Selected Publications

Effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial of Spanish language, digital cognitive-behavioral therapy (dCBT) intervention for depression and anxiety – protocol for the SUPERA (SUpport from PEeRs to expand Access) study

Adrian Aguilera
Marvyn R. Arévalo Avalos
Karina Rosales
Yazleen Reyes
Rosa Hernandez-Ramos
Giovanni Ramos
Esmeralda Garcia
Tuyen Hoang
Lisa Ochoa-Frongia
Lisa R. Fortuna
Stephen M. Schueller
2024

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1551714423003452?via%3Dihub

Background Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Latinxs experience a longer duration of untreated depression and anxiety. LEP Latinxs have difficulty accessing mental healthcare due to insufficient Spanish-speaking behavioral/mental health clinicians to meet demand. These under-resourced healthcare systems are less likely to be the site for the implementation of innovations. Digital interventions can...

Effectiveness of a Digital Health Intervention Leveraging Reinforcement Learning: Results From the Diabetes and Mental Health Adaptive Notification Tracking and Evaluation (DIAMANTE) Randomized Clinical Trial

Adrian Aguilera
Marvyn R. Arévalo Avalos
Jing Xu
Bibhas Chakraborty
Caroline A. Figueroa
Faviola Garcia
Karina Rosales
Rosa Hernandez-Ramos
Chris Karr
Joseph Jay Williams
Lisa Ochoa-Frongia
Urmimala Sarkar
Elad Yom-Tov
Courtney R. Lyles
2024

https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e60834

Background

Digital and mobile health interventions using personalization via reinforcement learning algorithms have the potential to reach large number of people to support physical activity and help manage diabetes and depression in daily life.

Objective

The Diabetes and Mental Health Adaptive Notification and Tracking Evaluation (DIAMANTE) study tested whether a digital physical activity intervention using personalized text messaging...

A Text Messaging Intervention (StayWell at Home) to Counteract Depression and Anxiety During COVID-19 Social Distancing: Pre-Post Study

Adrian Aguilera
Rosa Hernandez-Ramos
Alein Y. Haro-Ramos
Claire Elizabeth Boone
Tiffany Luo
Jing Xu
Bibhas Chakraborty
Chris Karr
Sabrina Darrow
Caroline A. Figueroa
2021

https://mental.jmir.org/2021/11/e25298

Background

Social distancing and stay-at-home orders are critical interventions to slow down person-to-person transmission of COVID-19. While these societal changes help contain the pandemic, they also have unintended negative consequences, including anxiety and depression. We developed StayWell, a daily skills-based SMS text messaging program, to mitigate COVID-19–related depression and anxiety symptoms among people who speak English and Spanish in the...

Daily Motivational Text Messages to Promote Physical Activity in University Students: Results From a Microrandomized Trial

Caroline A. Figueroa
Nina Deliu
Bibhas Chakraborty
Arghavan Modiri
Jing Xu
Jai Aggarwal
Joseph Jay Williams
Courtney R. Lyles
Adrian Aguilera
2022

https://academic.oup.com/abm/article-abstract/56/2/212/6237428

Background

Low physical activity is an important risk factor for common physical and mental disorders. Physical activity interventions delivered via smartphones can help users maintain and increase physical activity, but outcomes have been mixed.

Purpose

Here we assessed the effects of sending daily motivational and feedback text messages in a microrandomized clinical trial on changes in physical activity from one day to...

Linguistic analysis of Latinx patients’ responses to a text messaging adjunct during cognitive behavioral therapy for depression

Rosa Hernandez-Ramos
Edgar Altszyler
Caroline A. Figueroa
Patricia Avila-Garcia
Adrian Aguilera
2022

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796721002266

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficacious to treat depression, however more research is needed to understand its functions among Latinxs. This study analyzed qualitative...

Effectiveness and implementation of a text messaging intervention to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms among Latinx and Non-Latinx white users during the COVID-19 pandemic

Alein Y. Haro-Ramos
Hector P. Rodriguez
Adrian Aguilera
2023

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37146444/

Text messaging interventions are increasingly used to help people manage depression and anxiety. However, little is known about the effectiveness and implementation of these interventions among U.S. Latinxs, who often face barriers to using mental health tools. The StayWell at Home (StayWell) intervention, a 60-day text messaging program based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), was developed to help adults cope with depressive and anxiety symptoms...

mHealth app using machine learning to increase physical activity in diabetes and depression: clinical trial protocol for the DIAMANTE Study

Adrian Aguilera
Caroline A. Figueroa
Rosa Hernandez-Ramos
Urmimala Sarkar
Anupama Cemballi
Laura Gomez-Pathak
Jose Miramontes
Elad Yom-Tov
Bibhas Chakraborty
Xiaoxi Yan
Jing Xu
Arghavan Modiri
Jai Aggarwal
Joseph Jay Williams
Courtney R. Lyles
2023

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/8/e034723.abstract

Introduction

Depression and diabetes are highly disabling diseases with a high prevalence and high rate of comorbidity, particularly in low-income ethnic minority patients. Though comorbidity increases the risk of adverse outcomes and mortality, most clinical interventions target these diseases separately. Increasing physical activity might be effective to simultaneously lower depressive symptoms and improve...

Use of Digital Mental Health for Marginalized and Underserved Populations

Stephen M. Schueller
John F. Hunter
Adrian Aguilera
2019

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40501-019-00181-z

Purpose of review

Digital mental health (DMH) interventions provide opportunities to alleviate mental health disparities among marginalized populations by overcoming traditional barriers to care and putting quality mental health services in the palm of one’s hand. While progress has been made towards realizing this goal, the potential for impactful change has yet to be realized. This paper reviews current examples of DMH...

The Need for a Mental Health Technology Revolution in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Caroline A. Figueroa
Adrian Aguilera
2020

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00523/full

Introduction

The current coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic not only poses a large threat to the physical health of our population, if we fail to act now, it will also have detrimental long-term consequences for mental health.

Though social distancing is a crucial intervention to slow down the destructive effects of the pandemic, it can lead to isolation, decreased...

Bridging the Digital Health Divide: How Providers and Plans Can Help Communities Better Adopt Digital Health Tools

Courtney R. Lyles
Adrian Aguilera
Oanh Kieu Nguyen
Urmimala Sarkar
2022

https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/BridgingDigitalDivideProvidersPlans.pdf

Introduction

A plethora of digital health tools for patients have been developed in the United States over recent years, including mobile phone applications, wearable devices, and technology linked to health care data, such as patient portals.1 However, there are large inequities in who is using these digital tools. The goal of this two-part series, “Bridging the Digital Health...