In Indiana, Latino youth fare the worst in terms of depression and suicide. In collaboration with the Latino Health Organization, a community serving non-profit interested in addressing this problem, Dr. Silvia Bigatti, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences, created a resilience-building and identity development intervention, in the form of an arts-based summer camp: Your Life. Your Story. Latino Youth Summit (YLYS).
YLYS is an intervention study to increase resilience and self-mastery in Latino adolescents, with the aim of reducing and/or preventing depressive symptoms. It's an evidence-based, interdisciplinary, community-based yearlong program that just completed its first phase, which consisted of a one-week summer camp where Latino youth went through a resilience-building curriculum, followed by a selection of art and movement based activities to develop goals for the future and identify barriers and opportunities.
