Omar G. Gudino
Assistant Professor, Clinical Child

Ph.D. 2009, University of California, Los Angeles
e-mail: Omar.Gudino@du.edu

Youth exposure to violence is a major public health problem that increases risk for a wide range of mental health and adjustment difficulties. Ethnic minority youths are at disproportionate risk of being exposed to violence and having their mental health needs go unmet. By focusing on three overlapping areas, my research program aims to understand the needs of youths exposed to trauma and to improve our ability to meet their needs.

First, my work focuses on understanding patterns of risk and resilience in ethnic minority and immigrant youths exposed to violence. Guided by a culturally-informed developmental psychopathology framework, I seek to understand how multiple factors (e.g., immigration, cultural values, adversity, trauma exposure, temperament) come together to promote or inhibit the adjustment of Latino youths. Second, my work examines the extent to which public systems of care are meeting the mental health needs of youth. In particular, my work focuses on examining racial disparities in mental health service use for youths in the public mental health and child welfare systems. Lastly, I aim to translate knowledge of mental health risk, service use patterns, and service systems into improved mental health services for youths. For example, my research on racial disparities has highlighted the need to develop improved strategies for identifying mental health needs and linking youths to services. As a result, my applied research examines the implementation of evidence-based assessment as a means for improving identification of needs and reducing disparities. Similarly, I focus on developing and evaluating evidence-based interventions that can address the diverse needs of youths exposed to trauma and can be delivered in challenging real-world settings. In an effort to generate knowledge that can have the greatest public health impact, my research is conducted in partnership with the community agencies and public service systems ultimately responsible for serving vulnerable youth and families.  

Representative Publications:

Gudiño, O.G., Martinez, J.I., Lau, A.S. & (In Press). Mental Health Service Use for Children In Contact With Child Welfare: Racial Disparities Depend on Problem Type. Psychiatric Services.

Havens, J.F., Gudiño, O.G., Biggs, E.A., Diamond, U., Weis, J.R., & Cloitre, M. (In Press). Identification of Trauma Exposure and PTSD in Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients: An Exploratory Study. Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Gudiño, O.G., Nadeem, E., Kataoka, S.H., & Lau, A.S. (2012). Reinforcement Sensitivity and Risk for Psychopathology Following Exposure to Violence: A Vulnerability-Specificity Model in Latino Youth. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 43, 306-321.

Liu, L.L., Wang, S., Fung, J., Gudiño, O.G., Tao, A.X., & Lau, A.S. (2012). Psychology of Asian American Children: Contributions of Cultural Heritage and the Minority Experience. In E. Chang & C. Downey (Eds.), Handbook of Race and Development in Mental Health (pp. 147-167). New York: Springer.

Gudiño, O.G., Nadeem, E., Kataoka, S.H., & Lau, A.S. (2011). Relative impact of violence exposure and immigrant stressors on Latino youth psychopathology. Journal of Community Psychology, 39(3), 316–335.

Lau, A.S., Fung, J.J., Ho, L.Y., Liu, L.L., & Gudiño, O.G. (2011). Parent training with high-risk immigrant Chinese families: A pilot group randomized trial yielding practice based evidence. Behavior Therapy, 42(3), 413-426.

Gudiño, O.G., & Lau, A.S. (2010). Parental culture, shyness, and anxiety in Hispanic children: An exploratory study. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 31(3), 202-210.

Gudiño, O.G., Lau, A.S., Yeh, M., McCabe, K.M., & Hough, R.L. (2009). Understanding racial/ethnic disparities in youth mental health services: Do disparities vary by problem type? Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 17(1), 3-16.

Gudiño, O.G., Lau, A.S., & Hough, R.L. (2008). Immigrant status, mental health need and mental health service utilization among high-risk Hispanic and Asian Pacific Islander youth. Child and Youth Care Forum, 37, 139-152.

Gudiño, O.G., Liu, L.L., & Lau, A.S. (2006). Race matters: Maltreatment identification and impact among high-risk adolescents. In S.M. Sturt (Ed.), Child Abuse: New Research (pp. 115-132). New York: Nova Science Publishers.