Author Interview Series
Jaclyn Lennon Papadakis, Ph.D.
What led you to this particular topic? (e.g., why did you want to write about diversity training in pediatric psychology?)
I have long had an interest in studying health disparities among youth with chronic illnesses. Early on in my research on families of youth with spina bifida, I learned that the majority of research to date had been conducted among Caucasian families, despite the fact that prevalence rates of spina bifida are highest among Latino families. I chose to study Latino youth with spina bifida as my master’s thesis topic because I felt it was important and necessary in order to better understand whether what we have learned from existing research on youth with spina bifida can be generalized to other racial/ethnic groups. In addition, I was inspired by and hoping to build upon work done previously in my lab (led by Dr. Grayson Holmbeck and published by Dr. Katie Devine) on Latino parents of youth with spina bifida (i.e., Devine, Holmbeck, Gayes, & Purnell, 2012). And fortunately, my co-authors were as equally excited about this topic.
What do you think are the main points that you would want psychologists who provide clinical care to patients with spina bifida to “take-away” from this paper?
In many cases, youth with spina bifida may only be seen by a pediatric psychologist after a concern is identified by a different medical provider or expressed by a parent. I think this can sometimes set clinicians up to overly (or only) focus on concerns. I would like pediatric psychologists working with all youth with spina bifida to be reminded of the importance of assessing for and identifying the strengths that all families possess, and to consider how those strengths can be used to address concerns. Further, I hope this paper serves as a reminder for us to always be challenging the assumptions we sometimes make about families based on their backgrounds—many of the hypotheses in my study were not supported, and I think that is a good thing!
What more do you think needs to be understood in order to make a difference in this area (i.e., diversity training)?
A limitation of this study was that it assumed the Latino subsample to be homogeneous, while in reality there are within group differences in terms of country of origin, acculturation, cultural practices, and more. I think all research on Latino individuals, including youth with spina bifida, should be sensitive to these within group differences. Further, I think more research is needed on health outcomes among Latino youth with spina bifida to better understand the degree to which they may be resilient or at risk for potential adverse health outcomes.
Based on your experiences, what ideas do you have for engaging pediatric psychology in diversity-related research?
In an ideal world, all research would be inherently “diversity-related.” I think one way to engage students in diversity-related research is to encourage them to first identify what topic(s) the student is most passionate about studying, in general, and then ask how diversity plays a role (because it always does!).
Tell us a little bit about what you, or your institution, are doing now that relates to this topic.
I am currently an intern at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, where I have had the pleasure of working with a very diverse population of kids our hospital serves, including Latino youth with and without chronic health conditions. I feel I have become more culturally competent in working with Latino youth, but recognize cultural competency is a continual process! As I look forward to transitioning to a postdoctoral fellowship where I will be able to integrate my research and clinical interests through working with youth with diabetes, I am excited about continuing to incorporate a focus on diversity!