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Culture / Ethnicity / Race
Session Type:: Symposia

Symposium 69 - Innovative Strategies for the Dissemination of Evidence-Based Practices among Spanish-Speakers

Sunday, November 23, 2025
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM CST
Location: Celestin H, Level 3
CE: 1

Keywords: Treatment Development, Evidence-Based Practice, Hispanic American/ Latinx
Level of Familiarity: Moderate to Advanced
Recommended Readings: Dalgleish, T., Black. M., Johnston, D., & Bevan, A. (2020). Transdiagnostic approaches to mental health problems: Current status and future directions. J Consult Clin Psychol, 88(3),179-195.https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000482.,   Green, J.G., McLaughlin, K.A., Fillbrunn, M., Fuluda, M., Jackson, M.J., Kessler, R.C., Sadikova, E., Sampson, N.A., Vilsaint, C., Williams, D.R., Cruz-Gonzalez, M., & Alegria, M. (2020) Barriers to mental health service use and predictors of treatment drop out: Racial/Ethnic variation in a population-based study. Adm Policy Ment Health, 47, 606–616. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-020-01021-6,   Pavlenko, A. (2012). Affective processing in bilingual speakers: Disembodied cognition?. International Journal of Psychology, 47(6), 405-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2012.743665,   Estrada, Y., Lee, T. K., Wagstaff, R., M Rojas, L., Tapia, M. I., Velázquez, M. R., Sardinas, K., Pantin, H., Sutton, M. Y., & Prado, G. (2019). eHealth familias unidas: Efficacy trial of an evidence-based intervention adapted for use on the internet with hispanic families. Prevention Science : The official journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 20(1), 68–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0905-6,  

Despite accounting for approximately 19.1% of the total U.S. population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2022), Latines continue to be underrepresented in clinical outcome studies in the behavioral health literature. Latines are disproportionately affected by high rates of psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression (Mayorga et al., 2021), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Galea et al., 2004). Unfortunately, barriers to accessing behavioral health services such as high costs of treatment, transportation concerns, and stigma further perpetuate the marginalization of this population by limiting accessible treatment options. There is a dire need for novel, empirically supported, culturally adapted treatments specifically tailored to address mental health concerns among marginalized populations.

This symposium presents a series of cognitive-behavioral, evidence-based interventions that have been adapted to be culturally responsive to the needs of the Latine community. Presentations will describe modifications to empirically supported treatments aimed at addressing mental health concerns and reducing barriers among Latines. The overarching goal of these interventions is to improve accessibility, engagement, outcomes, and retention rates. Presenters will describe the implementation of novel eHealth interventions—these interventions chronicle the behavioral health journey of relatable characters who are experiencing depression and/or anxiety. Using the telenovela genre as a platform, these characters are viewed receiving evidence-based treatments—viewers are immersed in the storyline and effective strategies for reducing depression and anxiety are depicted. In an effort to improve retention rates, a modified version of prolonged exposure therapy (PET) will be presented that capitalizes on bilingualism and code-switching as a mechanism to improve retention rates among bilingual Latines suffering from PTSD.

The first presentation will examine the preliminary effectiveness of a modification of PET which integrates code-switching (or language mixing) as a measure to reduce distress during trauma exposure for bilingual individuals. The second and third presentations will describe the feasibility and effectiveness of two culturally adapted interventions: behavioral activation and a transdiagnostic treatment protocol.

Focused on a cognitive-behavioral framework, the presenters have experience adapting and disseminating evidence-based interventions for Latines and currently work in a setting that is focused on community based participatory research. The data that will be presented in this symposium is a result of the principal investigator’s long-term work in the Latine community.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Understand how culturally adapted behavioral health interventions can improve treatment outcomes for Latines.
  2. Demonstrate an understanding of how e-health interventions can address the mental health needs of the Latine community.
  3. Describe how code-switching may improve retention rates among Latines.
  4. These interventions aim to improve accessibility, engagement, outcomes, and retention rates among underserved communities.
  5. Through modifications to empirically supported treatments, we hope to address mental health concerns and reduce barriers among Latines.

Presentations:

  • 2:03 PM - 2:22 PM CST
    (SYM 69) Code-switching as a Novel Method for Reducing Dropout in Prolonged Exposure Therapy: Psychological and Physiological Results

    Speaker: Jorge Cao Noa, M.S, – University of Nevada Reno

    Co-author: Lorraine Benuto, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – DICE Center

  • 2:22 PM - 2:41 PM CST
    (SYM 69) Necesito Un Psicologo: A Behavioral Activation (BA) Telenovela Intervention for Depression Among Spanish-speaking Latines

    Speaker: Rosy Chavez-Najera, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – university of Nevada, Reno

    Co-author: Lorraine Benuto, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – DICE Center

  • 2:41 PM - 3:00 PM CST
    (SYM 69) Using a Novel Ehealth Intervention as a Mechanism to Treat Behavioral Health Concerns Among Latines

    Speaker: Stephanie R. Reyes, M.S. (she/her/hers) – University of Nevada, Reno

    Co-author: Brenda E. Zavala, B.A. (she/her/hers) – University of Nevada, Reno

    Co-author: Lorraine Benuto, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – DICE Center