COMMUNITY VIOLENCE--PREVENTION AND YOUTHS MENTAL HEALTH

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

This is a request for an NIMH Mentored Scientist Development Award (K01). The candidate proposes to use a mentored support period of 5 years to expand from a child clinical research focus to a public mental health perspective and achieve the career goal of becoming an independent mental health preventive health intervention researcher. In doing so, the candidate would integrate substantive areas that together form a framework for research on the mental health effects of youth's exposure to community violence. The K01 will support training, course work, mentored relationships, empirical research, and other experiences to become proficient in preventive intervention research; the following objectives will be achieved: 1) To develop a theoretical and conceptual understanding of mental health preventive interventions, including community epidemiology and life-course development; 2) To develop biostatistical methodology expertise as it applies to longitudinal preventive intervention trials; 3) To integrate and enhance the candidate's knowledge of psychopathology, psychophysiology, and social-contextual influences within a community epidemiological perspective; 4) To organize, implement, and disseminate a prevention study that extends an existing longitudinal community epidemiological preventive intervention trial; and 5) To develop an NIMH R01 community epidemiological mental health preventive intervention grant proposal. The primary vehicle for achieving the above career objectives is engaging in a prevention research project whose goal is to study the role of exposure to pervasive community violence on youth's development, whose mental health, and their capacity for improvement through preventive intervention trials. It would provide the opportunity to test etiologic theory pertaining to community violence and develop pilot intervention projects in preparation for the R01 application. The proposed research project's specific aims are: 1) To model developmental psychopathology as a function of exposure to community violence; 2) To model mediation and moderation of exposure to community violence on developmental outcomes; 3) To model youth's exposure to community violence and malleability of developmental paths.