The Culture, Context & Health Lab researchers are working on three interrelated lines of research:
Antiblack Racism and Health Disparities
Racial stratification is associated with disparities in health-related outcomes. Disparities are not inherently related to the social groups, rather, they are linked to how people are treated. What’s more, health disparities are preventable. Our work in this area departs from the common practice of aggregating Black and White Latinxs; a practice that obscures health-related differences that are linked to antiblack racism. This work represents an important first step in disentangling important group differences within the Black diaspora that can help to inform research and treatment.
Critical & Decolonial Education
In modern times, education and social mobility has been an optimistic site for combating the effects of oppression. Although, by no means the great equalizer, education has the potential to improve access to resources to those that are marginalized and to debunk harmful myths held by all people, especially those with power and privilege. Through my scholarship in this area I offer resources and pedagogical expertise to the field of psychology and other disciplines. Furthermore, classrooms are a powerful site of growth and transformation for students and instructors alike and should be better understood.
Discrimination and Psychological Distress
Discrimination occurs when one is deemed less capable, valuable and/or deserving of equal opportunities, goods and services. Discrimination is based on stereotyped group characteristics and targets are subject to individual and structural impact. Consequences of discrimination include detriments to mental and physical health and quality of life. The overarching questions in this area include: What are the experiences of marginalized culture-sharing groups across ecological levels? And, how do they cope with discrimination and oppression? Our work in this area considers the multi-level impact of discrimination and oppression encompassing interpersonal, institutional, community, and structural discrimination and stigma.
Book
Mena, J. A. & Quina, K. (Eds.). (2019). Integrating multiculturalism and intersectionality into the psychology curriculum: Strategies for instructors. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Selected Publications
(*Student co-Author)
Stoyer, M., Borge, M. Soto, J., Mena, J. A. (in press). Accurate assessment of multicultural growth: The case for using retrospective reassessments. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology.
Mena, J. A. & Stevenson, J. R. (2022). The promise of labor based grading contracts for the teaching of psychology and neuroscience. Teaching of Psychology. https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_journ/1916/
Mena, J. A. (2022). From cradle to college: Cultural socialization and the college experience of Latinxs college students. Journal of Latinx Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/lat0000207
*Campbell, C., & Mena, J. A. (2021). LGBTQ+ counseling center website friendliness and structural stigma. Journal of College Counseling, 24 (3), 241-255. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocc.12194
Soto, J. A., Mena, J. A., Stoyer, M. R., Witherspoon, D. P., Dawson-Andoh, N. A., & Borge, M. (2021). The Building Blocks for Multicultural Competence: Multicultural Psychology Courses Enhance Multicultural Knowledge and Ethnic Identity. Teaching of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00986283211031854
Borge, M. Soto, J. A., Aldemir, T., & Mena, J. A. (2020). Building multicultural competence by fostering collaborative intergroup dialogue skills. Teaching of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/0098628320977421
*Berwise, C. & Mena, J. A. (2020). Perceived discrimination and educational attainment for U.S. Black adults: The influence of Black racial identity. Social Psychology of Education, 23, 1385–1406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09587-7
*Ulerio, G., & Mena, J. A. (2020). Parental cultural socialization practices in a predominantly White rural college community. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, 2697–2709. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01778-2
Mena, J. A., Soto, J. A., Wei, W., *Kaplan, S., & *Salazar, S. (2020) Does centrality moderate the relation between skin tone satisfaction and psychological adjustment for Latinx Blacks and non-Latinx Blacks? Race and Social Problems, 12(3), 219-232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12552-020-09284-2
Mena, J. A., *Faust, K., *Cook, N., & Faust, D., *Holt, R. (2020). Multicultural considerations in the use of digital technology to deliver psychotherapeutic services. In M. Potenza, K. Faust, & D. Faust (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of digital technologies and mental health. Oxford.
Mena, J. A., Durden, T. E., *Bresette, S. E., & *McCready, T. (2019). Black and White self-identified Latinx respondents and perceived psychological distress and impairment. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 41(4), 504-522. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986319883827
Mena, J. A. & Vaccaro, A. (2017). “I’ve struggled, I’ve battled”: Invisibility microaggressions experienced by women of color at a predominately White institution. NASPA Journal about Women in Higher Education, 10(3), 301-318. https://doi.org/10.1080/19407882.2017.1347047
Mena, J. A. & Rogers, M. R. (2017). Factors influencing multicultural teaching competence: Social justice orientation and multicultural environment. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 11(2), 61-68. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000143
Mena, J. A., *Ampadu, G., & Prochaska, J. O. (2016). The influence of engagement and satisfaction on smoking cessation interventions: A qualitative study. Substance Use and Misuse, 52(3), 322-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1225765
Mena, J. A., (2016). “I love my work, but this is not my life”: Women of color in the academy. NASPA Journal about Women in Higher Education, 9(2), 190-207. https://doi.org/10.1080/19407882.2016.1195274
Mena, J. A., & Saucier, P. K. (2014). “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”: Nina Simone’s Africana Womanism Journal of Black Studies, 45(3), 247-265. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934714528512
Mena, J. A., & Vaccaro, A. (2013). “Tell me you love me no matter what”: Relationships and self-esteem among LGBQ young adults. Journal of GLBT Family Studies. 9(1), 3-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2013.746052
Mena, J. A. (2011). Latino parent home-based practices that bolster student academic persistence. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 33(4), 490-506. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739986311422897
Vaccaro, A., & Mena, J. A. (2011). It’s not burnout, it’s more: Queer college activists of color and mental health. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Mental Health, 15, 339-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2011.600656