Sandra Magaña

Director, Chican@ and Latin@ Studies Program
Associate Professor, Chican@ and Latin@ Studies Program
Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Research Affiliate, Waisman Center

• Ph.D., Brandies University
• M.S.W., California State University-San Bernardino
• B.A., California State University-Sacramento

Specialization and Research Interests
Interaction between enviromental and caregriving stress; Cultural strenths and supports of families of color who have a child or relative with a developmental disability or mental illness.

Dr. Magaña's program of research focuses on cultural variation in caregiving experiences and service utilization of families of color who have a member with severe mental illness or a developmental disability. She is a principal investigator of a study of Latino families who have children on the autism spectrum, and a health education study of Latina mothers of children with developmental disabilities.

Selected Publications

• Ghosh, S., & Magaña S. (in press). A Rich Mosaic: Emerging research on Asian families of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Glidden & Seltzer (Eds). International Review of Research in Mental Retardation.
• Magaña, S. & Ybarra, M. (in press). Family and community as strengths for Latinos. In R. Furman & N. Negi (Eds) Social Work Practice with Latinos: Key Issues and Emerging Themes. Chicago: Lyceum Books.
• Magaña, S. & Smith, M. (2008). Health behaviors, service utilization and access to care among older mothers of color who have children with developmental disabilities. Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 46, 267-280.
• Parish, S., Magaña, S., & Cassiman, S. (2008). It's just that much harder: Multi-layered hardship experiences by low-Income mothers with disabilities. Affilia, 23, 51-65.
• Magaña, S., & Cassiman, S. (2008). SSI. In the Encyclopedia of Social Work, 20th Edition. NASW and Oxford University Press.
• Magaña, S., Parish, S., & Cassiman, S. (2008). Policy lessons from low-income mothers with disabilities. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 29, 181-206.
• Magaña, S. Ramirez, J., Hernandez, M., & Cortez, R. (2007). Psychological distress among Latino family caregivers of adults with schizophrenia: The roles of burden and stigma in the stress-process model. Psychiatric Services, 58, 378-384.
• Magaña, S., & Smith, M.J. (2006). Psychological distress and well-being of Latina and non-Latina white mothers of youth and adults with an autism spectrum disorder: Cultural attitudes towards co-residence status. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76, 346-357.
• Magaña, S., & Smith, M.J. (2006). Health outcomes of mid-life and aging Latina and Black American mothers of children with developmental disabilities. Mental Retardation, 44, 224-234.
• Magaña, S., Schwartz, S., Rubert, M., & Szapocznik, J. (2006). Hispanic caregivers of adults with mental retardation: The importance of family functioning. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 111, 250-262.
• Magaña, S. (2006). Older Latino Family Caregivers. In B. Berkman (Ed.), Handbook of Social Work in Health and Aging (pp. 371-380). New York: Oxford University Press.

Contact Sandra Magaña