The empirical research occurring in our lab falls into four main groups: understanding treatment-seeking behavior of low-income Latinos, elucidating sociocultural influences on both normative and pathological psychosocial processes, examining the role of culture in psychotherapy, and  developing and evaluating depression prevention programs for individuals from low-income, cultural minority backgrounds. 

Understanding Treatment-seeking behavior
It has been well-established that mental health care disparities disproportionately affect individuals from low-income and cultural minority backgrounds. One approach to reducing these disparities is to better understand the barriers, facilitative factors, and psychological processes that influence treatment-seeking behavior among groups of individuals who tend to underutilize mental health services.  Read More »

Sociocultural Influences on Psychological Processes
Considerable research is documenting how sociocultural factors at the societal level influence psychological processes at the individual level. Much of the work on culture has identified mean-level differences in constructs; we are interested in understanding the extent to which culture is associated with differential relationships among constructs.  Read More »

Examining the Role of Culture in Psychotherapy
Despite the increased attention to the development of culturally sensitive clinical services, there continue to remain significant mental healthcare disparities in the U.S. Some of this may be driven by inattention to the role of culture in the psychotherapy process. Read More »

Depression Prevention
Developing culturally appropriate and efficacious depression prevention programs can help reduce the mental healthcare disparities in the U.S. If we can extend the reach of mental health services to reach those at risk before they develop clinically significant symptoms. Read More »