Low-income minorities experience disparities in mental health services due to societal and cultural variables. Low-income, Latinx families with access to mental health programs such as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) through the CALM Mental Health Agency (Child Abuse Listening and Mediation) have the opportunity to develop the necessary skills to manage a child with behavioral issues. However, obstacles remain that prevent closing the gap on mental health disparities. An implementation science methodology with demonstrated success in improving mental health disparities among minorities is the utilization of Lay Health Workers (LHWs). LHW Enhancing Engagement for Parents (LEEP) launched an effort to expand the use of LHWs to support families undergoing PCIT. These LHWs, also referred to as promotoras, are trained to help Latinx families overcome barriers that are impeding them from proficiently completing PCIT. Latinx families progress in PCIT will be documented by categorizing the qualitative information promotoras report. Coding and analyzing this qualitative data aids in establishing themes and trends of barriers that cause attrition and prevent families from developing expertise in behavioral training through PCIT. My research evaluates how promotoras help Latinx families overcome these barriers including lack of cultural or language competence (client-therapist compatibility), cultural stigma surrounding mental health, and cultural gender roles and family structure. This template of cultural barrier categories can help concentrate LHW implementation strategies and training to boost enthusiasm and retention rate to optimize treatment in behavior-based therapy and potentially extend to other forms of therapy.

Shyness, or inhibition when engaging with unfamiliar others in a social setting, is an important personality trait. (Cheek & Buss, 1981). Culture, and particularly acculturation, which is the process where individuals maintain their culture of origin or adapt to new cultural norms, has been found to relate to the development of shyness (Xu & Krieg, 2014; Gudiño & Lau, 2010). However, limited work examines how acculturation factors, such as English language proficiency and nativity, are associated with the development of shyness in Mexican-origin youth across adolescence. In this study, I will examine the co-development of shyness and acculturation from age 10 to 16, using a large, longitudinal sample of Mexican-origin youth(N=674). I expect first generation youth with lower English proficiency to have higher levels of shyness. In addition, I expect youth who increase in English proficiency to show greater decreases in shyness. Moreover, I will assess shyness using the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001), and Spanish and English language proficiency using the Hazuda Acculturation and Assimilation Scale (Hazuda et al. 1988). Lastly, I will run a bivariate latent growth curve models to test our predictions and use multi-group models to examine whether gender moderates the associations between acculturation and shyness.

Shyness, or the tendency to feel awkward, worried, or tense during social encounters, especially with unfamiliar people, is a highly prevalent personality trait. More research is needed to understand the trajectory of shyness, and how varying factors can influence one's shyness over time. The present study will test whether symptoms of anxiety and depression at age 10 predict the developmental trajectory of shyness from age 10 to 16, as well as look into the rank-order stability and mean level change of shyness to detect gender differences in shyness trajectory. We will use data from the California Families Project, a longitudinal study of 674 Mexican origin youth. Shyness will be assessed via the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (Ellis & Rothbart, 2001) and symptoms of anxiety and depression assessed via the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-IV (DISC-IV; Schaffer et al., 1993). We will model a latent growth curve for shyness from age 10 to 16 and include symptoms of anxiety and depression at age 10. To examine rank-order stability of shyness, we will calculate Pearson correlations between observed shyness scores at ages 10, 12, 14, and 16. To examine differences in the mean-level trajectory of shyness, we will run multiple group models across genders. We do not have predictions for differences in rank order stability and mean level trajectory of shyness between boys and girls. We predict that the presence of anxiety and depressive symptoms at age 10 will be associated with increases in shyness from age 10 to 16.