Objective
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is highly prevalent among U.S. Spanish-speaking Latinos, but the lack of empirically-supported treatments precludes this population’s access to quality mental health care.
Method
Following the promising results of an open-label trial of the Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) among Spanish-speaking Latinos, we conducted a randomized control trial (RCT; N = 46) that compared BATD to supportive counseling. Study outcomes included depression, BATD proposed mechanisms of change, and non-specific psychotherapy factors.
Results
Relative to supportive counseling, BATD led to greater decreases in depressive symptoms over time (p = 0.04) and greater MDD remission at the end of treatment (p = 0.01). Activity level (p = 0.01) and environmental reward (p = 0.05) showed greater increases over time among those who received BATD compared to supportive counseling. Treatment adherence, therapeutic alliance, and treatment satisfaction did not differ between the groups over time (ps > 0.17). The one-month follow-up suggested sustained clinical gains across therapies.
Conclusions
The current study adds to a growing treatment literature and provides support that BATD is efficacious in reducing depression and increasing activity level and environmental reward in the largest, yet historically underserved U.S. ethnic minority population. This trial sets the stage for a larger RCT that evaluates the transportability and generalizability of BATD in an effectiveness trial.
Highlights• Latino day laborers are vulnerable to crime victimization in new immigrant settlement cities.• Victimization led to sociocultural alienation, despair or desesperaci on, and problem drinking.• Findings highlight the intersection of structural vulnerability, violence, and mental health.
Cities without a prior established history of Latina/o migration are experiencing the fastest rate of growth in new immigrants in the United States (Wainer, A tale of two cities (and a town): Immigrants in the Rust Belt, 2013; Lichter & Johnson, Immigrant gateways and Hispanic migration to new destinations. International Migration Review, 43, 496, 2009). These new immigrant settlement cities experience the challenge of adapting their social care context to become more responsive to the needs of immigrants. Yet as cities and social care organisations struggle to keep up with the “lag” time in the availability of culturally and linguistically responsive resources and services, social care providers often work in conditions of scarcity in a social care context that is often lacking in its ability to fully respond to the needs of immigrants. Literature indicates that such conditions of scarcity can lead to work related stress, burn‐out, and can have a negative impact on the quality of services delivered by social care workers. Yet little is known regarding social care providers’ motivations and responses to work stress; and how providers may positively respond and persist in their jobs despite such stressors. This study conducted in the new immigrant settlement city of Baltimore from 2014 to 2016, utilises semi‐structured interviews to qualitatively explore the personal motivational beliefs, workplace and demographic factors associated with buffering stress and frustration among social care workers in a new immigrant settlement city (N = 29). Findings highlight important motivational and work‐related factors that appear to minimise the impact of stress and frustration for social care providers and can be used in the development of burn‐out interventions as well as improving quality of services for vulnerable populations such as, immigrants, especially in low‐resource new immigrant settlement contexts.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.