Mexico. In October 2010, 164 members of a single colonia (community) underwent an interviewer-administered survey to assess 'exposure to gang violence' and 'drug-scene familiarity', as well as other health indicators. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of exposure to gang violence. Overall, 20%…
The Association Between Disaster-Related Experiences and Mental Health Outcomes Among Drug Using African American Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
Patterns of substance use among Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, Texas
This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre-disaster and within-disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston we…
Risk Behaviors Among Young Mexican American Gang-Associated Females
This research focuses on young Mexican American girls who are not formal gang members yet participate in street-based activities of male gangs and engage in risk behaviors. These females comprise a larger proportion associated with male gangs in inner-city neighborhoods than actual female gang members. Using a qualitative design, the article presents a typology of Mexican American females that reveals a hierarchy based on exposure to four risk-re…
Patterns of substance use among Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, Texas
This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre-disaster and within-disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston we…
An Adapted Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Gang-Affiliated Mexican American Adolescents
Objective: This study assessed the effectiveness of an adapted Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) intervention for gang-affiliated Mexican American adolescents and their parents. Methods: A total of 200 adolescents and their family caregivers were randomized to either a treatment or a control condition. Outcomes included adolescent substance use, conflict resolution, gang identification, parent substance use knowledge, gang awareness, family c…
Crime Victimization Among Immigrant Latino Day Laborers in Post-Katrina New Orleans
Reports indicate that the criminal victimization of Latino immigrants in the United States has been increasing yet is often underreported. This may be especially true in new immigrant settlement cities that lack an established Latino community to provide support and feelings of security. New Orleans is an important context to investigate criminal victimization as it has experienced a large demographic shift in Latino composition post–Hurricane Ka…
The Process of Paradoxical Autonomy and Survival in the Heroin Careers of Mexican American Women
This study focuses on the process of paradoxical autonomy and survival in the heroin careers of Mexican American women. We explore how gender roles among Mexican American female heroin users influence the emergence of a paradoxical autonomy. Five key subprocesses of this autonomy were identified from 14 life history narratives: sustaining employment, working the welfare system, illegal activities, emotional aloofness, and loss of family and child…
Ethnic discrimination and self-rated health among Hispanic emerging adults
Growing Old Behind Bars
This study demonstrates the complexity of health for elderly inmates. Prison health should continue to be monitored to aid correctional and community health programs in understanding clinical risks, exposures, and health care needs for this population
A Border Context of Violence
Female sex workers (FSW) represent a population confronted with an array of intersecting social problems. We explore the case of FSW in Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez to understand the everyday violence associated with sex work within the unique context of Mexico. Life history interviews were conducted with 109 FSW revealing violent acts by clients and other sex industry employees (bar owners, police, other FSW). The risk of violence by different…
Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling
Maternal incarceration trajectories and the intergenerational transmission of imprisonment
Interpersonal Partner Relationships, Bonds to Children, and Informal Social Control among Persistent Male Offenders
This qualitative study applied a life course framework to characterize the nature of interpersonal partner relationships of Mexican American young adult men affiliated with street gangs during their adolescence. Data come from a 15-year longitudinal mixed-method cohort study conducted in San Antonio, Texas. We analyzed semi-structured interviews conducted with a subsample (n = 40) during the course of three face-to-face sessions to explore the me…
Trajectories of Aging Long-Term Mexican American Heroin Injectors
Results highlight the implications for the intersection of heroin-related conditions, natural age-related impairments, and cognitive functioning that make this population increasingly susceptible to adverse health consequences
The Association Between Disaster-Related Experiences and Mental Health Outcomes Among Drug Using African American Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
The Process of Paradoxical Autonomy and Survival in the Heroin Careers of Mexican American Women
This study focuses on the process of paradoxical autonomy and survival in the heroin careers of Mexican American women. We explore how gender roles among Mexican American female heroin users influence the emergence of a paradoxical autonomy. Five key subprocesses of this autonomy were identified from 14 life history narratives: sustaining employment, working the welfare system, illegal activities, emotional aloofness, and loss of family and child…
Risk Behaviors Among Young Mexican American Gang-Associated Females
This research focuses on young Mexican American girls who are not formal gang members yet participate in street-based activities of male gangs and engage in risk behaviors. These females comprise a larger proportion associated with male gangs in inner-city neighborhoods than actual female gang members. Using a qualitative design, the article presents a typology of Mexican American females that reveals a hierarchy based on exposure to four risk-re…
The Role of Stress, Family Coping, Ethnic Identity, and Mother-Daughter Relationships on Substance Use Among Gang-Affiliated Hispanic Females
Hispanic adolescent females are the largest group of minority adolescents in the nation and appear to be at great risk for substance use. This research is based on data generated from a cross-sectional study of 150 Mexican American gang-affiliated adolescent females to predict substance-use recurrence. Findings reveal that positive family relationships, and in particular, mother-daughter relationships are protective factors for alcohol- and tobac…
The Drugs-Violence Nexus Among Mexican-American Gang Members
This study examines hypotheses and builds models to help clarify the causal connections between drugs and violence outcomes among Mexican-American male gang members. The study uses cross-sectional data of 160 male gang members sampled from 26 gangs in a Southwestern city. A life-history /intensive interview using closed and open-ended questions and a violence risk psychometric test (PFAV) also employed 10 scenario questions to elicit self-produce…
Potential Risk Factors for Injecting Among Mexican American Non-Injecting Heroin Users
This study examines potential risk factors for resuming and transitioning to injecting among a prospective cohort of 300 Mexican American non-injecting heroin users (NIUs) with distinct injecting histories (i.e., never vs. former injectors). Overall, findings revealed NIUs with an injecting history are more likely to be at greater risk for resuming injecting practices. Of interest, scoring high on acculturation decreased the risk of being a forme…
Heroin transition risk among daily and non-daily cannabis users who are non-injectors of heroin
Fumando La Piedra
Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling
The Association Between Disaster-Related Experiences and Mental Health Outcomes Among Drug Using African American Hurricane Katrina Evacuees
Patterns of substance use among Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston, Texas
This paper focuses on changing patterns of substance use among low income, African American drug users evacuated from New Orleans, Louisiana, during Hurricane Katrina of August 2005. It examines the relationship between increases and decreases in alcohol and tobacco (AT) use and illicit drug (ID) use after Katrina and pre-disaster and within-disaster factors. Data from structured interviews with 200 Katrina evacuees currently living in Houston we…
Drug-scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence among residents in a rural farming community in Baja California, Mexico
We examined drug-scene familiarity and exposure to gang violence among residents of a migrant farming community in rural Baja California, Mexico. In October 2010, 164 members of a single colonia (community) underwent an interviewer-administered survey to assess 'exposure to gang violence' and 'drug-scene familiarity', as well as other health indicators. Logistic regression was used to identify correlates of exposure to gang violence. Overall, 20%…
An Adapted Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Gang-Affiliated Mexican American Adolescents
Objective: This study assessed the effectiveness of an adapted Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) intervention for gang-affiliated Mexican American adolescents and their parents. Methods: A total of 200 adolescents and their family caregivers were randomized to either a treatment or a control condition. Outcomes included adolescent substance use, conflict resolution, gang identification, parent substance use knowledge, gang awareness, family c…
The Relationship Between Trajectories of Family/Cultural Stressors and Depression and Suicidal Ideation Among Substance Using Mexican‐American Adults
We used an intersectional minority stress perspective to examine the association between family/cultural stress and mental health among substance‐using Mexican‐Americans. Employing a unique longitudinal sample of 239 socioeconomically disadvantaged, non‐injecting heroin‐using Mexican‐Americans from San Antonio, Texas, we examined how culturally relevant stressors are related to depression and suicidal ideation. First, we identified depression and…
Crime Victimization Among Immigrant Latino Day Laborers in Post-Katrina New Orleans
Reports indicate that the criminal victimization of Latino immigrants in the United States has been increasing yet is often underreported. This may be especially true in new immigrant settlement cities that lack an established Latino community to provide support and feelings of security. New Orleans is an important context to investigate criminal victimization as it has experienced a large demographic shift in Latino composition post–Hurricane Ka…
A Border Context of Violence
Female sex workers (FSW) represent a population confronted with an array of intersecting social problems. We explore the case of FSW in Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez to understand the everyday violence associated with sex work within the unique context of Mexico. Life history interviews were conducted with 109 FSW revealing violent acts by clients and other sex industry employees (bar owners, police, other FSW). The risk of violence by different…
Injecting Drug Use Among Mexican Female Sex Workers on the US-Mexico Border
Both injecting drug users (IDU) and sex workers are at great risk of contracting and transmitting HIV. Therefore, IDU sex workers could be at especially high risk. The recent increase of HIV infection in Mexico has caused increased attention to sex work. We identify the correlates of injecting drug use including socio-demographic, work history, and sexual and non-injecting drug use risk behaviors among Mexican female sex workers. There is a high …
Emerging patterns of crack use in Mexico City
Growing Old Behind Bars
This study demonstrates the complexity of health for elderly inmates. Prison health should continue to be monitored to aid correctional and community health programs in understanding clinical risks, exposures, and health care needs for this population
Trajectories of Aging Long-Term Mexican American Heroin Injectors
Results highlight the implications for the intersection of heroin-related conditions, natural age-related impairments, and cognitive functioning that make this population increasingly susceptible to adverse health consequences
Un Jalón, Un Volteón, y Otra Vez
During the past decade, crack smoking has increased in Mexico among poor urban populations. Despite this increasing prevalence, little is known about the types of paraphernalia used and related sharing practices and physical harms. Data come from in-depth semi-structured interviews and observations with 156 current crack smokers in Mexico City. Findings reveal a complex, crack-smoking process in Mexico City that represents an interconnected struc…
HIV and STI knowledge, testing, and risk among adult crack users in Mexico city
Recent research has documented crack cocaine's increasing spread in Mexico, which is likely to contribute to the rapid transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In Mexico, crack use is increasing most rapidly in vulnerable, hard-to-reach populations, where little is known about risk behaviors. This report aims to present baseline data regarding HIV and STI knowledge and testing prevalence from an innovative projection …
Behavioral, Psychological, Gender, and Health Service Correlates to Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection among Young Adult Mexican-American Women Living in a Disadvantaged Community
Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections in the United States. Despite this, there has been limited research on the correlates to HSV-2 among disadvantaged and marginalized women, particularly among Latinas. Data for the present analysis include 125 young adult Mexican-American women enrolled in a longitudinal study in a disadvantaged urban community in San Antonio, Texas. The current rate of…
Interpersonal Partner Relationships, Bonds to Children, and Informal Social Control among Persistent Male Offenders
This qualitative study applied a life course framework to characterize the nature of interpersonal partner relationships of Mexican American young adult men affiliated with street gangs during their adolescence. Data come from a 15-year longitudinal mixed-method cohort study conducted in San Antonio, Texas. We analyzed semi-structured interviews conducted with a subsample (n = 40) during the course of three face-to-face sessions to explore the me…
Maternal incarceration trajectories and the intergenerational transmission of imprisonment
Incarceration Trajectories of Women Who Are Mothers
Despite growing research on women’s offending trajectories, knowledge on the imprisonment experiences of women who are mothers is limited. This study used a nationally representative dataset of state and federal prisoners to identify and characterize subgroups of mothers based on incarceration histories. Group-based trajectory modeling identified four groups with distinct incarceration trajectories: stable escalating group, moderate declining gro…
Medicine (28 works) · Psychology (23 works) · Psychiatry (22 works) · Environmental health (19 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (13 works) · Homelessness and Social Issues (12 works) · Clinical Psychology (10 works) · Demography (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Clinical Psychology (9 works)