RESPIRA+: A culturally tailored yoga and mindfulness intervention to enhance physical activity and mental health among Latina youth
type: CreativeWork
description: U.S. Latina adolescents between 15-18 years of age report high levels of psychological distress (i.e., high levels of anxiety, stress, and depression) and are less likely to seek professional psychiatric treatment than non-Latinx Whites (Bennett & Joe, 2015; Perreira et al., 2019; Stafford et al., 2019; Stafford & Draucker, 2020). Barriers to mental health treatment include limited treatment options, negative stigma, and costs due to lack of health insurance (Alegría, 2015; Lehman Held et al., 2020). Youth of color who do seek treatment are more likely to drop out of treatment earlier compared to non-Latinx Whites (Alegría, 2015; Ford-Paz et al., 2015). Researchers speculate dropout may be due to the lack of culturally sensitive approaches to treatment (Ford-Paz et al., 2015; Silva & Van Orden, 2018). Prolonged psychological distress without adequate treatment may have severe consequences and adverse health outcomes later in life, such as early high school dropout, social and cognitive impairments, increased risk of development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, substance abuse, and suicide (Vancampfort et al., 2018). There is a critical need to investigate and implement culturally tailored programs to help increase mental health among Latina youth (Silva & Van Orden, 2018). Physical activity (PA), defined as any bodily movement resulting in energy expenditure (> 1.5 METs), is associated with lower anxiety, stress, depressive symptoms, and improved quality of life (Liguori & American College of Sports Medicine, 2020, p.6). Although engagement in PA has positive mental health outcomes, 15-23% of Latinx adolescents do not engage in vigorous PA compared to 11% of non-Latinx Whites (Kim et al., 2022), with Latina youth experiencing lower levels of PA (Benes et al., 2017). Data from the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System found that 20% of Latina youth did not meet PA guidelines compared to 15% of White female youth (Pontes et al., 2021). Low levels of PA ma…
abstract: U.S. Latina adolescents between 15-18 years of age report high levels of psychological distress (i.e., high levels of anxiety, stress, and depression) and are less likely to seek professional psychiatric treatment than non-Latinx Whites (Bennett & Joe, 2015; Perreira et al., 2019; Stafford et al., 2019; Stafford & Draucker, 2020). Barriers to mental health treatment include limited treatment options, negative stigma, and costs due to lack of health insurance (Alegría, 2015; Lehman Held et al., 2020). Youth of color who do seek treatment are more likely to drop out of treatment earlier compared to non-Latinx Whites (Alegría, 2015; Ford-Paz et al., 2015). Researchers speculate dropout may be due to the lack of culturally sensitive approaches to treatment (Ford-Paz et al., 2015; Silva & Van Orden, 2018). Prolonged psychological distress without adequate treatment may have severe consequences and adverse health outcomes later in life, such as early high school dropout, social and cognitive impairments, increased risk of development of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, substance abuse, and suicide (Vancampfort et al., 2018). There is a critical need to investigate and implement culturally tailored programs to help increase mental health among Latina youth (Silva & Van Orden, 2018). Physical activity (PA), defined as any bodily movement resulting in energy expenditure (> 1.5 METs), is associated with lower anxiety, stress, depressive symptoms, and improved quality of life (Liguori & American College of Sports Medicine, 2020, p.6). Although engagement in PA has positive mental health outcomes, 15-23% of Latinx adolescents do not engage in vigorous PA compared to 11% of non-Latinx Whites (Kim et al., 2022), with Latina youth experiencing lower levels of PA (Benes et al., 2017). Data from the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System found that 20% of Latina youth did not meet PA guidelines compared to 15% of White female youth (Pontes et al., 2021). Low levels of PA ma…
author: Soto, Yuliana
language: eng
language: en
keywords: Yoga Mindfulness, Health Equity, Physical Activity, Latina Youth
date published: 2024-11-27
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:25:03Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2142/127364