Violeta J. Rodriguez

Traditional parenting research has relied on typological models that categorize behaviors into rigid styles (e.g., authoritative and permissive), often neglecting the intentions and contextual factors that give meaning to caregiving. These models, based on samples lacking diversity, have contributed to measurement challenges, cultural misinterpretations, and deficit-based portrayals of marginalized families. In this article, we introduce a function-based framework organizing parenting according to its primary caregiving goals: affective (emotional connection), behavioral (structure and guidance), and cultural (value and identity transmission). By centering purpose and context and distinguishing caregiver intentions from realized interactional function, this framework reframes parenting as a dynamic, goal-directed process responsive to developmental needs and sociocultural realities. We argue that this approach allows for more inclusive, precise, and ecologically valid assessments of parenting across diverse families. We review the limitations of legacy frameworks, outline the theoretical foundations of the function-based framework, and present implications for research design, measurement, intervention, and policy. We conclude by advocating for a science of parenting that recognizes variation as adaptation and centers the lived goals of families navigating diverse social, structural, and cultural environments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Family members caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) provide the foundation of long-term care worldwide. In 2023, more than 11 million U.S. family and friends contributed 18 billion hours of unpaid care, often at the cost of their own physical and mental health. These informal caregivers—also referred as the “invisible second patients”—experience elevated rates of mental health problems. Yet research commonly reduces their complex psychosocial experiences to a single construct of caregiver burden, obscuring which specific needs are unmet or effectively supported. At the same time, digital and AI-enabled technologies are rapidly expanding, from smartphone apps and videoconferencing to sensor platforms and AI chatbots. However, the absence of shared frameworks across medicine, psychology, and technology research limits cumulative progress. This study introduces a Caregiver Mental Health and Technology Taxonomy that systematically links AD/ADRD caregiver needs with corresponding classes of technology-based interventions. Drawing from an interdisciplinary literature review and two qualitative studies with caregivers, the taxonomy identifies mismatches between caregiver priorities and existing technological support, highlights under-served domains such as relational strain and compassion fatigue, and proposes design directions for adaptive, responsive systems. The framework offers a shared vocabulary to guide clinicians, researchers, and technology designers in developing more person-centered and clinically grounded innovation in dementia care.

Sexual and gender minority families navigate complex stress exposures that span developmental periods and social contexts, including early-life adversity, ongoing discrimination, and minority stress. This study tested competing models of stress accumulation and stress sensitization in a diverse, United States national sample of sexual and gender minority parents (N = 568) with children under the age of 18. Using multivariate distance matrix regression, we examined how parent-reported adverse childhood experiences, everyday discrimination, and internalizing symptoms were associated with multivariate profiles of parent and child mental health. Parent adverse childhood experiences, discrimination, anxiety, and depression were each independently associated with variation in child mental health outcomes, consistent with a stress accumulation model. No interaction effects consistent with stress sensitization emerged. These findings underscore the cumulative impacts of trauma-related stressors in sexual and gender minority families and highlight the utility of person-centered, multivariate methods for capturing co-occurring symptom patterns in intergenerational trauma research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: Suicide is a critical global public health issue, with millions experiencing suicidal ideation (SI) each year. Global estimates suggest that the lifetime prevalence of SI ranges between 9% and 12% worldwide, underscoring the scale of this public health concern. Online platforms, such as Reddit, provide spaces where individuals express suicidal thoughts and seek peer support. While prior computational research has leveraged machine learning and natural language analysis to detect SI, much of it lacks grounding in psychological theory, limiting interpretability and intervention design. Objective: This study applied the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPTS) to understand the underlying psychosocial mechanisms driving high-risk suicidal intent in online spaces, analyze linguistic expressions of SI, and assess the role of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in providing supportive responses. Methods: We analyzed 59,607 posts from Reddit’s r/SuicideWatch community. Posts were categorized into 4 SI dimensions (ie, loneliness, lack of reciprocal love, self-hate, and liability) and 3 IPTS-based risk factors (ie, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability for suicide). High-risk posts were operationalized based on the language markers of suicidal planning, attempts, and explicit intent. We further conducted psycholinguistic and content analyses of supportive responses and evaluated AI chatbot–generated replies for structural coherence and empathy. Results: High-risk SI posts contained frequent references to planning and attempts, methods and tools, and expressions of weakness and pain, patterns that are consistent with theoretical expectations regarding the progression of suicidal capability. Supportive peer responses varied significantly across SI stages ( P <.001), with deeper empathy and self-disclosure emerging in replies to high-risk posts. Compared with online community responses, AI-generated replies showed higher semantic similarity (Cohen d =0.20) and linguistic style accommodation (Cohen d =0.08), but substantially lower diversity (Cohen d =−0.31); empathy differences were minimal in the most context-rich prompting condition. Expert evaluators further noted that AI responses often lacked contextual personalization and emotional depth. Conclusions: Grounding computational analysis in IPTS provides richer theoretical insight into SI expressed online. While AI-based systems can enhance the structural and linguistic quality of supportive messages, they currently lack the nuanced empathy and contextual awareness needed for effective mental health support. These findings highlight the need for theory-driven, human-AI collaborative frameworks in suicide prevention research and interventions.

Due to an increase in media and news attention on anti‐Black racism in 2020, the APA declared racism a pandemic as the CDC highlighted the challenges related to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Thus, the work described in the current manuscript took place during what is referred to as a double pandemic for Black people in the United States. This paper discusses the impact of this period on a department and its students, the training students advocated for in response to the urgent need for more support for Black communities, and the approaches they used to address racial stress and trauma during this unprecedented time. We outline how one Clinical Psychology program designed and disseminated resources, including a racial trauma guide, public health messaging campaign, podcast, and social media content to increase access to translational research, culturally relevant resources, and psychoeducation to combat racism and discrimination. Analytics and trends demonstrate the impact of the Task Force's initiatives. We summarize the process and recommend clinical‐community approaches for healing racial stress and trauma among Black youth, families, and communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic, alongside the heightened racialized sociopolitical unrest following the murder of George Floyd, intensified longstanding structural racism, exacerbating racial stress, and trauma among Black youth. This scoping review synthesizes recent literature on culturally relevant interventions developed or implemented since the pandemic’s onset to address these challenges. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Academic Search Complete were searched for studies published from 2020 to 2024. Eligible interventions targeted Black youth from childhood through emerging adulthood, addressed racial stress or trauma, and included a therapeutic component or psychosocial skill-building component. Five studies met inclusion criteria, spanning family-based prevention programs, school-based counseling interventions, and culturally grounded arts-based and identity-focused approaches. Across studies that included empirical evaluation, reported outcomes included improved family communication about race, enhanced coping strategies, increased racial pride, strengthened ethnic–racial identity, and improved psychological functioning. Other studies contributed qualitative insights or programmatic frameworks relevant to culturally responsive practice. Interventions that supported caregiver-driven racial socialization, incorporated culturally grounded arts-based stress management, or intentionally fostered ethnic–racial identity development showed the most promise. Approaches involving caregivers or community engagement reinforced protective racial socialization messages and promoted resilience. Findings highlight the urgent need for scalable, sustainable, and culturally responsive interventions that address both the psychological and sociocultural dimensions of racial stress. An additional priority is evaluating these approaches with youth presenting more clinically severe or complex symptom profiles, as many studies do not assess severity in depth. Future research should rigorously evaluate these models longitudinally, refine culturally relevant strategies, and explore diverse socialization agents to optimize well-being among Black youth.