Abstract. OBJECTIVE:To generate normative data for the Verbal Fluency Tests across 11 countries in Latin America, with country-specific adjustments for gender, age, and education, where appropriate. METHOD: The sample consisted of 3,977 healthy adults who were recruited from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and, Puerto Rico. Each subject was administered the Verbal Fluency Test as part of a larger neuropsychological battery. A standardized five-step statistical procedure was used to generate the norms. RESULTS:The final multiple linear regression models for the letter F explained 8-30% of the variance, 7-32% for letter A, 8-32% for the letter S, and 16-43% for the animal category in Verbal Fluency Test scores. Although t-tests showed significant differences between men and women on the Verbal Fluency Test, they did not have an effect size larger than 0.3. As a result, gender-adjusted norms were not generated.

This pilot study explored the initial feasibility and efficacy of providing feedback to low-income, urban caregivers of children with persistent asthma about their daily experiences reported via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) on caregiver emotional health (quality of life, perceived stress, and positive affect). Data were collected from 28 caregivers and their children (7-12 years). Caregivers completed a baseline session, 14 days of EMA surveys via smartphone, and were randomized to intervention or control groups. The intervention group received individualized EMA feedback regarding areas of daily life that may be making it harder to manage child asthma. The control group received information on general child health. Caregivers completed assessments 4 weeks and 4 months postintervention. In the EMA group, caregivers experienced an increase in perceived stress from baseline to postintervention, but a decrease in perceived stress from postintervention to follow-up. There were no significant changes in outcome measures for the control group. Preliminary findings suggest that providing caregivers with feedback from daily assessments may reduce stress, which could be targeted in future mobile health interventions for low-income, urban families of children with asthma.

Research indicates that individuals with RA have deteriorated HRQoL, and this study extends these findings to a Colombian sample and highlights the importance of the independent relationship between depressive symptoms and vitality in this group of Colombians with RA.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death in Mexico, and Mexican TBI caregivers have been shown to experience significant mental health problems and high levels of family needs. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the associations between family needs and Mexican TBI caregiver mental health. METHODS: Ninety TBI caregivers from Guadalajara, Mexico completed measures assessing their own mental health (depression, anxiety, burden, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem) and family needs (physical health, informational, financial, social support, and household). RESULTS: Family health needs were uniquely associated with all indices of caregiver mental health, and household needs were uniquely associated with caregiver depression, burden, and anxiety. Additionally, social support needs were related to caregiver satisfaction with life, informational needs to burden, and financial needs to self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions for TBI caregivers in Mexico-and likely in other global regions with high levels of familism-should include an emphasis on overall family health, the delineation of family roles regarding household responsibilities, the improvement of social support networks and the social presence of family members, and the provision of complete and relevant information regarding TBI. When these needs are more comprehensively met, caregiver mental health will likely improve.

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