A novel multifamily treatment targeting symptoms related to Latinx caregiver deportation

OBJECTIVE

Latinx youth who have experienced caregiver deportation show higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and internalizing symptoms compared to Latinx youth who have not. Thus, there is a need for culturally and linguistically appropriate therapeutic approaches to address psychiatric needs related to caregiver deportation. Positive Adaptations for Trauma and Healing (PATH) is a manualized 10-week group therapy for Latinx youth and their caregivers that integrates trauma-informed interventions with positive psychology and resilience interventions. The present study examined PATH for reducing trauma symptomatology for Latinx youth who endured at least three traumatic experiences in their caregiving system as well as differences for Latinx youth who experienced their caregiver's deportation.

METHOD

Self-identified Latinx youth (N = 31) and their Spanish-speaking caregivers were recruited from two urban hospitals. All youth experienced three or more traumatic events. Pre- to postintervention mean change was measured with t tests; mixed-effects analysis of variance assessed whether the program was feasible for youth who had experienced a caregiver deportation versus Latinx youth who did not.

RESULTS

Assessment with the Trauma Symptom Checklist and the UCLA PTSD Index for Youth showed statistically significant reductions on Anxiety, Depression, Anger, and PTSD subscales. Latinx youth who experienced a caregiver's deportation exhibited larger reductions in anger symptoms and PTSD symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Study results suggest that the novel group therapy intervention was feasible and acceptable for Latinx youth and their caregivers. Despite a small sample size, the intervention proved feasible for Latinx youth who experienced caregiver deportation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

[Decontamination of dental unit waterlines using disinfectants and filters]

Bacterial contamination of the dental unit water system can become a health problem for patients, particularly if they are immunodepressed. The present study has had the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of methods of chemical decontamination using different disinfectants (peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, silver salts, chloramine T, glutaraldehyde T4) and methods of physical decontamination using synthetic membranes for the filtration of water. A preliminary removal procedure of the biofilm present in the waterline has been followed in a dental unit prepared on purpose for the research; subsequently different 2-week long maintenance procedures were applied using disinfectants injected by a pump and finally the bacterial contamination of the water flowing from the waterline was evaluated. The physical decontamination was performed using 0.22 mm membrane filters, which have been installed also in another dental unit, and the filtered water was analyzed to detect bacterial contamination. The preliminary procedure of biofilm removal succeeded obtaining germ-free water. Among the disinfectants used for the maintenance of the water quality only glutaraldehyde T4 was able to reduce the bacterial contamination under the limit suggested by the ADA. The membrane filter system was not able to purify the water, but when a disinfectant (peracetic acid) was used in the last part of the waterline good results were obtained. At present no decontamination system of dental waterline is available, and glutaraldehyde T4 seems to be the best disinfectant only if integrated with periodic biofilm removal for the maintenance of the water quality.

[Expert systems in medical emergencies]

Computers have already been introduced into the field of medical applications and many support systems have been developed. Recently expert or knowledge-based systems have been employed in some specific fields. A project for the creation of an expert system for use in toxicological emergencies is presented. This system is designed to give the physician continuous support and to employ computer formulae as similar as possible to medical reasoning. For this reason, medical knowledge was examined and the event graphs, frames and production rules to represent it were chosen.