Objective This study aimed to: (a) provide population-based estimates for the prevalence of mental disorders, including substance use, among undocumented Mexican immigrants; (b) assess for relevant comorbidities; and (c) identify sociodemographic, immigration and contextual vulnerabilities associated with meeting criteria for a disorder. Method This cross-sectional study used Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to collect and analyze data from clinical interviews with 248 undocumented Mexican immigrants residing near the California–Mexico border. The M.I.N.I. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used as the primary outcome of interest. For all analyses, inferential statistics accounted for design effects and sample weights to produce weighted estimates. Logistic regression was used in multivariate analyses. Results Overall, 23% of participants met criteria for a disorder (95% CI = 17.1; 29.0). The most prevalent disorders were Major Depressive Disorder (14%, 95% CI = 10.2; 18.6), Panic Disorder (8%, 95% CI = 5.0; 11.9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (7%, 95% CI = 3.4; 9.8). Approximately 4% of participants met criteria for a substance use disorder (95% CI = 1.2; 6.1). After controlling for covariates, being 18 to 25 years and experiencing distress from postmigration living difficulties were significantly associated with meeting criteria for a disorder. Conclusion Undocumented Mexican immigrants are an at-risk population for mental disorders, particularly depression and anxiety disorders. Given that distress from postmigration living difficulties is associated with meeting criteria for a disorder, revisiting policies and developing new alternatives to facilitate access and provision of context-sensitive mental health services for this population is necessary to protect the human rights of these immigrants and that of their U.S. families.

Objective There is a pressing need to elucidate the brain–behavior interactions underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASD) given the marked rise in ASD diagnosis over the past decade. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has begun to address this need, but few fMRI studies have evaluated age-related changes in ASD. Therefore, we conducted a developmental analysis of activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to compare child versus adult ASD fMRI studies. We hypothesized that children and adolescents with ASD (<18 years old) would rely less on prefrontal cortex structures than adults (≥18 years old). Method PubMed and PsycInfo literature searches were conducted to identify task-dependent fMRI studies of children or adults with ASD. Then recent GingerALE software improvements were leveraged to perform direct comparisons of child (n =18) versus adult (n =24) studies. Results ALE meta-analyses of social tasks showed that children and adolescents with ASD versus adults had significantly greater hyperactivation in the left post-central gyrus, and greater hypoactivation in the right hippocampus and right superior temporal gyrus. ALE meta-analyses of nonsocial tasks showed that children with ASD versus adults had significantly greater hyperactivation in the right insula and left cingulate gyrus, and hypoactivation in the right middle frontal gyrus. Conclusion Our data suggest that the neural alterations associated with ASD are not static, occurring only in early childhood. Instead, children with ASD have altered neural activity compared to adults during both social and nonsocial tasks, especially in fronto-temporal structures. Longitudinal neuroimaging studies are required to examine these changes prospectively, as potential targets for brain-based treatments for ASD.

The mounting evidence highlighting the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in ethnic minority communities underscores the need to understand how distress and healthcare access impacts the well-being of undocumented Latino/a immigrants (ULIs), one of the most marginalized and vulnerable ethnic minority communities in the U.S. We used existing data from a cross sectional study (Proyecto Voces) of 252 ULIs to conduct path analyses that explored the relations among distress due to immigration legal status, healthcare access difficulties, and the health of ULIs. Results demonstrated that distress due to immigration legal status is related to the physical and mental health of ULIs, and that difficulties in accessing healthcare explained these relations. These data support the importance of immediate, targeted efforts for increasing access to healthcare among undocumented immigrants and highlight the long-term importance of a much-needed healthcare reform for improving access to marginalized populations.

Despite widespread information about the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, uptake continues to be low (CDC, 2010). HPV vaccine uptake may be maximized by better understanding factors likely to influence parents' decisions to vaccinate their age-recommended children. Previous reviews have summarized barriers and facilitators likely to influence parents' decision to vaccinate their adolescents (mostly daughters) against HPV; however, less attention has been given to summarize and evaluate the methodology. The aim of this study is to systematically review the methodology used in observational studies of HPV vaccine uptake from a parental perspective. A systematic search of Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, ERIC, Medline and PsycInfo to obtain relevant articles after FDA vaccine approval (2006 to present) yielded 446 studies, of which 17 studies were eligible. Results showed the majority of studies were cross-sectional, with random sampling from list-assisted sources being the most common method for data collection. Most studies used convenience samples and relied on parental self-report. Also, the majority of studies explored vaccine initiation, but only a few explored regimen completion and timely completion of vaccine regimen. Given that the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine is based on established recommendations for a three dose regimen within a timely interval, studies on factors likely to influence regimen completion and timely completion of regimen are essential to maximize the effectiveness and public health benefits of the vaccine. Research with more diverse samples, better and increased use of random sampling techniques, and the use of precise and objective measures of vaccine uptake to supplement parental self-report, is necessary to reduce selection and information biases in future studies. Studies to inform on factors likely to influence parents' decisions to vaccinate their sons against HPV are also needed.