April 2024
Research Assistant María Paula Yávar Calderón Presents at Longhorn Poster Session
Research Assistant María Paula Yávar Calderón recently presented at the Longhorn Research Poster Session held April 10th at the Perry-Castañeda Library for Research Week 2024. Her research focused on understanding how acculturation and enculturation may lead to depressive symptoms through racism and intragroup marginalization in Hispanic youth. The research utilized date from wave 1 of the project’s longitudinal study. Congratulations!María Paula Yávar Calderón, B.A., Kimberly L. Henriquez, M.A., & Elma Lorenzo-Blanco, Ph.D
Racism and Intragroup Marginalization in the Acculturation-Depression Link among Hispanic Freshmen
February 2024
HDFS Doctoral Student, Kim Henriquez, M.A. accepted publication!
Doctoral Candidate, Kim Henriquez had her second first-authored manuscript accepted to a Cultural Stress & Cultural Stress Theory Special Issue within the journal of Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology. Her manuscript highlights the needed expansion of cultural stress theory to focus on how the family context influences Latinx/Hispanic youths’ experiences of cultural stressors, emotional reactions, and coping.Henriquez, K. L., Lorenzo-Blanco, E. I., Martin Romero, M. Y., & Stein, G. L. (Accepted). Latinx/Hispanic youths’ cultural stressors, coping strategies, and emotional reactions in the family context. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology
January 2024
New Resources for the New Year!
New updates to the student resources page have been made regarding scholarships for refugee, asylum-seeking, and immigrant prospective Master’s students. For those interested, please check out our student resources page, prospective graduate student page, or the Online Master’s Degree website directly to learn more!
October 2023
Breaking News!
Recently, Dr. Lorenzo-Blanco (PI), Isabella Hernandez (Project Coordinator), and Isabel Serralde (Research Assistant) were interviewed by the Daily Texan Reporter Amy DonJuan for the Texan en Español section of the paper. The article illustrates the main purposes and aims for JUNTOS Familia and the development of intervention programs, as well as the aims of the longitudinal Freshman Survey Project. In addition, it stresses the importance of extending current research into Hispanic and Latinx populations.
To read the article in english, click this link to access it.
Para la versión en español del artículo, haga clic aquí.
October 2023
Project JUNTOS Research Assistants share a team visit to the Blanton Museum
The Project JUNTOS research team recently held their first group outing, visiting the Blanton Museum of Art to witness the temporary exhibit Forces of Nature: Ancient Maya art from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The team was able to dive into new information about the Mayan Culture through various surviving pieces of art, with themes such as religious practices, cherished food items and animals, and supernatural beliefs. We are excited to see what further adventures await the team in the Austin area!
July 2023
HDFS Doctoral Student, Kim Henriquez M.A., Published as a First Author!
Doctoral Candidate, Kim Henriquez published her first first-authored manuscript. Her manuscript expands current understanding of bicultural identity’s role in the lives among Latinx emerging adults. For more information, please access the full manuscript in the link provided below.Henriquez, K. L., Lorenzo-Blanco, E. I., & Kim, S. Y. (2023) The association of ethnic and American identities with psychological well-being among Latinx emerging adults: The mediating role of bicultural identity integration. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01824-4
May 2023:
Project Coordinator Isabella Hernandez receives the Deans Honored Graduate Award
Isabella Hernandez, Project Coordinator for Project JUNTOS was nominated for the Distinguished Honored Graduates award, which is given to the top 1% representatives of the graduating class. She received the award May 5th, 2023 and graduated May 6th, 2023 where her and other distinguished honor graduates were able to sit on the stage of the College of Natural Sciences Ceremony. She received nominations from Dr. Lorenzo-Blanco as well as other members of the Human Development and Family Sciences faculty, with Dr. Lorenzo-Blanco attending alongside Isabella as her academic mentor. In addition to the award, 2 distinctions were given for research, and for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
We are extremely proud of all the work Isabella has done for this lab and beyond. We can’t wait to see her do more great things!
October-December 2022:
JUNTOS Familia Study is coming to an AISD high school near you!
Over the 2022 fall semester, Dr. Lorenzo-Blanco (PI) and Isabella Hernandez (Project Coordinator) have been visiting AISD (Austin Independent School District) high schools to meet with principals and school staff to begin our JUNTOS Familia study with Latinx high schoolers and their parents.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulty associated with online instruction, many districts across the U.S. have been disadvantaged by a loss of instructional staff.
We are extremely grateful to all the schools that have allowed us to conduct research on their campus and for understanding the importance of our mission: for the health and well-being of Latinx and Hispanic youth and families/ para la salud y bienestar de adolescentes y familias latinos y hispanos.
We officially have six high schools onboard with our study, and we are excited to begin working with these youth and parents to understand the ways that our research can benefit their development and well-being.
If you are interested in participating in one of the JUNTOS focus groups, please see this link for more information.
November 2022:
HDFS Doctoral Student, Kim Henriquez M.A., Making
Strides!
Kim Henriquez, M.A., presented her Master’s thesis defense this November 2022. The title of her thesis is “The association of Ethnic and American identities with psychological well-being among latinx emerging adults: the mediating role of bicultural identity integration”.
We are so proud of Kim and all the hard work she has put into her Master’s thesis over her 3 years with the JUNTOS Lab. Not only did Kim pass her defense, she also is helping make strides in the area of Latinx emerging adults, a highly understudied but extremely important population. We ask all of you to join us in congratulating Kim on this success as she continues towards earning her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS).
We are excited to see what you do next, Kim!
