The underutilization of mental health services by Latinos has been a growing concern in research and clinical practice. This has become increasingly important as the population of Latinos in the United States rapidly rises and the evidence that many are not receiving needed mental health services accumulates. To provide an understanding of the issues, this article provides an overview of risk factors that may influence the mental health of Latinos and examines prevalence rates of psychopathology and service utilization trends. This article then presents a comprehensive review of the socioeconomic, cultural, and psycho‐therapeutic barriers that prevent Latinos from receiving community mental health services. Treatment recommendations to increase the access and utilization of community mental health services by Latinos are discussed.

This study examined the influence of parental expectations on the functioning of sexually abused children. Participants included 67 sexually abused youth and 63 of their nonoffending primary caregivers. Parental expectations about how sexual abuse will impact children were predictive of parents' ratings of children's behavior at pretreatment, while parental expectations of children's overall future functioning were not predictive of parents' ratings of children's behavior. Parental expectations about how sexual abuse will impact their children and about their children's overall future functioning were not predictive of parents' ratings of children's behavior at posttreatment. Results highlight the influential role the sexual abuse label has in shaping parental expectations about children's functioning. Recommendations for research and intervention are discussed.

Child sexual abuse is a disturbingly prevalent problem that has continued to receive increased attention in the United States. Because there is substantial variability in how sexual abuse impacts children, it is important to examine potential mediating variables, including the ways in which child and family factors contribute to children's recovery. One of the most extensively researched family variables has been parental support, and this research has demonstrated a positive relationship between parental support and children's functioning following sexual abuse. Another family variable that likely infl uences parent-child interactions and children's recovery is parental expectations. Although adults' expectations about children who are disadvantaged, gifted, or from varying family structures have been shown to infl uence children's functioning, research has only begun to examine the impact of adults' expectations on children's adjustment from sexual abuse. In light of the consistent fi nding that adults, including parents, teachers, and professionals, appear to hold negative expectations about the outcomes of sexually abused children, it is important to systematically investigate the relationship between parental expectancies and children's recovery from sexual abuse. Recommendations for future research and intervention are provided in an eff ort to better understand the role of adult expectations on the recovery of sexually abused children.

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