Maria Caridad Huelar Tarroja

• PhD in Psychology, major in Clinical Psychology
• Faculty Member at De La Salle University

Highlights: 1. The results of the systematic review identified five guiding principles or foundational characteristics of a safe and supportive learning environment: comprehensive, culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate, multisectoral and multidisciplinary, and sustainable. The guiding principles are like the pillars that ensure that al...

The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will increase as the outbreak continues and persist even after the pandemic passes. We developed an 11-item Coronavirus Pandemic Anxiety Scale (CPAS-11) to measure symptoms of anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic to help identify individuals who might need mental health services. In developing t...

The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will increase as the outbreak continues and persist even after the pandemic passes. We developed a 11-item Coronavirus Pandemic Anxiety Scale (CPAS-11) to measure symptoms of anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic to help identify individuals who might need mental health services. In developing th...

This paper reviews the practice of psychological assessment in the Philippines guided by Bornstein's (2017) framework of evidence-based psychological assessment (EBPA). One hundred fifty-one (N = 151) respondents, majority of whom are registered psychometricians, answered a survey on their current practices, knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Part 1...

Drawing on a combined 20+ years of working with children and adolescents, the authors have put together some of the most compelling topics and issues that many people in the field of Psychology (researchers and practitioners alike) frequently encounter. Some of the ideas presented here summarize work that has been accomplished in the past decades a...

The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) is an assessment tool that has been translated into various languages for use with school-aged children in different cultures. The English form is used in the Philippines, but there is no published evidence on the CBCL’s structural validity when used with Filipino-English bilingual respondents. The study examined...

The chapter describes children of divorce, their experiences, behaviors, and adjustment issues in relation to their parents’ separation. It also examines how the separation impacts the children’s academic achievement, social relationships, emotional expressions, psychological well-being, and coping skills, and how family relationships, interaction,...

In consideration of the research thrust of the De La Salle University, the researchers decided to undertake a research on the relationship between poverty and the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) phenomenon from a multidisciplinary perspective. Employing the historical method, that is, the descriptive-narrative-analytical method, the research provid...

The most commonly reported data after natural disasters are the number of deceased and displaced and the structural and economic damage, whereas disability data are often lacking. Our study assessed disability among the survivors of the Haiyan/Yolanda typhoon that struck Philippines in 2013 and is aimed to identify which context-level variables are...

Using a correlational multivariate research design, partial least squares (PLS) was applied to examine the direct and indirect influence of preadoption risks, family functioning, and adoption secrecy on the adjustment (which is defined in this study as the internalizing and externalizing behaviors) of Filipino adopted children. Thirty two sets of F...

Typhoon Yolanda was one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded that struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. A survey on the populations’ disability and health profiles was conducted after this disaster using a protocol composed of socio-demographic schedule, household questionnaire and WHODAS 2.0 Disability Assessment Schedule. This s...

Play therapists in the Philippines are confronted with several challenges despite the popularity of play therapy as a treatment modality. Thirty-five Filipino play therapists were surveyed online about their practice as a play therapist, the issues and challenges they encounter, and the strategies they have explored to address these challenges. The...

In the last 30 years, there has been a rapid increase of Filipino parents leaving the country and their families for better job opportunities abroad. Existing literature points out the impact of migration on the families and on the well-being, academic performance, and school behaviours, family and peer relationships of the children left behind, an...

This paper reviews the current definition of Filipino families, starting from a sociological perspective to the challenge to Filipino psychologists. More recent research of sociologists on families recognize the changing structure and composition of Filipino families brought about by various issues, urban and global migration, changing role of wome...

This study intended to find specific indicators that would objectify assessment of drawings of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW's). Drawings of 273 females departing for the Middle East as domestic helpers or caregivers were analyzed. Thirty-two specific indicators were found to be significantly related to global artistic quality and bizarreness. The...

Using a social constructivist perspective, this qualitative research looked into selected Filipino youth’s worries and concerns and how they coped with their problems. Seven focus group discussions were conducted with Filipino youth with ages ranging from 13 to 20 years. FGD data revealed that the problems confronting youth included lack of resourc...

This study looked into the impact of family composition and last incident of abuse on the psychosocial well-being of abused children. The five dimensions of psychosocial well-being looked into were sense of safety and security, sense of competence, self-esteem, ability to adjust to a new environment, and ability to form healthy and therapeutic conn...

Important adoption issues were explored in this study to have a better understanding of the experiences of adopted children and their respective families. Adoptive mothers answered questions about their adopted children’s reactions to disclosure and the adoptive family’s openness in discussing adoption-related issues. Factors that help them deal wi...