Position:

Professor

Contact Information:

abarrera@paloaltou.edu

Other Positions:

Professor

Associate Director, Institute for International Internet Interventions for Health (i4Health)

Director, Maternal and Digital Research for Equitable Solutions  (MADRES) Lab

Programs:

PhD

Education:

PhD, Clinical Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder
MA, Clinical Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder
BA, Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Biography:

Alinne Barrera, PhD is a California licensed clinical psychologist with a specialty in using digital tools to address the gaps in maternal mental health access to resources and services among low-income, ethnically diverse pregnant and postpartum individuals. She specializes in working with Spanish-speaking and Latinx communities. Her scholarly work is focused on depression prevention, intervention adaptations, and the use of technology to deliver maternal mental health resources.

For over 15 years Dr. Barrera has dedicated her research program to adapting and empirically testing internet and SMS versions of the Mothers and Babies Course, a prevention of postpartum depression intervention recognized by the US Preventive Services Task Force. She is committed to working with clinicians and trainees who aim to reduce mental health disparities, especially among new mothers and birthing individuals. She is an expert trainer and consultant for agencies and clinicians interested in implementing the Mothers and Babies Course among their patient populations.

Dr. Barrera is a Professor in the Clinical Psychology PhD Program at Palo Alto University and serves as Associate Director at the Institute for International Internet Interventions for Health (i4Health). She served as a 2020 Mom Board Member for three years prior to serving on the clinical advisory board. She consults and supports the development of digital tools for maternal mental health and is currently a Clinical Advisory for Canopie and EmmaWell.

Dr. Barrera completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, her doctoral degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.  

Areas of Interest:

Research Interests:  Designing and testing maternal mental health programs for underserved populations using digital tools as an adjunct to clinical and community resources. Community engagement to increase the representation of Latinx and African American women in research. Access to publications on Google Scholar.

Clinical Interests:  Expert training, supervision/consultation, and implementation of the Mothers and Babies Course. Access to previously recorded workshops through CONCEPT at PAU.

Selected Publications:

[Note: * student mentored]

Barrera, A.Z., Torres, L.D., & Muñoz, R.F. (2007). Prevention of Depression: The state of the science at the beginning of the 21st Century. International Review of Psychiatry, 19, 655-670.

Barrera, A.Z., Pérez-Stable, E.J., Delucchi, K., & Muñoz R.F. (2009). Global reach of an Internet smoking cessation intervention: Characteristics of 17,500 Spanish- and English-speaking smokers from 157 countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6, 927-940.

Muñoz, R.F., Cuijpers, P., Smit, F., Barrera, A.Z., & Leykin, Y. (2010). Prevention of major depression. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 6, 181-212.

Van Voorhees, B.W., Mahoney, N., Mazo, R., Barrera, A.Z., Siemer, C.P., Gladstone, T., & Muñoz, R.F. (2011).  Internet-based depression prevention over the life course: A call for behavioral vaccines. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 34(1):167-83.

Barrera, A.Z., Kelman, A., & Muñoz, R.F. (2014). Keywords to recruit Spanish- and English-speaking participants: Evidence from an online postpartum depression randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 16(1), e6, 1-13.

Barrera, A.Z., & Nichols, A.D. (2015). Depression help-seeking attitudes and behaviors among a web-based sample of perinatal women in Latin America. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 37(3), 148-153.

Barrera, A.Z., Wickham, R., & Muñoz, R.F. (2015). Online prevention of postpartum depression for Spanish- and English-speaking pregnant women: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Internet Interventions, 2(3), 257-265.

Kelman, A.R.*, Stanley, M.L.*, Barrera, A.Z., Cree, M., Heineberg, Y., & Gilbert, P. (2016). Comparing brief Internet-based compassionate mind training and cognitive-behavioral therapy for perinatal women: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. JMIR Research Protocols, 5(2), e65.

Muñoz, R.F., Bunge, E.L., Barrera, A.Z., Wickham, R.E., & Lee, J. (2016). Using technology to help low-income and Latino smokers quit. JMIR Research Protocols, 5(2), e127.

Osma, J.L., Barrera, A.Z., & Ramphos, E. * (2016). Are pregnant and postpartum women interested in health related apps? Implications for the prevention of perinatal depression. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 19(6), 412-415.

Patel, S., Barrera, A.Z., Strambler, M., Macciome, E., & Muñoz, R.F. (2016). The achievement gap among newcomer immigrant adolescents: Life stressors hinder Latina/o academic success. Journal of Latinos and Education, 15(2), 121-133.

Barrera, A.Z., Dunn, L.B., Nichols, A., Reardon, S., & Muñoz, R.F. (2016). Getting it ‘right’: Ensuring informed consent for an online clinical trial. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 11(4) 291–298.

Selix, N., Henshaw, E., Barrera, A.Z., Botcheva, L., Hui, E., & Kaufman, G. (2017). Interdisciplinary collaboration in maternal mental health. The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, 42(4), 226-231.

Muñoz, R.F., Leykin, Y., Barrera, A.Z., Brown, C.H., & Bunge, E.L. (2017). The impact of phone calls on follow-up rates in an online depression prevention study. Internet Interventions, 8, 10–14.

Schmidt, E.M., Behar, S., Barrera, A.Z., Cordova, M., & Beckum, L. (2018). Potentially preventable medical hospitalizations and emergency department visits by the behavioral health population. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 45(3), 370-388.

Kelman, A.R. *, Evare, B.S., Barrera, A.Z., Muñoz, R.F., & Gilbert, P. (2018). A proof-of- concept pilot randomized comparative trial of brief Internet-based compassionate mind training and cognitive-behavioral therapy for perinatal and intending to become pregnant women. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 25(4), 608-619.

Bunge, E.L., Cook, H.M., Bond, M.J., Williamson, R.E., Cano, M., Barrera, A.Z., Leykin, Y., & Muñoz, R.F. (2018). Comparing Amazon Mechanical Turk with unpaid Internet resources in online clinical trials. Internet Interventions, 12, 68-73.

Carter, E.A.*, Bond, M.J.*, Wickham, E.R., & Barrera, A. Z. (2019). Perinatal depression among a global sample of Spanish-speaking women: A sequential-process latent growth-curve analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 243, 145-152.

Bunge, E.L., Taylor, L., Bond, M., Stephens, T., Nishimuta, K., Barrera, A.Z., Wickham, R., & Muñoz, R.F. (2019). Facebook for recruiting Spanish- and English-speaking smokers. Internet Interventions, 17, 100238.

Rodriguez, R. *, Rocha, I. *, & Barrera, A.Z. (2019). Depression: Triggers among Latinx adolescent girls. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 41(3), 412-426.

Ramphos, E.S. *, Kelman, A.R., Stanley, M.L., & Barrera, A. Z. (2019). Responding to women's needs and preferences in an online program to prevent postpartum depression. Internet Interventions. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.invent.2019.100275

Barrera, A. Z., Aguilera, A., Inlow, N., & Servin, J. (2019). BabyText: Examining the acceptability of a brief SMS program for perinatal women. Health Informatics Journal. https://doi.org/10.1177/1460458219866560

Osma, J.L., Suso-Ribera, C., Martínez-Borba, V., & Barrera, A.Z. (2020). Content and format preferences of a depression prevention program: A study in perinatal women. Annals of Psychology, 3(1), 56-63.

Palacios, M.P. *, Patel, S.G., Reed, D.E., Poe, C.H., & Barrera, A.Z. (in press). A mixed methods approach to understanding complex risk among newcomer Latina immigrant adolescents. Accepted for publication in Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology.

Selected book chapters and non-peer reviewed publications [Note: * student mentored]

Muñoz, R.F., Le, H.N., Clarke, G.N., Barrera, A.Z., & Torres, L.D. (2008). Preventing the onset of major depression. In I.H. Gotlib and C. L. Hammen (Eds.). Handbook of Depression – Second Edition (pp. 533-553). New York: Guilford.

Muñoz, R.F., Barrera, A.Z., & Torres, L.D. (2009). Prevention. In R.E. Ingram (Ed.). International Encyclopedia of Depression (pp. 447-452). New York: Springer Publishing.

Barrera, A.Z., & Muñoz, R.F. (2013). Using technology to extend the reach of psychological services. The Clinical Psychologist, 6(4), 3-7.

Muñoz, R.F., Schueller, S.M., Barrera, A.Z., Le, H.N., & Torres, L.D. (2014). Major Depression can be prevented: Implications for research and practice. In I.H. Gotlib and C. L. Hammen (Eds.). Handbook of Depression – Third Edition (pp. 471-491). New York: Guilford.

Aguilera, A., Miranda, J., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Organista, K., González, G., McQuaid, J., Kohn-Wood, L.P., Huynh-Nhu, L., Ghosh-Ippen, C., Urizar, G.G., Soto, J., Mendelson, T., Barrera, A.Z., Torres, L.D., Leykin, Y., Schueller, S., Liu, N., & Muñoz, R.F. (2016). Depression Prevention and Treatment Interventions: How Clinical Research Training Programs Can Contribute to Evidence-based Practice:  Evolution of the San Francisco Latino Mental Health Research Program. In N. Zane, G. Bernal, and F.T.L. Leong (Eds.), Evidence-Based Psychological Practice With Ethnic Minorities; Culturally Informed Research and Clinical Strategies (pp. 247-271). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Barrera, A.Z., Stanley, M.L. *, & Kelman, A. *  (2016). Electronic-based therapies: Theory and Practice. In L.E. Beutler, A.J. Consoli, and B. Bongar (Eds.). In the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychotherapy: Theory and Practice - Second Edition (pp. 254-266). Oxford University Press.

Carter, E. *, Naranjo, A. *, & Barrera, A.Z. (in press). Mental health and Latinos and Latin Americans. In A. Wenzel (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Abnormal and Clinical Psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Barrera, A.Z., Rosales, M. *, Ruiz Segovia, N., & Rodriguez, M.F. Sistemas de E-health en el período perinatal. In M.F. Rodriguez-Muñoz (Ed.), Psicologia Perinatal. Madrid, Spain: Grupo Anaya, S.A.

Websites and Other Relevant Links:

MADRES Lab: Maternal And Digital Research for Equitable Solutions Led by Alinne Barrera, PhD